The Great Wellness Hoax: How Bad Science and Predatory Tactics Created a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry

For a particular subset of the American population, the solution (and remedy) to America’s 2020 societal ills is obvious: Essential Oils.

Derived from the distillation of specific plants, an essential oil is a concentrated extract of a plant’s “essence” that some people believe provide health benefits if inhaled (through aromatherapy) or applied topically.

The essential oil market generated $7 billion in 2018, and some projections have the industry burgeoning to $14.6 billion by 2026 — if the bubble doesn’t burst before then. The largest essential oil supplier, Young Living, reported $1.5 billion in revenue for 2017.

The essential oil craze is just one small part of the Natural Wellness, or “Naturopathy,” Movement, a multi-billion-dollar industry bent on convincing healthy people they’re sick, and that the only way to be “cured” is to purchase alternative medicine and natural remedies to supplement a “holistic” lifestyle.

For the record, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being more mindful about one’s health and seeking a more naturalistic lifestyle. At the same time, however, the fact that personal wealth is the largest contributing factor to one’s personal health goes largely ignored in conversations surrounding “wellness.”

In recent years, the Naturopathy Movement has become associated with Multi-Level Marketing organizations (MLMs) that sell diet pills, nutrient shakes, superfood vitamins, skin cleansers, and — of course — essential oils.

Most of these products tap into our cultural insecurities revolving around body image and fitness and are prime examples of “magical thinking.” (For example, any product promoted as a way to “purify your body of toxins” or “detox” is a total scam).

In my opinion, the Naturopathy Movement is a reaction against two pervasive factors in American culture:

1. Women’s healthcare in the United States is an absolute nightmare. And the more the U.S. healthcare system fails women, the more “alternative medicine” (and the opportunity to take your health into your own hands) becomes appealing. It’s no coincidence that most naturopathy products…