The Great Delusion of Wellness: How Allegedly Healthy Practices Ruin Us
We are heavily and constantly bombarded with ads of supplements, natural this and natural that, all things detox, and the like. The lucrative industry of wellness is burgeoning, as more people are converting to charcoal snack lovers and supplement takers. What is promoted as the holy grail of health is actually pure chicanery – for all the claims and catchy titles.


- Those who stick to alternative medicine, of which the wellness industry is the citadel, are reported to have a greater risk of death, as they refuse to use conventional therapies and prefer things like herbal teas, etc., so when the disease has already progressed, there is not much medicine can do, as time was spent on homeopathy.
- Even if you do not believe all the spiels used to sell you another magic product, there are people who do, and oftentimes they oppose to the methods used and measures taken by medicine. For instance, they can demonize vaccines, refuse to be vaccinated and thus contribute to the spread of diseases which would otherwise be more difficult to contract.
- Many of the supplements advertised in every nook and cornet of the Internet (and not only the Internet) are not just useless – they can be detrimental to health. Multivitamins, vitamin C and calcium supplements have recently turned out to be of no use, and the only pills of the kind that are worth taking are vitamin D in the elderly and folic acid in pregnant and pregnant-to-be women–at least as the scientific evidence we have now suggests. Some supplements are even dangerous, like vitamin E, for instance, which can increase the risk of prostate cancer.
Slaying the dragon of wellness industry is not something which can be done overnight. The wish to find a magic pill that would solve all problems at the drop of a hat is ingrained in our mind, and there is a great difference between faith, which can work wonders, and buying magic kits which are allegedly capable of curing virtually everything. The former is driven by Love, the latter is driven by greed. It’s up to you to decide which side to take.
References:
Complementary Medicine, Refusal of Conventional Cancer Therapy, and Survival Among Patients With Curable Cancers – jamanetwork.com
Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment – onlinejacc.org
The dubious practice of detox – health.harvard.edu