The quest for wellness has exploded into a $4.4 trillion industry bursting with cleansing crystals, detoxifying elixirs, charcoal-infused foods, coffee enemas, jade yoni eggs, and colloidal silver sprays that promise optimal physical, mental and sexual health – and women have been the primary targets of these clever corporate marketers.

Journalist RINA RAPHAEL, once an adherent herself to wellness influencers and brands like Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle company Goop, investigates the industry in a new book. She found that with so much hype and very little science behind many of these products, diets, and workout claims, the big idea backing their appeal is control over our messy, stressful lives – and it’s too good to resist.

We’ll talk to Raphael about the industry, the harm it causes and her new book, The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the False Promise of Self-Care.

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