This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. We’ll be taking a break next week and will back March 20th. Opt in for Optimizer here.
On the surface, the wellness to MAHA pipeline can appear baffling. How does one get from wanting to be healthy to eschewing vaccines, drinking raw milk, and opting for beef tallow over sunscreen? The simple answer would be: widespread misinformation on online platforms, particularly from influencers.
I’d argue the real answer is slightly more nuanced — and something that I’ve been ruminating over since last week’s confirmation hearing for Casey Means.
Means is President Trump’s controversial nominee for surgeon general, a role often described as the “nation’s doctor.” It entails being America’s foremost spokesperson on public health, as well as educating the public using the best scientific information available. You’re probably most familiar with the surgeon general’s warning on cigarette packs and alcohol labels.
Some of the backlash is because Means currently doesn’t hold an active medical license, is not currently practicing, and never finished her surgical residency — all of which are generally considered prerequisites for the post. She’s primarily known for being a wellness influencer with, as many of her detractors point out, dubious beliefs and inconsistent record of disclosing financial relationships with brands. For example, Trump’s former Surgeon General Jerome Adams has penned an opinion piece directly criticizing her stance on vaccines and history as a tech entrepreneur who recommends supplements. As the cofounder of Levels, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) startup that’s aimed toward non-diabetics, Means has frequently used her platform to promote CGM use. That’s not inherently bad, but there’s a lack of evidence for its use in non-diabetic populations. There’s also no consensus among experts on how to interpret CGM data in non-diabetics. Aside from a lack of qualifications, Means’ influencer background presents several ethical red flags.
Means tempered her beliefs during her confirmation hearing, despite having previously challenged vaccines, railed against birth control, and endorsed raw milk. I could probably write a separate Optimizer about each of those stances. But what I want to focus on here is the wellness to MAHA pipeline. Not only is it wildly profitable, but it’s got a very specific playbook.
Step one: establish credibility with selective science
If there’s one thing wellness influencers do well, it’s mixing actual science-based facts with emotional truths to lead their audience to potentially misleading conclusions. This is the most important part of any wellness influencer’s game.
Take Means’ book Good Energy, a New York Times bestseller cowritten with her brother Calley Means. The latter is a key figure in the MAHA movement, and serves as a senior adviser to RFK Jr. The book’s primary thesis is that metabolic dysfunction is at the root of every ailment you can think of, from acne to cancer. The front half of the book cites many true things about metabolism. For example, it goes into how mitochondria — the ol’ “powerhouse of the cell” — turns nutrients into cellular energy. She explains in digestible terms how mitochondria produce ATP, what ATP is used for in various bodily processes, and then goes into how certain factors of modern life may lead to “mitochondrial dysfunction.” She also goes into concepts like insulin resistance — when your body, over time, gets less responsive to the hormone leading to a less efficient use of blood sugar — and how it is heavily tied to conditions like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. If you remember high school biology, or even searched these basic claims on Google, much of the information passes the smell check.
Good Energy is full of basic health facts placed next to less proven theories. Sen. Susan Collins questioned Means on passages in the book relating to psychedelic use during her confirmation hearing. Getty Images
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