Are you suffering from a winter sniffle? Perhaps a spot of dry skin, or the odd feeling of depression as the nights get darker and the sun takes longer to emerge on your morning commuteA regular journey to/from work or school.?

No need to worry. The wellness industry has a million cures for almost every possible afflictionIllness or injury.. "Psychic healing", the keto diet, cryotherapyThe use of extreme cold as a medical treatment., jade eggs, bone broth, bee venom therapy, leech therapy, "internal showers"... Before long, you will feel right as rain.

Or so some say. Many think that wellness cures are all a big scam. Mostly spread via social media, the cures have limited and mostly only anecdotalBased on personal accounts rather than facts or evidence. evidence.

Furthermore, some point out, they seem to mostly target women. As a society, we are sold an impossible standard of womanhood with glossy, perfect skin and gleaming charismaA charm or attractiveness that can inspire others.  - the picture of health and beauty. And increasingly, we are told that the only way to achieve this is through health trends which can cost hundreds or even thousands of pounds apiece.

The wellness industry encourages us to spend more and more money in the pursuit of perfect physical health. But the more we spend, the further we seem from our goal. From snake oil to "prebiotic sodas" to blood sugar pills and cleansing juices, there is a seemingly endless list of products to invest in for the sake of our "health."

Some think that wellness is even sinisterThreatening, or suggesting that something frightening or disturbing will happen. in its goals. Wellness influencers often oppose vaccination. Many of them advocated for poorly-evidenced "natural cures" to Covid-19The official scientific name for the type of coronavirus that swept the world from March 2020., speaking out against lockdowns and other public health measures.

Others urge us not to get carried away. Certainly, not all of the "wellness cures" you see floating around are really going to help. But not all of them are fake either, and some have found really helpful antidotesA cure for something. It originally meant a medicine against poison. online.

Yes: The wellness industry was founded to exploit people, predominantly women. It leads us to believe that there are infinite problems in our bodies that need to be fixed with more and more money, but they can never fully be fixed.

No: Not all wellness cures are good for you - some of them are even bad. But the spirit of the movement is good: people taking ownership of their health and their bodies, trying to be as healthy as possible.

Or... The wellness movement is just a symptom of the bigger curse: misinformation, particularly on social media. People are not equipped to tell real information from fake, which is what makes these kinds of scams so successful.