When ‘wellness’ beats science: why influencers are winning the health debate

It’s a strange truth of modern life that two people can look at the same piece of evidence and walk away believing completely different things. We like to think we’re led by facts, but more often we’re guided by the values we hold, and the stories that speak to them.

In health, this plays out in fascinating, and sometimes troubling ways. The rise of online wellness culture has given us an endless buffet of advice, from the plausible to the implausible, all presented with the same confident flourish. The persuasive power isn’t always in the evidence itself, but in how it’s framed, appeals to self-reliance, distrust of large institutions, natural medicine and the promise of taking control of our own destiny.