Every now and then I delve into the murky world of #wellness on Instagram. I did this yesterday, and I'm sad to see nothing much has changed since the last time I looked. Among the pretty yoga poses, green smoothies, CBD oil soap and chiropractic care for dogs (nota joke), I also found more damaging stuff.
By damaging I mean things that are far from wellness. Extreme workout regimes; recommendations for eight-day juice-only "cleanses"; recipes using essential oils as flavouring; and many images of highly unrealistic, mostly female body shapes presented as achievable if you just follow workout x or take supplement y.
And then there are the diets.
For although "wellness" is very much on-trend and "dieting" is very much not – how old-fashioned to say you're on a diet! – much of what is labelled wellness is really nothing more than weight loss diets, re-packaged.
It's a point well made in a recent New York Times piece titled "Smash the Wellness Industry" by writer Jessica Knoll.
"In 2019, dieting presents itself as wellness and clean eating, duping modern feminists to participate under the guise of health," she writes.
Eight-day juice regimes aren't the answer. Photo / 123RF
She goes on to detail her own experience of self-punishment through faddish eating, and calls out wellness influencers, who, she says, attract attention on social media "by tying before and after selfies to inspiring narratives. Go from sluggish to vibrant, insecure to confident, foggy-brained to clear-eyed. But when you have to deprive, punish and isolate yourself to look 'good', it is impossible to feel good. I was my sickest and loneliest when I appeared my healthiest."
Knoll is right. The potential damage "wellness" can wreak was highlighted in a recent study.
The authors analysed the published advice of nine top UK wellness bloggers (they did not disclose which ones, but they each had at least 80,000 followers). The blogs were analysed and scored against credibility indicators for transparency, evidence-based references, trustworthiness, adherence to nutritional criteria and bias. The researchers also analysed recipes from each blog.
Just one of the nine bloggers passed the credibility test. The rest were found to offer opinion presented as fact; didn't offer any credible references for nutrition claims; and did not offer disclaimers. Only three had nutritionally balanced recipes. The lowest compliance (a score of 25 per cent) was a blogger with no nutrition qualification.
It's going to take more than essential oils. Photo / 123RF
The damage this can do is familiar to us. I am guessing these bloggers were all targeting a female audience. I also guess you've seen people like them on social media; we have plenty of our own local versions. They offer one-size-fits-all solutions to our problems, from brain fog to bloating. They talk about "clean" eating but they're often really promoting old-fashioned diets and products, including supplements.
The problem is, when what they're selling doesn't work, women rarely blame the dodgy advice, or its source. They blame themselves.
And for some, that can lead to a long-term, damaging spiral of disordered eating. It's the opposite of wellness.
• Niki Bezzant is editor-at-large for Healthy Food Guide; www.healthyfood.com
