The internet wants to convince you that you’re unwell

The wellness side of the internet wants you think twice about whether your hormones are out of wack, whether you should be taking a daily collagen supplement, a magnesium pill to sleep, a gut-balancing probiotic, or doing a seven-day detox. It may even have you so worried about your cortisol levels that you cause your cortisol to rise… but isn’t that the idea?

With all these novel health concerns thrown into our orbit, we are spending money on our health like never before – and Gen Z and Millennials are forking out the most of all.

New reports have shown these groups spend around three times as much as baby boomers on fitness membership, with more than half engaging in exercise regimes like Pilates and yoga that foster mental resilience while delivering on physical results.

The internet has also turned previously niche wellness treatments into trends, causing Google searches for cold plunges, red light therapy, and cryotherapy to skyrocket between 2023 and 2024.

Young people’s affinity for health and wellness becomes more evident when looking at their reduced spending on alcohol. Gen Zers and Millennials have shifted away from drinking alcohol, with some never drinking to begin with, causing sales for non-alcoholic beers and low ABV seltzers to shoot up exponentially.

Instead, we’re favouring prebiotic gut sodas like Olipop and Poppi – the latter was bought by Pepi for nearly $2 billion – and mood-boosting drinks like Trip and Hip Pop over traditional sodas like Coca-Cola.

On paper, this obviously isn’t a bad thing. For most people, modern life is largely sedentary while food has generally become less nutritious, so prioritizing health has never been more important. However, there is concern that ‘wellness culture’ is orthorexia in disguise – an eating disorder that manifests in an exaggerated, obsessive, and pathological fixation on healthy food and eating healthily.

While the health food and supplement industry is raking in the dough, the number of people suffering from liver problems is rising. Scientists have found a link between the rising cases of liver damage to long term supplement use, especially those which aren’t FDA-approved, which make up a surprising majority of them.

In the end, it’s great that people are being more conscious about their health. Healthcare is becoming more difficult to access for many in the US and the UK, so preventing illness is always preferred over having to treat it.

But adhering to health and wellness ‘trends’ will likely never be sustainable. Doctors agree that best things we can do for our health are commit to having a wholesome diet, adequate sleep, sufficient hydration, and stress management. Each of these will optimize health more effectively than any supplement.

Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are known to promote images of idealised bodies, with many wellness influencers showcasing their unrealistic and unsustainable daily routines involving health foods, restrictive diets, and intense exercise. But the simplest, most convenient regime is usually the best one for us.

As the age-old saying goes, stressing over our health – especially to the degree the internet wants us to – is only going to leave us worse off.