Xand van Tulleken on the 3 wellness trends to be most wary of

In 1893, a cowboy named Clark Stanley killed hundreds of writhing rattlesnakes at the Chicago World’s Fair. He then tossed them into a boiling vat and scooped up the rendered fat to sell as his now-infamous snake oil, which he sold as a tonic for all manner of health problems. This particular scam wouldn’t work today, but discerning quackery from legitimate medicine has become, if anything, even more of a challenge.

To add to the confusion, healthcare advice often has to compete with the vaguely defined wellness industry, which, thanks to the rise of influencers and social media, is highly persuasive. Doctor, writer and presenter Xand van Tulleken turns his attention to this unregulated industry in Make Me Well: A quest to understand the confusing world of wellness. He spoke to New Scientist about his findings, revealing what does – and doesn’t – keep us healthy.

Xand van Tulleken: Wellness is about the way we feel. It is about increasing our performance, optimising our bodies and, to a degree, reducing our risk of disease. But wellness practices are not healthcare.

I always thought of wellness as optimising health. The modern wellness industry really tries blurring the boundary between health and wellness. It is the reason I wrote Make Me Well, because I was struggling to distinguish between the two.

Health is typically about a defined problem that is measurable, and healthcare aims to prevent and treat specific conditions. Wellness, on the other hand, tends to work on things that are more slippery, that are harder to pin down. It is about feeling your best, optimising your performance, looking better.

Alzheimer’s, stroke, depression: The preventative power of sauna The wellness industry isn’t allowed to claim its products can treat medical problems, with the exception of some tightly regulated scenarios for certain supplements, such as that vitamin C contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. But all the restrictions on advertising and marketing and labelling don’t restrict influencers from giving their opinions. Another way to think about it is that healthcare is interested in the floor, while wellness is interested in the ceiling.