Thank you for such a well-written and balanced piece. I come to this topic with a similar blend of skepticism and curiosity.

I've had great doctors and others that just wanted to write a script for a pill and get me out the door. And I've had some wonderful alternative medicine practitioners and others who were close to quacks. Regulatory bodies do something to keep bad doctors in check, but the conventional medicine has blindspots and a history of ignoring certain groups of patients, as you point out. So there's a reason we go looking for alternatives, some of which end up becoming part of conventional medicine.

I think if there's a place to draw a distinction, it's between functional medicine practitioners and wellness influencers. These groups may overlap, but I think the latter are the places where you're more likely to find fraud, snake oil, etc. That's where the Belle Gibsons of the world come in. The ones who tell you that apple cider vinegar is a cure-all and spend most of their time on Insta or TikTok. Or the ones who make a business out of selling you supplements. (I'm wary of doctors like Hyman and Gundry, who have a roster of products for you to buy. And especially of folks like Paltrow, whose business is selling.)

I know some look down on sharing links, but if you're interested in my take on the problem with the wellness industry, take a look: https://medium.com/the-springboard/the-toxic-world-of-wellness-8a209b2f98a8