How to Be Well: Finding a way through the healthcare epidemic without losing your mind or your money

Peloton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwagandha. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women's lives? 'Penetrating and thought-provoking, this will cause readers to think twice before reaching for the latest purported cure-all.' Publishers Weekly 'A rollicking exploration of our desperation for wellness, our devotion to CBD, (and) self-care...deftly separating the gobbledygook from the truly transformative.' Ariel Levy, author of The Rules Do Not Apply Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion behemoth that touches us all. Amy Larocca takes readers into the communities that swear by their activated charcoal toothpaste and green juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really is, and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions — and tries a lot herself along the way — ultimately delivering an assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialised) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys on our unshakable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries have peddled snake oil to women for decades, and why we keep coming back for more.

© 2026 Bedford Square Publishers (Ebook): 9781835014332

Release date

Ebook: 15 January 2026