NOTABLE: How To Tell If Someone Is Selling You Snake Oil “Wellness”

A round-up of the very best bullshit detectors out there today and — bonus! — the people working to get you real information

As someone who’s been around the wellness industry my whole life (my parents owned a gym), I’ve seen a lot of fitness fads. At best, most of these scams did little more than scare people out of their money — colloidal silver anyone? However some, have proven deadly.

None of this has turned me anti-wellbeing. I may be a skeptic, but I want to feel good in my body. And the sad truth is, conventional medicine is failing. Since my doctor left the practice nine months ago, I’m still waiting to get an onboarding appointment with a new primary care physician. NINE MONTHS!

I’m not alone in either respect. No one gets in to see their doctor easily anymore, but we’re still getting sick. Where do we turn? For many, the answer is wellness influencers who can offer little more than anecdotal evidence, if not outright lies. Must we dismiss them all?

The outside of my dad’s gym, circa 1980.

Whole industries have been built around attacking the Gwyneth Paltrow GOOP of it all. (Side note, vaginal eggs may not solve sexual dysfunction but they’re less likely to kill you than a tampon.) Meanwhile, wellness is a thriving, 4.4 trillion dollar industry that includes everything from running shoes to fancy water.

The question is, how do we partake of wellness without getting sucked into the muck of misinformation? As someone who has had horrific experiences with conventional medical approaches yet gone on to find relief through so-called alternative practices, I’ve developed a robust approach to seeking answers.

This list below encompasses all aspects of what I consider wellness to be: mind, body and spirit practices. So buckle up. For whatever ails you, there’s a scammer out there with a ready fix. There are also people out there offering wise, “middle way” options.

Know your enemy

There's no better motivation to get out from under the spell of a swindler than to discover how they operate behind the curtain. To that end, one of the most terrifying documentaries I've ever seen is called The Deep End, a look at the inner workings of the self-proclaimed “spiritual influencer,” Teal Swan.

A trailer from the deep end, in which Swan appears to simulate death by drowning in order to bring enlightenment to one of her followers.

Maybe it was just another day at the office for Swan, but to this viewer, the filmmakers got what looked like unprecedented access to a catastrophic meltdown within her organization. Swan’s repeated dismissals of her accusers, coupled with her tenaciously narcissistic drive to present a certain image makes for an absolutely astounding, candid perspective on contemporary cult development at its most craven. Bonus, this documentary is refreshingly free of repetitive information.

The first season of The Vow was guilty of the repetition sin. Still, I couldn't resist at least checking out the second season. What on earth more could they possibly have to say about the cult Keith Raniere found? So much.

For those of us interested in not “otherizing” the masses of people who become Raniere’s adherents, the value of the second season is that it offers a look at the NXIVM experience from the perspective of the end user. What was it about Raniere’s program that attracted followers? This question is worth asking because all cults start with a good idea. You don't develop a massive following by having nothing to offer. It's easy to listen to some of the principles Raniere espoused and nod your head. But when you avoid dismissing the people as brainwashed, it’s easier to understand how even you could become a victim. And this is key to not buying that “lost the weight now” supplement.

For superfans like me, there are some brilliant podcasters out there right now offering ongoing takedowns. These include:

• Conspirituality (by Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker), a withering look at the convergence of wellness and politics in contemporary society (support their work here).

• Maintenance Phase, by the utterly delightful Michael Hobbes and Aubrey Gordon, an exploration of the junk science behind health and wellness fads (you can support them here).

• The Dream, a limited series podcast by Jane Marie which took on MLMs in season one and wellness more specifically (though there’s crossover) in season two.

Now what?

It’s bad enough discovering that Bragg’s apple cider vinegar is built on complete deception (thanks, Maintenance Phase), but you don’t have to wallow in a soup of mistrust. There are people out there doing the work of finding answers to our wellness dilemmas. Three of my favorites include:

• On Being with Krista Tippet, who talks to the leading spiritual thinkers alive today all to answer the question, how do we want to live?

• The Science of Happiness with Dacher Keltner, who puts people through experiments to test out whether happiness hacks work.

TEDHealth, hosted by Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, which explores breaking news in everything from smart daily habits to medical advances.

Staying aware of the schemes and how they work, as well as how we can all be susceptible to the various claims of hucksters, is the only way I know how to avoid the pitfalls of this industry. While I was writing this, the following advertisement appeared in my Facebook feed.

Everything is wrong with this ad. From the portrayal to the promise, everything about this ad makes me sad. But this approach obviously works, or advertisers would pivot. For the love of all the gods, let’s stop this insanity.

Now you show me yours

Please comment with your favorite pod or documentary that supports a healthy lifestyle or exposes a fraudster!