I saw this article today "The Sickening Business of Wellness" by Yvette d'Entremont, also known as SciBabe at scibabe.com. Basically, because of the lack of studies with reproducable results about how Himalayan salt lamps are magical, the entire industry of "wellness" must be snake oily gimmick, and it's better to avoid it completely, and never drink green juice again.
The article is right to slam certain pre-bottled beverages, that practically purport to be so effective as to bring instant health and enlightenment the momemt one drinks them, as cheap marketing schemes. However, what I think this article missed, is that the wellness movement as a whole is a move in the right direction, as consumers are moving away from overly processed sugarfoods, and moving toward vegetables and potentially healthy Indian spices. Although there are companies out there trying to profit from "wellness", as a cultural phenomenon, it's generally positive in nature, as long as its followers don't ignore Western medicine and science (and probably don't drink too much pre-packaged mystery algae) in their pursuit of it.
Another take on the "wellness" movement is in a nymag.com article from earlier this year, "Can Wellness Be Scientific?", which lists several helpful resources at the bottom of the page. However, I don't know why this article lists the Environmental Working Group (EWG) within the same line that mentions Mercola and Deepak Chopra.
Although a lot of profit-oriented schemes exist in the wellness movement, one shouldn't knock "wellness" as a whole. When used as an alternative to actual medicine, yeah green detox beverages are probably not a good idea. However, in conjunction with Western medicine, yoga and turmeric might actually do some good, as some studies have shown.*
Also, Himalayan salt lamps really do have a pleasant glow! I like Dr. Andrew Weil's take on the salt lamp matter.
*Jurenka, JS.
"Anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a major constituent of Curcuma longa: a review of preclinical and clinical research." Altern Med Rev. 2009. Sep;14(3):277. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19594223
The article is right to slam certain pre-bottled beverages, that practically purport to be so effective as to bring instant health and enlightenment the momemt one drinks them, as cheap marketing schemes. However, what I think this article missed, is that the wellness movement as a whole is a move in the right direction, as consumers are moving away from overly processed sugarfoods, and moving toward vegetables and potentially healthy Indian spices. Although there are companies out there trying to profit from "wellness", as a cultural phenomenon, it's generally positive in nature, as long as its followers don't ignore Western medicine and science (and probably don't drink too much pre-packaged mystery algae) in their pursuit of it.
Another take on the "wellness" movement is in a nymag.com article from earlier this year, "Can Wellness Be Scientific?", which lists several helpful resources at the bottom of the page. However, I don't know why this article lists the Environmental Working Group (EWG) within the same line that mentions Mercola and Deepak Chopra.
Although a lot of profit-oriented schemes exist in the wellness movement, one shouldn't knock "wellness" as a whole. When used as an alternative to actual medicine, yeah green detox beverages are probably not a good idea. However, in conjunction with Western medicine, yoga and turmeric might actually do some good, as some studies have shown.*
Also, Himalayan salt lamps really do have a pleasant glow! I like Dr. Andrew Weil's take on the salt lamp matter.
*Jurenka, JS.
"Anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a major constituent of Curcuma longa: a review of preclinical and clinical research." Altern Med Rev. 2009. Sep;14(3):277. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19594223
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