The Complicated, Dangerous, and Surprisingly Simple Truth About Modern Wellness
Raise your hand: Can you actually define what “wellness” means? Your answer will almost certainly shift dramatically depending on where you live and what corners of the internet you’ve wandered down lately—there is no single universal definition that fits every person’s experience.
Yet right now, wellness has become modern culture’s most coveted holy grail, all too often at the direct expense of our actual physical and mental health. On one end of the spectrum, you have the softer, mainstream iteration of the trend, defined by daily green smoothie routines and aspirational wellness TikTok that reads more as aesthetic inspiration than actionable care. On the other far more harmful end, there are hardline, life-endangering variations that push everything from drinking bleach-adjacent “detox” concoctions to unregulated extreme parasite cleanses, to so-called “wellness farms” that pressure people to wean themselves off life-saving antidepressants cold turkey. No matter which brand of wellness you subscribe to, one unignorable fact stands: the global wellness business is exploding, with one recent estimate putting its total worldwide value at more than $6.3 trillion.
This growth hasn’t just been financial—wellness has grown increasingly politicized, too. Some of the most high-profile figures from the nebulous, unregulated world of alternative wellness now hold key roles in the U.S. federal government, and they’re using their authority to upend and endanger the lives of everyday Americans. In his first few months leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prominent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already fired every member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing the independent panel with a mixed group of credible experts and outspoken vaccine skeptics. He has also laid off thousands of career public servants, cut billions in research funding for universities and local public health departments, and even been filmed drinking raw milk on White House grounds. All of these actions tie back to Kennedy’s anti-science campaign to “Make America Healthy Again.”
But don’t lose hope just yet. As you’ll read in this issue, rigorous, groundbreaking, and truly innovative medical research is still moving forward across the U.S. and around the world, uncovering new tools and therapies and solving medical mysteries that once felt impossible to crack. In these pages, we take you inside the cutting edge of AI-powered drug discovery, and break down the growing crisis facing modern cancer research. We’ve also got lighter, playful features on offer: a deep dive into the quirky world of animal wellness hobbies, including the viral trend of iceberg exfoliation for pets. Our trusted Gear team also put dozens of out-there viral wellness products to the test, to separate the actually useful from the overhyped waste of hard-earned cash.
As a recent trip to Paris reminded me, wellness never needed to be as complicated as the multi-trillion-dollar industry makes it out to be. If you can manage to eat fresh food, walk regularly, and enjoy a favorite guilty vice or two while sitting at an outdoor table, you’re already off to an incredible start. Add one simple non-negotiable rule—never drink anything that even resembles bleach—and I promise you’re already halfway to feeling your best.
