156: Decoding DISINFORMATION + Rethinking WELLNESS with Christy Harrison

WANTcast: The Women Against Negative Talk Podcast

"Wellness" is 4.4-trillion-dollar global industry — but in many cases, it's not actually making us more well. In a society that's become increasingly distrustful of conventional medicine, how can we decipher what's fact vs. fiction, steer clear of The Wellness Trap, and reimagine what well-being CAN be?

Today's guest is the phenomenal Christy Harrison, a journalist, registered dietitian, and certified intuitive eating counselor. She’s the author of the brand new book The Wellness Trap: Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses and Find Your True Well-Being and the amazing book Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating. She’s also the producer and host of two podcasts, Rethinking Wellness and Food Psych, which have helped tens of thousands of listeners around the world think critically about diet and wellness culture and develop more peaceful relationships with food.

Something really important to know: if you’re thinking this is going to be an episode totally bashing wellness — that is NOT what this is. Christy is encouraging us to expand our critical thinking skills and hold multiple truths at once. This is 100% a WANTcast episode for people who are wellness devotees, for people who can't stand (or at least are super skeptical of) what’s become of the wellness world, and for all the people in the middle. If you listen to one pod this week, make it this one.

IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT:

• The difference between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation
• How social media's algorithms can lead you down more extreme, risky paths without even intending to
• Why the wellness industry is so enticing and, at times, can seem way more "trustworthy" to us (even if that's not always the case)
• How to intentionally and mindfully make space for wellness practices and alternatives you love and find useful
• How to determine what's helpful, what's harmful, and what deserves a second look
• What to say to a friend who might have fallen down a dangerous rabbit hole
• How you can reinvision what "living well" actually means
• and SO MUCH MORE.

ABOUT THE WELLNESS TRAP:

The Wellness Trap delves into the persistent, systemic problems with that industry, offering insight into its troubling pattern of cultural appropriation and its destructive views on mental health, and shedding light on how a growing distrust of conventional medicine has led ordinary people to turn their backs on science. Weaving together history, memoir, reporting, and practical advice, Harrison illuminates the harms of wellness culture while re-imagining our society’s relationship with well-being.

SHOW NOTES:

Buy The Wellness Trap: Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses and Find Your True Well-Being

Buy Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating

Rethinking Wellness

Food Psych

Christy's website

Christy's newsletter

Christy on IG

Follow Katie on Instagram

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