The Ultimate Guide to Wellness Scams: What the $7 Trillion Industry is Hiding

cardiology healthy living scams Feb 21, 2026

The Wellness Economy: Big Business, Big Claims, and How to Tell the Difference

The “wellness industry” is not a single sector, it’s a sprawling ecosystem of products, services, and health-adjacent businesses that range from ordinary self-care (fitness, sleep, nutrition) to highly engineered medical-adjacent offerings (telehealth, diagnostics, hormone clinics) and, unfortunately, to outright fraud. The cleanest high-level estimate I found comes from the Global Wellness Institute: the global wellness economy hit about $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is forecast to approach ~$9.8 trillion by 2029. [1]

Compare that to "Big Pharma" at $500 billion. Most online influencers will criticize Big Pharma for being money hungry, yet completely ignore Big Wellness for being 14X the size of Big Pharma. At least Big Pharma is regulated and must show results. Big Wellness is a free for all and completely unregulated. This is dangerous and has lead to serious harm and even deaths.

In the U.S., GWI estimates wellness spending at about $2.015 trillion in 2023 (latest year in that country report). [2]

Here’s the tension that matters: wellness is huge because parts of it are genuinely useful and widely purchased (beauty/personal care, food/nutrition, physical activity). But the same size and cultural momentum also makes wellness a magnet for overpromising, pseudo-science, and regulatory gray-zone marketing—especially in supplements, weight loss, and “anti-aging.” Regulators repeatedly warn that health claims must be truthful and backed by solid evidence, and they’ve taken real enforcement actions in well-known cases (e.g., deceptive brain-training claims, deceptive weight-loss marketing, influencer disclosure failures). [3]

The harm isn’t only financial. Dietary supplements alone have been linked to tens of thousands of U.S. emergency department visits per year in national estimates, and there are documented cases of serious toxicity from mislabeled “natural” weight-loss supplements and from counterfeit/illegal versions of in-demand drugs. Contaminants have even lead to death. [4]

My bottom line: wellness is too big to ignore, but it’s also too lightly governed in many corners to trust by default. The safest approach is to treat wellness claims like you’d treat any health claim: ask “What’s the evidence in humans?”, “What’s the risk if it’s wrong?”, and “Who profits if I believe this?”

How Big Is The Wellness Industry And Who Owns It?

Market size: two different “wellness” numbers can both be true

If you read headlines about wellness, you’ll see different totals because people measure different things.

The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) uses a broad “wellness economy” lens—11 overlapping sectors spanning consumer goods and service industries. In that framework, GWI reports the wellness economy at $6.8T in 2024, growing 7.9% from 2023 to 2024, and notes this represents about 6.12% of global GDP. [5]

A narrower framing (often used by consultants and consumer researchers) focuses on consumer purchases across a subset of categories; it’s useful behaviorally, but it’s not an apples-to-apples replacement for GWI’s macro number. (I’m mentioning this because it explains why one chart says “trillions” and another says “only” the low trillions.) [6]

Market capitalization: there is no single “wellness industry market cap”

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: there is no authoritative, standardized “wellness sector” market-cap figure, because “wellness” is not a clean stock-market classification. Much of wellness spending accrues to diversified giants (food, beauty conglomerates, big tech wearables, hospitality) and to private companies. [5]

What I can do rigorously is show a proxy basket of public “wellness-forward” companies and their market caps at specific dates (to illustrate scale and volatility). This does not equal “the wellness industry,” but it shows how public markets price some pure-play-ish wellness models.

Illustrative public company	What it represents in wellness	Market cap snapshot (as of Feb 2026)
Planet Fitness	Gyms / mass-market fitness memberships	~$7.75B (Feb 10, 2026) [7]
Hims & Hers Health	DTC telehealth + subscriptions	~$3.62B (Feb 19, 2026) [8]
Peloton	Connected fitness hardware + subscription content	~$1.81B (Feb 13, 2026) [9]
Herbalife	Supplements sold via multi-level marketing	~$2.02B (Feb 19, 2026) [10]

If you sum many companies like these, you still won’t “reconstruct” the wellness economy—because (a) a lot of wellness is private, and (b) giant mixed businesses don’t break out “wellness” in a way you can cleanly market-cap. [5]

Where the Money Flows Across Wellness Categories

I like to think of wellness as “what people buy when they’re trying to feel better, look better, live longer, or take control.” That maps neatly onto big categories—some more evidence-based than others—and it also helps explain why scams cluster in certain places (weight loss, “detox,” anti-aging, immune claims).

Market size by category

The table below mixes (1) GWI’s wellness economy sectors (very large, overlapping, macro) and (2) category-level market research estimates (more specific, often non-overlapping within their own definitions). I’m keeping years explicit because “latest” varies by source.

Category	What it typically includes	Market size (global)	U.S. market size (where available)	Notes
Total wellness economy (GWI)	11-sector “wellness economy”	$6.8T (2024) [5]	$2.015T (2023) [2]	Sectors overlap; not strictly additive [11]
Personal care & beauty (GWI sector)	Cosmetics, skincare, etc.	$1.35T (2024) [11]	Unspecified	Sector, not device-only
Healthy eating, nutrition & weight loss (GWI sector)	Food + weight loss ecosystem	$1.148T (2024) [11]	Unspecified	Sector overlaps supplements/foods
Physical activity (GWI sector)	Gyms, sport, equipment, studios	$1.144T (2024) [11]	Unspecified	Broad, service heavy
Wellness tourism (GWI sector)	Travel tied to wellness activities	$894B (2024) [11]	Unspecified	GWI value; other firms differ
Spas (GWI sector)	Day spas, resort spas, etc.	$157B (2024) [11]	Unspecified	Service-based
Thermal/mineral springs (GWI sector)	Hot springs establishments	$72B (2024) [12]	Unspecified	GWI estimates establishment count + revenue [12]
Supplements	Vitamins, botanicals, sports nutrition	$192.65B (2024) [13]	Unspecified (CAGR noted) [13]	High scam exposure category [14]
Functional foods	Foods marketed with added benefits	$329.65B (2023) [15]	Unspecified	Often overlaps “healthy eating” sector
Wearables	Watches, rings, trackers, smart eyewear	$92.90B (2025) [16]	$19.92B (2023) [17]	Also privacy/behavioral-risk issues
Beauty tech / devices	Skincare devices + AI/AR beauty tech	$66.16B (2024) [18]	Unspecified	Some devices have limited proven benefit [19]
Anti-aging products	Mostly consumer skincare anti-aging	$52.44B (2024) [20]	$14.05B (2024) [21]	Not the same as “longevity clinics”
Telehealth	Remote care platforms/services	$123.26B (2024) [22]	Unspecified	Definitions vary (“telehealth” vs “telemedicine”) [23]
mHealth apps	Fitness + medical apps	$37.5B (2024) [24]	Unspecified in snippet	Subscriptions + habit loops
Self-testing	OTC tests, home kits, devices, strips	$11.39B (2024) [25]	Unspecified	Can be helpful; also anxiety-driven upsell risk
DTC genetic testing	Consumer genetic testing kits	$1.9B (2023) [26]	Unspecified	Often bundled into “personalization”
Weight-loss services	Programs, services (not drugs)	$36.31B (2023) [27]	Unspecified	High marketing intensity
Saunas (equipment market)	Sauna products/equipment	$904.9M (2024) [28]	Unspecified	Distinct from sauna-as-service

Big Wellness Quick Market-share Picture

GWI’s sector values are a good way to visualize “where the biggest piles of money are.” This pie chart uses GWI’s 2024 sector numbers as presented; note the caveat: sectors can overlap, so treat this as “relative scale,” not a perfect decomposition. [11]

How Wellness Companies Make Money and Sell Hope

When I look across wellness, the same “growth playbook” appears again and again. Some of it is normal business (subscriptions, retention, product bundling). Some is more troubling: making claims that feel scientific but don’t meet scientific standards.

The rules that matter

In the U.S., two agencies set much of the practical boundary:

The FTC focuses on deceptive marketing. For health-related claims, it generally expects competent and reliable scientific evidence supporting what you imply to reasonable consumers. [29]

The FDA regulates drugs and also oversees dietary supplements in a different framework; it also warns that many products marketed as supplements have been found with hidden drug ingredients, and it maintains multiple fraud notification systems. [30]

Business models vs marketing tactics

Business model (how money is made)	Typical revenue mechanics	Common marketing tactics	Where it can go wrong (pattern)
DTC supplements	High margin; bundles; repeat purchase	“Doctor formulated,” before/after, “supports” language	Evidence gap; “tainted” products with hidden drugs; misleading disease implications [14]
MLM supplements	Distributor recruitment + product sales	Community identity; transformation stories; income promises	Deceptive earnings potential; peer pressure; high churn [31]
Subscription apps (sleep, fitness, “brain training”)	Recurring revenue; long retention	“Personalized,” streaks, gamification	Claims outpacing evidence; placebo-like engagement framed as medical benefit [32]
Connected devices (wearables, LED masks)	Hardware + membership/saaS	Quantified-self, “biohacking,” influencer unboxings	“Wellness” positioning while implying disease detection/treatment; device quality variance [33]
Telehealth & online clinics	Membership + Rx/fulfillment	Convenience, privacy, “optimized care”	Overprescribing, thin screening; compounding gray zones in hot areas (e.g., GLP‑1 demand) [34]
“Longevity” / hormone clinics	High-ticket memberships, add-on labs	“Optimization,” “bioidentical,” lab-driven authority	Weak evidence for some claims; compounded hormone risks/uncertainty [35]
Retreats/spas/thermal	Packages, experiences, add-ons	“Detox,” “reset,” transformation narratives	Selling vague “toxins” removal; upselling unproven medical-like add-ons [36]

The Wellness Scam Marketing Funnel I Keep Seeing

A big accelerant here is influencer marketing. The FTC updated its Endorsement Guides to address new realities like social media endorsements and deceptive reviews—because these channels can blur the line between testimony and evidence. [37]

Consumer Harms: What’s Documented and Why It Happens

When wellness goes wrong, the harm usually falls into four buckets:

Financial harm (wasted money, subscription traps, high-ticket protocols), health harm (toxicity, interactions, counterfeit products), opportunity cost (delayed diagnosis or treatment), and misinformation (false beliefs that drive bad decisions).

Documented health harm: supplements and counterfeits are the sharp edge

A national estimate based on U.S. surveillance data reported over 20,000 emergency department visits per year attributed to dietary supplement adverse events, with many involving weight-loss/energy products in younger adults and swallowing issues in older adults. [38]

That’s the “ordinary” harm: side effects, interactions, dosing mistakes. Then there’s the “catastrophic” harm: outright toxicity and fraud.

Case study: mislabeled weight-loss supplements containing a toxic plant (yellow oleander).
The CDC described “tejocote root” products for weight loss that testing found were actually yellow oleander, containing digoxin-like cardiac toxins—an example of how “natural” branding can hide lethal risk. [39]

Case study: counterfeit Ozempic and illegal GLP‑1 knockoffs.
The FDA has issued repeated warnings about counterfeit Ozempic found in the U.S. supply chain and continues investigating seized counterfeit units. [40]
Separately, the FDA warns that unapproved GLP‑1 drugs sold for weight loss are risky because they don’t undergo FDA review for safety/quality and may involve compounding misuse and misleading marketing. [41]
In Europe, the EMA has also warned about falsified Ozempic pens circulating through wholesalers. [42]

Opportunity Cost: The Harm You Don’t See In Receipts

Even when the “protocol” is physically safe, it can still be harmful if it replaces effective care. A peer-reviewed study in JNCI found worse outcomes for certain cancer patients who used alternative medicine instead of conventional cancer treatment. [43]

Misinformation Harm: “detox” and “immune booster” claims spread fast

The FDA maintains a public page on fraudulent COVID-19 products marketed to prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 and documents warning letter activity. [44]
And the FDA warns consumers about “Miracle Mineral Solution” (chlorine dioxide), a bleach-like substance marketed as a medical treatment, due to dangerous side effects. [45]

Scam and Overclaim Catalog: Evidence, Enforcement, and Risk

I’m going to be blunt: not everything below is “fake” in the sense of having zero biological effect. Some items (like red-light therapy and sauna bathing) have plausible mechanisms and some evidence for certain outcomes—but they’re commonly marketed in ways that exceed what the evidence supports, or they’re bundled into “detox” myths.

Scams table: what’s claimed vs what evidence and regulators say

Product/practice	Common claim	Evidence snapshot	Regulatory status / actions	Consumer harm pattern	Key sources
Fake GLP‑1s / illegal “semaglutide” online	“Real GLP‑1 weight loss without a legit Rx”	Unapproved versions lack FDA review; risk of poor quality/incorrect formulation	FDA warns against unapproved GLP‑1 drugs used for weight loss	Unknown contents, dosing errors, delayed proper care	[41]
Counterfeit Ozempic	“Same drug, cheaper”	FDA investigating thousands of seized counterfeit units; safety/identity uncertain	FDA counterfeit warnings; EMA alerts in EU	Infection risk, ineffective product, toxic adulterants	[46]
Weight-loss pills/fat burners	“Melt fat, boost metabolism fast”	FDA has extensive fraud notices; weight-loss products often implicated in hidden-ingredient problems	FDA weight-loss fraud notifications; “tainted products” alerts	CV side effects, interactions, hidden stimulants/drugs	[47]
“Tejocote root” / “Nuez de la India” (mislabeled)	“Natural weight loss”	CDC found products substituted with yellow oleander toxins	CDC report; FDA follow-up advisory/testing	Arrhythmias, poisonings, hospitalization	[39]
Detoxes/cleanses	“Remove toxins; reset body; rapid weight loss”	NCCIH: “detox” claims are broad; evidence varies; some regimens can be harmful	Mostly consumer-protection issue unless disease claims	Dehydration, malnutrition, disordered eating, false reassurance	[48]
Colon cleanses/colonics/enemas marketed as detox	“Clean out the colon; fix fatigue/immunity”	Major medical sources warn of risks and lack of need	Not FDA-approved as detox; often marketed outside medical supervision	Perforation, infection, electrolyte imbalance	[49]
Blue-light blocking glasses	“Prevent eye damage; fix digital eye strain; improve sleep”	Cochrane review: little/no short-term benefit for eye strain; AAO doesn’t recommend for eye health claims	Not typically an enforcement focus unless deceptive ads	Mostly financial harm; distraction from proven habits	[50]
Red-light / LED masks	“Erase wrinkles; cure acne; reverse aging”	Dermatology orgs say it may help as adjunct for certain issues; at-home devices weaker; not a miracle	Some devices are FDA-cleared for limited indications; still many overclaims	Financial harm; eye safety issues if misused	[51]
“Mitochondria health” stacks (NAD+ IVs, boosters)	“Boost cellular energy; reverse aging; treat addiction”	Emerging research; evidence often preliminary; some claims (e.g., addiction “detox cure”) not established	Some regulators have acted on clinics’ unsubstantiated claims (reported)	High cost; IV risks; vulnerable people targeted	[52]
Grounding mats	“Absorb electrons; reduce inflammation; improve sleep”	Some small/pilot trials exist; overall body of evidence is limited and contested	Generally unregulated unless medical claims cross line	Mostly opportunity cost/false confidence; sometimes electrical safety concerns	[53]
Hydrogen water	“Powerful antioxidant; anti-inflammatory; performance and longevity boost”	Systematic reviews describe mixed/early evidence; clinical certainty remains limited	Often sold as beverage/device; disease claims may draw scrutiny	Mostly financial/opportunity cost; hype-driven overuse	[54]
“Mother water” / “structured/hexagonal/quantum” water	“Restructure water; heal better hydration/energy”	Chemistry experts argue claims are misleading; “water is water” framing	Usually consumer-protection territory unless disease claims	Financial harm; misinformation	[55]
Perineum sunning	“Boost testosterone/energy; ‘ancient’ wellness”	Paper documents this as non–evidence-based with potential harm; UV exposure risk	Not a product enforcement case; public-health messaging matters	Burns, skin cancer risk, “viral trend” harm	[56]
Bogus immune boosters	“Boost immunity; prevent infections; cure serious disease”	Regulators maintain fraud databases; many products make illegal disease claims	FDA health fraud product database; COVID fraud pages	Delayed care, toxicity (if adulterated), misinformation	[57]
COVID “reversal” protocols (incl. MMS/chlorine dioxide)	“Treat/cure COVID”	FDA warns of dangerous side effects from chlorine dioxide products	FDA warnings + enforcement actions	Poisoning, severe illness; high misinformation risk	[58]
Hormone scams (compounded “bioidentical” HRT as “safer/natural”)	“Safer, more effective, personalized hormones”	Endocrine Society: little/no evidence supports superiority claims; ACOG cites lack of high-quality evidence	Clinical guidance discourages routine use when approved products exist	Dosing variability, risks, medicalization/overuse	[59]
Herbal miracle cures (especially cancer)	“Treat/cure cancer naturally”	FDA documents warning letters and products sold illegally for cancer claims	FDA “Illegally sold cancer treatments” page	Delay of effective care; financial exploitation	[60]

Top scams to worry about first (prevalence × harm)

If I had to prioritize what’s most dangerous at scale, I’d put these at the top:

Illegal/counterfeit GLP‑1 weight-loss drugs and compounded knockoffs marketed irresponsibly, because demand is huge and the risk profile includes wrong ingredients, wrong dosing, and infections. [61]
Weight-loss supplements and “fat burners”, because regulators repeatedly warn of contamination and hidden drugs in this category, and because adverse events are well documented. [62]
Mislabeled “herbal” weight-loss products (yellow oleander substitution), because the harm can be acute and cardiac. [39]
COVID “cure” products and bleach-like protocols (MMS/chlorine dioxide), because the claims can deter real medical care and the products can be toxic. [58]
High-ticket hormone “optimization” via compounded bioidentical hormones positioned as safer, because professional societies highlight evidence gaps and risks when FDA-approved options exist. [35]

A timeline of major enforcement and warning signals

This isn’t exhaustive, but it shows how wellness-adjacent enforcement tends to spike around big consumer trends (weight loss, cognitive enhancement, COVID, influencer marketing).

[63]

Where Saunas Fit: Real Benefits, Real Risks, and Real Marketing Nonsense

Saunas are a good example of “wellness that’s not automatically a scam.” There is a serious scientific literature on sauna bathing and health, including cardiovascular associations and plausible physiological mechanisms; Mayo Clinic Proceedings published a review summarizing evidence across outcomes. [64] However, it is generally way overstated and most studies are confounded by healthy user bias. Most people who are healthy enough to use a sauna three to four times per week are very wealthy and healthy to begin with compared those who can't.

But saunas also get dragged into detox mythology (“sweat out toxins”) and into risky “wellness stacking” (alcohol + heat + dehydration). From a safety perspective, heat illness risk is real, and public-health agencies emphasize recognizing overheating symptoms and preventing dehydration—principles that apply to sauna use too. [65]

Sources and further reading

Key industry sizing and category reports
GWI “Statistics & Facts” (global wellness economy in 2024; growth; share of global GDP) [66]
GWI Global Wellness Economy Monitor 2025 PDF (sector sizes; methodology; trends) [11]
GWI U.S. wellness economy report PDF (U.S. spending, 2019–2023) [2]

Grand View Research category market sizing
Dietary supplements market size (global) [13]
Functional foods market size (global) [15]
Wearable technology market size (global) and U.S. wearable market size [67]
Beauty tech market size (global) [18]
Anti-aging products market size (global) and U.S. anti-aging market size [68]
Telehealth market size (global) [22]
mHealth apps market size (global) [24]
Self-testing market size (global) [25]
Sauna equipment market size (global) [28]

Regulatory and enforcement sources
FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance [29]
FTC updated Endorsement Guides press release [37]
FTC: Lumosity settlement [32]
FTC: Herbalife settlement and refunds [31]
FTC: Teami case (claims + influencer marketing) [69]
FTC: Skechers toning shoes settlement [70]
FDA: Counterfeit Ozempic warning [71]
EMA: Falsified Ozempic pens alert [42]
FDA: Concerns with unapproved GLP‑1 drugs used for weight loss [41]
FDA: Medication health fraud notifications; tainted products with hidden ingredients [72]
FDA: Fraudulent COVID-19 products [44]
FDA: Miracle Mineral Solution warning (chlorine dioxide) [45]

Peer-reviewed and medical evidence sources for specific items
Emergency department visits for dietary supplement adverse events (NEJM / CDC-hosted material) [38]
CDC MMWR: Tejocote root substituted with yellow oleander [73]
Cochrane review: blue-light filtering spectacle lenses [74]
American Academy of Ophthalmology: blue-light glasses not recommended for eye health claims [75]
American Academy of Dermatology: red light therapy guidance [19]
JMIR Dermatology: perineum sunning analysis [56]
Mayo Clinic Proceedings: sauna bathing review [76]
CDC heat illness guidance (overheating symptoms/safety framing) [65]
Endocrine Society position statement: compounded bioidentical hormone therapy evidence gap [77]
ACOG clinical consensus: compounded bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy evidence limitations [78]
National Academies report on compounded bioidentical hormone therapy [79]

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https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/statistics-and-facts/

[2] The Global Wellness

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[4] Slide 1

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[6] The Future of Wellness trends survey 2025 | McKinsey

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[9] Peloton Interactive (PTON) Market Cap & Net Worth - Stock Analysis

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[10] Herbalife (HLF) Market Cap & Net Worth - Stock Analysis

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[12] THERMAL/MINERAL SPRINGS - Global Wellness Institute

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[17] U.S. Wearable Technology Market | Industry Report, 2030

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[21] U.S. Anti-aging Products Market Size | Industry Report, 2033

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[22] Telehealth Market Size, Share, Trends | Industry Report 2030

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/telehealth-market-report

[23] Telemedicine Market Size And Share | Industry Report, 2030

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/telemedicine-industry

[24] mHealth Apps Market Size & Share | Industry Report, 2030

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mhealth-app-market

[25] Self-testing Market Size And Share | Industry Report, 2030

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/self-testing-market-report

[26] Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Market Size Report 2030

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/direct-to-consumer-genetic-testing-market-report

[27] Weight Loss Services Market Size & Share Report, 2030 - Grand View Research

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[28] Sauna Market Size, Share & Growth | Industry Report, 2033

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[31] Herbalife Will Restructure Its Multi-level Marketing Operations and Pay ...

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[32] Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges ...

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[34] It's Shockingly Easy to Buy Off-Brand Ozempic Online, Even if You Don't Need It

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[37] Federal Trade Commission Announces Updated Advertising Guides to Combat ...

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[42] EMA alerts EU patients and healthcare professionals to reports of ...

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[53] A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the improvement ...

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