“Wellness” is a word influencers use as a hashtag on videos of them pouring collagen into smoothies and as the theme of a celebrity chef’s new cookbook. It’s even an obsession of the US health secretary. But what does it mean to be well? That’s the question we answer this week on Explain It to Me, Vox’s call-in podcast that answers the questions that matter to you most.

While the multibillion-dollar industry feels new, it’s been over a century in the making. Jonathan Stea, a clinical psychologist and author of Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health From the Wellness Industry, says that a lot of wellness trends fill in gaps in health care. That cold plunge or super food may be harmless, but often the science behind the trends can be iffy. “The problem is that one of the ways in which

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