I went to the #SXSW Health & Wellness expo on Saturday (it was free). There were I guess about 100 booths: yoga, aromas, herbs, juice, athlete energy drinks, energy healing, naturopathy, CBD etc. There was pervasive pseudoscience and I left feeling just... sad. (thread)
-
-
The supporting studies feel like just another marketing bullet point, not an examination of the evidence for the product's claims. Check, add 'Clinically studied', or 'Contains clinically studied ingredients' to the promotional materials. I'm sounding cynical at this point
#SXSWShow this thread -
I think this lack of desire to test stems from a false but general idea of "natural" - that natural things aren't really going to hurt you, and don't really have to be rigorously tested. There's this feeling of exemption from needing to test rigorously.
#SXSWShow this thread -
It could have been much worse. There were few things that I'd call outright frauds/dangers. BUT, there were many, many scientifically objectionable marketing claims (telomere lengthening skincream?). I've just discussed the few booths that I was able to speak with.
#SXSWShow this thread -
I hope wellness as a category moves toward things that just make you feel well, like eating well, exercising, relaxing, smelling nice smells etc. without depending on this layer of bad science as marketing support. It doesn't need it.
#SXSWShow this thread -
-
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.