Melanie Baczynski

“We’re under constant pressure to be constantly improving. And a lot of the pressure is on women,” Caulfield says. “It’s almost like you have this moral imperative — if you’re not trying to improve, you’re failing at some level.”

Much of Wellness™, like detoxes, cleanses, and colonics, also looks suspiciously like the diet and cosmetics industries. Three of the largest wellness markets are personal care, beauty, and anti-aging ($1,083 billion); healthy eating, nutrition, and weight loss ($702 billion); and fitness and mind-body ($595 billion). And the movement’s marketing often recycles images and slogans from weight-loss and anti-aging propaganda: Instagram posts of thin, young, Gwyneth Paltrow–esque women tagged with #cleanliving, #fitness, an…

“I don’t think we need empirical evidence to justify the pleasure that surrounds [wellness] activities,” says Timothy Caulfield, a professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta …