A deeply researched, lively, and personal exploration of the multibillion-dollar wellness industry\u2014about why women are feeling so un-well and how this trend has shaped our thinking about health and self-care<\/b><\/p>\n
Peloton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwagandha. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion behemoth that touches us all. In this timely and clear-eyed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the wellness movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women’s lives? And how did we end up spending so much money on products that may not work at all?<\/p>\n
Amy Larocca takes listeners into the communities that swear by their activated charcoal toothpaste and green juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really is\u2014and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions\u2014and tries a lot herself along the way\u2014ultimately delivering an assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys on our unshakable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries have peddled snake oil to women for decades\u2014and why we keep coming back for more.<\/p>\n
A clear-eyed and honest portrait of the weird world of wellness,\u00a0How to Be Well<\/i>\u00a0lays bare the ways in which the simple notion of caring for oneself has become a seriously big business.<\/p>\n