The Politics and Price Tag of Wellness
The word wellness gets thrown around a lot these days. It’s on product packaging, in influencer captions, and in political speeches. What started as a term to describe whole-person health — physical, mental, emotional — has turned into a catch-all buzzword. It’s become a multi-billion-dollar industry, a trendy aesthetic, and, increasingly, a political talking point.
As a wellness coach rooted in integrative and bio-individual health, I think it is important to look at what “wellness” has become — who it includes, who it leaves out, and what it’s being used to justify.
The wellness industry thrives on the illusion of accessibility. Ads tell us we just need this one supplement, this one cleanse, this one infrared mat to feel better. But in reality, access to these tools is deeply tied to privilege.
Those with money can afford functional doctors, organic groceries, cold plunges, therapy, yoga, and personalized supplements. They can afford to prevent illness.
Those without that privilege often live in food deserts, work multiple jobs, and rely on urgent care or overcrowded ERs for reactive medicine. Preventative care is a luxury they don’t have time or money for — and wellness, as it’s marketed today, doesn’t include them.
This disparity isn’t just unfair. It’s dangerous. Health is not just about personal choices — it’s about systems. And when wellness gets sold as something you can buy, it reinforces a deeper lie: that people are sick because they’ve failed, not because they’ve been failed by their environment and institutions.
The word wellness has also been pulled into political conversations, sometimes by people who don’t truly have public health in mind. In the past few years, we’ve seen wellness influencers embrace anti-vaccine rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and fringe political candidates.
Take for example the current secretary of Health and Human Services. HHS oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Federal Drug Administration, to name a few. He’s gained traction in some wellness circles because he speaks out about Big Pharma, industrial food systems, and toxic ingredients — things that do deserve scrutiny.
But here’s the problem: he also spreads misinformation that undermines public health, especially around vaccines and infectious disease. Too many wellness advocates turn a blind eye to that — celebrating his stance on food dyes or seed oils, while ignoring the damage he’s done by promoting anti-science views.These followers have also not paid attention to, or have looked away from, the fact that the current administration has cut funding for cancer research, child nutrition programs, and much more.
We can care about clean food and trust evidence-based medicine. We can criticize the pharmaceutical industry and still recognize the importance of vaccines. These things are not mutually exclusive — and pretending they are only feeds polarization and confusion.
Wellness should not be a luxury. It should not be partisan. And it should not be a loophole for promoting science denial or social division.
It’s also about equity. If we’re not talking about access — to nutritious food, safe environments, quality care — then we’re not really talking about wellness. We’re just selling a lifestyle.
