The wellness tea is spilled
If your daily routine involves popping a dozen supplements or obsessing over wearable health stats, TV doctor Xand van Tulleken has some news for you: you might be falling for some serious snake oil. In his new book, Make Me Well, the doctor is taking a wrecking ball to the pseudoscience behind the modern wellness industry, and honestly, the plot thickens with every page.
No more vitamin D obsession
You know that vitamin D you’ve been religiously taking because your feed told you to? Van Tulleken found that the evidence for routine supplementation just isn't there for most people. While the NHS might suggest it during the colder months, the doctor’s deep dive into decades of studies revealed that for the generally healthy, it's lowkey unnecessary.
The collagen cost
It’s not just vitamins getting the side-eye. The book exposes how collagen—often marketed as an "ingestible beauty" elixir—is actually a byproduct of the meat industry with a massive price markup. Van Tulleken traveled to China to find that the demand for donkey-hide collagen (ejiao) is so intense it's causing environmental and animal welfare issues globally. From krill oil to turmeric, the book argues there’s a massive gap between the hype we see on podcasts and actual scientific proof.
The real secret to health
Real talk: the best way to feel good doesn't come in a subscription box. Instead of chasing health gurus or buying expensive blood screenings, Van Tulleken suggests focusing on whole foods and picking up a hobby that actually challenges your brain, like learning piano or joining a choir. "The right people to make you well won’t be health gurus," he says. "They might be dance instructors or librarians."
Why it matters
The wellness industry is thriving on conflicts of interest, industry-funded trials, and influencer hype. By calling out this system, Van Tulleken is urging us to stop wasting our hard-earned cash on things that don't work and start prioritizing actual, proven lifestyle changes. It’s giving much-needed reality check.
