'Spirituality' Gobbling Up More Markets?

Plus: A nostalgic social wellness trend, niche influencers, Americans' biggest health gripes, controversial studies, and more.

Updates:

Skeptical Inquirer magazine reviewed my book, The Gospel of Wellness, and work! An excerpt:

[The Gospel of Wellness] offers healthy skepticism, investigative reporting, fascinating insights, and the empathy of an author… Rina Raphael is an accomplished journalist whose initial reporting on the wellness industry focused on lifestyle and business coverage but later expanded to science reporting emphasizing the importance of evidence to back up claims. She separates the wheat from the chaff and explains the challenge of sorting out causation versus correlation regarding medical advice. She shares insights from trustworthy experts.” READ

Is ‘Spiritual’ the New Wellness?

My new local Albertsons (I just moved!) features an aisle category that piqued my interest: “New Age Drinks.” 

Wellness, it would seem, has a fierce competitor. It’s no longer enough to be clean, “natural, or “better for you”; now a drink must also be meditative or elevate you to new spiritual heights.

Unfortunately, not one drink advertised spiritual or metaphysical benefits. I assume Albertsons merely conflated wellness with spirituality (and, perhaps, hoped to intrigue the average Los Feliz shopper). However, Snaxshot has a good summary of products that are promising spiritual benefits in a can. Sparkling water offering “energetic protection.” Chocolate bars with “healing sound frequency.” Booze that “sages from the inside.”

Bella Hadid’s “functional” beverage line Kin Euphorics, for example, is infused with adaptogens to “strengthen” your adrenal system, “boost” your immunity, and provide “long-term brain benefits.” (Science-washing 🚨) But! It also contains ingredients to “conjure clarity and vision” and “ignite heart fire.” 

I don’t even know what that means.

I’ve also come across brands like Despierta, an herbal tea blend infused with “crystal essences.” Each crystal is charged under the sun and moon with set intentions, and all blends are crafted in “small-batch tea cauldrons” (which might be a fancy way to say teapot). The dreamy-hued brand markets its ability to “awaken your inner power” as well as “your dream reality—in mind, body & spirit.”