American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal

by Kerri Kelly

Better, stronger, healthier, whole–the wellness industry promises us that with enough intention, investment, and positive thinking, we’ll unlock our best selves and find meaning and purpose in a chaotic and confusing world.

The problem? It’s a lie.

The industry soars upwards of $650 billion a year, but we’re still isolated, insecure, and inequitable. “Wellness” isn’t making us well; it’s making us worse.

It diverts our attention and holds us back from asking the questions that do help us heal: Who gets to be well in America? Who’s harmed–and who’s left out? And what’s the real-life cost of our obsession with self-improvement?

To be truly well, we don’t need juice fasts or yoga fads. We need to detox from a culture rooted in perfectionism, white supremacy, and individualism–and move toward a model that embodies mutual responsibility and extends beyond self-help to collective care.

In American Detox, organizer, yoga activist, wellness disruptor, and CTZNWELL founder Kerri Kelly sounds the wake-up call. It’s time to commit to the radical work of unlearning the toxic messages we’ve been fed–to resist, disrupt, and dream better futures of what wellness really means.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Social Justice, Politics, Audiobook, Psychology

320 pages, Paperback

Published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Heidi Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't what I expected. Kelly is careful with her criticism of the wellness world. I was hoping for more meat there. The conversation about race and inequity is good. Generally, she didn't break new ground. If this is new to you, buy this book for the bibliography then read the source material. Though it is well-written and carefully attributed, it is a privileged, white, feminist take on America today. That may be the voice you can best hear. It may not be the best voice.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great resources in this book, and it's a good introduction to the ways history and inequality are threaded through ideas and industries of wellness. For me, it felt like this book was doing too much of everything and maintained its privilege even as it sought to unpack it.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with a lot of the ideas of this book, but the style of writing just didn't work for me. Kelly pounds on ideas over and over again, as if to convince the absolute newbie to social justice, anti-racism and equity, but she does it using all the jargon of these communities, as though preaching to the choir. I'm not quite sure to whom this is supposed to be addressed, but the tone just put me off, even though I love the idea of basing wellness on communal wellness.

[Meggin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected based on the description. I thought it was going to be a fact-based examination of the wellness industry but instead it focused more generally on larger systemic issues of injustice in the United States and how those need to be addressed in order to achieve wellness. While I agree with many of the author's points, I didn't anticipate that this would be a memoir. To me it felt more like rants about specific topics rather than a thorough examination of the wellness industry.

[Bruna (bruandthebooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of a more needed and significant book for this moment. Also, I never had such a hard time writing a review because nothing I say will ever be enough to show y’all how amazing this book is.

I just want to gift everyone with this book lol

5 stars

From healthcare to privilege, from colonization to racism, from Goop to body shame, @ kerrkell covers everything. This book is SO complete and it’ll make you rethink your beliefs. It’ll rip you out of your comfort zone.

“Dominant culture reinforces the belief that if we just meditate, eat organic, and drive a hybrid we are making our contribution to the world. But this individualized view not only keeps us from doing our part, it keeps us from truly being well.”

Just…please read it! And pass it along.

“The irony is that true well-being demands that we turn toward the truth and discomfort of our experience in order to transform it. Well-being understands that justice is needed to bring systems of privilege and oppression into balance. It reveals our connection to all things and the fact that none of us can truly be well unless everyone is well.”

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably a good read if you’re a white person in wellness who is just beginning to grapple with their privilege. It’s broad in scope but doesn’t really dive into too many of the ideas presented with much nuance or critical thought.

[harmencitas · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a woman of colour, I am very clearly not the audience for this book. The author is speaking to predominantly advantaged women condemning the wellness industry that misses the mark on its namesake. The wellness industry is essentially built on promoting who the supremacy and the perpetuation of unwellness. I found it to be thought provoking if you haven’t been exposured to these ideas, but if you are on the other side, where it is your culture that is being capitalized, nothing new here. Overall an interesting read.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some important ideas here, but ultimately the book isn’t what I was expecting based on the description. It’s more of a wide view on societal wellness rather than a deep dive into the issues with the wellness industry specifically.

This reads like a lecture a lot of the time, in a way that makes it difficult to read. I wanted more specific examples and suggestions rather than broad sweeping generalizations.

Some valuable information here and a great resource list, but I wanted more from this one.

[Sebastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Kelly claims to present radical ideas, this book is merely a collection of ideas that other authors have written before.

[Kendahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

While I don't necessarily stand with all of Kelly's convictions, the way that they were approached is skillful and filled with passion. I appreciate her constant linking of ideas to external sources that can be used to expand the reader's knowledge or perspective. There's a hearty mix of book, essay, podcast, and organization resources weaved all throughout the text. This book is a solid blend of the author's ideas intertwined with evidence to back it and pieces of her life's story.

A quote that struck at the heart of her message to me is "True well-being starts with the understanding that we are interdependent - that there is no separation between ourselves, one another, and the planet - and therefore our well-being is mutual and bound."

Her writing style comes across discussion style in the sense that it doesn't seem she's talking at you, but rather with you encouraging the reader to have these conversations with her. The theme of collectivism is well explored in each chapter. It's refreshing to see that angle of things explored as so many people neglect to see that wider net when talking about wellness. Overall a very thought-provoking read.

[Michael Shevlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a well intentioned and well written book that is 90% about America atoning for and recognizing its exploitationist and imperialist past and 10% about how wellness and its inherent industry is a means for white people to incubate themselves from that. I get that but feel like it is a bit of a reach sometimes.

I wanted more on wellness itself (which always felt a bit bullshitty anyway) and the fortunes made from it. As others have mentioned - the bibliography is incredible.

[Catly Do · Rating 1 out of 5]

This definitely felt more like a memoir. It was a retelling of the author’s revelations as she unpacked her privilege and reconciled with trauma.

I resonated with the “perfectionism” section and thought this section accurately reflected the expected topic: flaws of the American wellness culture.

However, the rest was just… a lot. There’s a lot of sentences like this: she emphasized, “What’s required is […] a reorientation of our worldview.” She used extremely broad brush strokes to say the paradigm/every system (including industry, politics, healthcare, etc.) is deeply flawed. And essentially, she argued that we are overly focused on wellness because we rather fix ourselves than fix the society. It felt like a huge stretch.

So overall, although she touched on a lot of important topics and provided helpful questions/references/journaling prompts, the writing felt very overstated and repetitive.

[Ryan Victor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure what caused me to dislike American Detox, but if I had to choose one aspect, it's the lack of organization. The chapters failed to cover specific concepts, meandering through repeated phrases that might be common in activist circles, but unfamiliar to anyone that's just starting their journey away from toxic wellness. It's a book that I don't think has an audience. Activists in the social justice trenches will not learn anything new and the uninitiated will be confused by the jargon.

It would be a better book if Kerri focused on the wellness industry (pervasive as it is) and used more examples from her experience inside it. There are plenty of activists and sociologists providing better commentary on racial discrimination, the problems of capitalism, etc. (she cites many of them), but Kerri is uniquely positioned to tell her story from inside the toxic wellness industry.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this book soley for the bibliography. Impeccable. I found myself underlining so many passages of this book, but the majority of it were quotes from other sources.

While all the information in here is incredibly important, I think the author tried to cover too much ground here. It made the focus of the book (wellness) be all over the place and sadly, it felt like only a small portion of the book directly addressed wellness (of course all the other topics are certainly related).

It also felt as if a lot of the author's privilege remained steeped in this book even as she was transparently trying to unpack it.

[Erica Eastman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brings up a lot of important issues but could’ve benefited from a good editor - it’s way too long and repetitive. By the end, I was relieved just to be done with it. I felt overall unsatisfied, while she brings up systemic problems there isn’t enough detailed discussion about solutions. She also is hypocritical in that she offers wellness retreats to places like Bali that costs thousands of dollars and are simply more of what she is supposed to be railing against.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

*listened to the audiobook.

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

How the wellness industry is for the privileged, is complicit in white supremacy and toxic -isms, and doesn't actually make us "well".

[Julia Jerkovsya · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book is pretty varied in terms of subjects, it connects them more towards the end, like a tightening lace. American Detox is an excellent primer/introduction for those interested in the machinations of the horrid white supremacist, ethnonationalist, patriarchial, industrial war machine, and learning the liberating, organizational language and organizations around to more easily communicate with peers dreaming of a brighter future outside of it.

The book does this through the template of a memoir, an emotional and interesting way to connect to these specific terms, concepts, and "isms," basic theory going from abstract to concrete application through the author's life. I particularly appreciate the exercises and tools the book equips for the reader in unpacking their own internalized colonizer.

There is a massive payoff in the end of the book, after being primed on history, concepts, and language the whole book, the author lets several activists and personalities speak before the epilogue. Woohoo!!

People more experienced in decolonization/collective liberation works might find this a bit light, or a bit surface level, but I heartily recommend this for anyone who is looking for (or has a well-intentioned relative, perhaps.) an educational and positive first step in collective thinking and healing our world.

[Tara Murdock · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could rate this book a zero, I would. I purchased this book believing it would be an eye-opener about the wellness industry. Ugh, I was so misled by this title. This is yet another soapbox, woke, anti- white rant. Let’s blame everything on the white people. Problems in your life… white peoples fault; poverty? White peoples fault; incarceration, drugs, no job success, etc etc etc… all white peoples fault. And to put the final nail in the coffin, it’s written by a WEALTHY WHITE WOMAN!!
The only reason I finished it is because I’m not a quitter and I stick to my commitments. I most definitely could’ve done without the constant “all white people are white supremacists” rhetoric.
Don’t waste your time buying or reading this trash.

[Adele Yazmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important read for white people working in the world of wellness. A bit repetitive for those who are already familiar with anti-racism and social justice. The author is forthcoming about her privilege as a white woman and her role in supporting the oppressive systems in place in society; she sets a great example that hopefully will inspire others to do the same. Phenomenal bibliography/resources.

[Lisa Eirene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read most of it but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 35%. This is the second book that I've picked up that's claimed to be a deep dive into the issues of the "wellness" industry and space, that actually isn't. It's definitely more memoir, which would be fine, except Kelly herself seems pretty deep into the wellness space, which honestly made it hard for me to take seriously. Instead of really going into the issues of the wellness industry, she seems to focus more on the idea that not everyone can participate. And at one point she talks about the medical industry "creating diseases" to make money without mentioning at all that much of the basis of "wellness" is literally creating "cures" for issues that don't really exist. It was also pretty clear that there isn't much, if any, new information to be had here. She quotes a lot of people and statistics, but unless you're totally new to this kind of thing, there's nothing there that isn't already out there. This is especially clear because the writing is so repetitive. She repackages and repeats the same ideas over and over again in each section. I think the idea of this is good, and I think Kelly has good intentions, but in my opinion, it lacks in execution.

[Natalie (booknerdalie)]

This one came highly recommended, so I jumped on the audio. I learned a whole lot and am determined to get my hands on a physical copy so I can easily revisit it when I need to.

The $650 billion a year wellness industry isn’t making us well — it’s making us worse. Access to wellness is a privilege that the powers at be are not offering to everyone — specifically non-white, non-rich Americans.

This takedown of the American wellness industry provides an opportunity for readers to detox — not in a $80 a day juice cleanse or a $300 facial type of way. But in a way that pulls back the curtain on a toxic culture fueled by white supremacy, perfectionism, and more.

The only way to truly be well is when everyone around you has the same opportunity and access to be well too.

Packed with information, this book’s takeaway for me was how programmed we are by society and the culture in America. How messaging is so dang important, and how we have to question the role our privilege plays in our wellness.

Read it. Memorize it. Share it.

[Mallory McEwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

DID NOT FINISH. I made it through 60% of this audiobook, and though I NEVER abandon books, I could not make myself finish this one. The tone the author takes is incredibly preachy and holier than thou. It also doesn’t actually speak about the wellness industry, but rather, speaks about the author’s own experience of waking up to her own privilege… so I feel like the cover was false advertising. The author did not have anything meaningful or new to contribute to the critique of the wellness industry, but rather quoted some of the greats like Sonya Renee Taylor, Brene Brown, Gabor Mate, Bessel van der Kolk, and countless others! If you’re looking for a great bibliography of other wonderful resources, this book has it. Otherwise I recommend passing 😬

[Meghan Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wide, but not deep. I fear the audience for this book will be those who are not new to the arguments and frameworks within; I found it kind of tedious as a result.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must first state that I am biased; the author is my friend and mentor, and I worked - in a limited role - on the production of this book. That being said, I was thrilled and honored for the opportunity to work on it because I had no doubt that the final product would be a book I would be proud to be associated with, and I was not wrong about that!

There is no shortage of recently-written books that dissect some aspect of the wellness industry and/or the medical industrial complex. "American Detox" is similar to many of these offerings in that it is well researched and makes logical and astute observations about all that is wrong with the state of healthcare and wellness in the US. It is a solid and easily defensible treatise, as are many books on the subject.

What makes "American Detox" stand out among the rest is twofold:

First, Kelly explains in easily understandable terms, how the collective state of "wellness" (or lack thereof) in the US is a product of unfettered capitalism that takes advantage of systems of oppression, and inevitably perpetuates inequity. Her lens is social (in)justice, and she provides a laser-sharp focus on the unavoidable (if you're willing to grok it) relationship between systemic oppression and the tattered, mostly ineffective state of "wellness" and healthcare in the US. She makes unavoidably clear that there is no way to fix the problems with wellness/healthcare without addressing systemic oppression in all of its forms, including but not limited to racism/white supremacy, ableism, anti-LGBTQIA bias, fatmisia/sizism, nationalism, colonialism, classism, ethnocentrism, religious bias,etc., as well as the myriad intersectional complexities of them all.

Second, Kelly's inclusion of herself in her examination of what is wrong both humanizes and clarifies what could easily have been a rather dry, predictable diatribe, had she not been willing to bare her soul and share what is both a heartbreaking and profoundly hopeful telling of her own story. Her argument is made through the lens of her personal process of recognizing and unlearning the socialization that is the building blocks of oppressive systems. She presents herself as an example of how, collectively, we all unwittingly collaborate in perpetuating the status quo. She does not separate herself from the subject, and does a masterful job of using admissions and examinations of her own culpability within the dominant cultural systems as a springboard for her thesis. In fact, one of her foundational arguments is that self-inquiry and acknowledgement of one's own positionality is a requirement in service of dismantling oppressive systems.

Kelly's willingness to acknowledge her own culpability, and to do the internal work required to unlearn dominant cultural socialization is what makes this a truly hopeful and inspiring read. While the well-documented data that Kelly uses to support her arguments presents a very dismal picture, Kelly reminds us that we do have (to varying degrees) some measure of agency to enact change, and she provides a framework for doing just that. This book is not simply a diatribe on the woeful state of well-being in the US; it is one activist's inspired and hard-won roadmap for truly liberatory change.

[Casualbutsmart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Instead of exposing the grift, she laments more people can't participate in it.

I picked this book up expecting that the grift of "wellness," the churning capitalistic machine that sells us cleanses for problems we don't have, would be thoroughly exposed. I was looking forward to example after example of a diet or workout that was pushed upon us promising a cure for a society-imposed ill based on shoddy studies and marketing.

This book, instead, actually EMBRACES the grift of wellness and laments the fact that systemic issues - racism, colonialism, poverty - prevent more people from taking part in it.

"The single mother working two full-time, low-wage jobs is unlikely to get adequate sleep, much less make time for a daily yoga class or meditation practice. The disabled elder whose only income is a tiny social security check may not be able to access a health food store, much less afford the organic produce there."

Yoga, meditation, health food store, organic produce....all things that are marketed and packaged to the elite as required for "wellness." No introspection of how maybe these things aren't required to live a "well" life.

"As hospital beds filled up and the death toll rose, I continued to thrive in superior health, fortified by my immune supplements..."

FORTIFIED BY MY IMMUNE SUPPLEMENTS*!
*contents not reviewed by FDA and may actually contain sawdust*

"Against the backdrop of a booming tech industry and homelessness crisis, San Francisco was a budding mecca of wellness, filled with fog and hippies and really fucking healthy people. Patchouli-incensed yoga studios, crowded vegan restaurants, Himalayan boutiques filled with prayer flags and Ganesh statues, the Bay was a weird and totally wonderful counterculture.

Oh yes, the secret to "really fucking healthy people" is Vegan and more yoga studios. MORE YOGA STUDIOS!

The author has such a twisted, undefined, and unempirical sense of wellness that I see no difference between her and every fitness fad that is cranked out on Youtube Ads.

As a final kick to the crotch, the author makes very valid points about systemic issues in wellness and medicine, however her analysis is so shallow it is much better to use her book for the citations to find the better source material.

I paid 12.99 for a bibliography!

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerry Kelly's book is a direct and honest look at how the wellness industry is complicit in the most dangerous toxic systems of our planet‚ from neoliberalism to unfettered capitalism to political apathy to white supremacy and more. The book is part personal story, told from a place of excruciating, humbling honesty about her own journey into wellness for all the right reasons (and very much mirrors my own as well). She shares how she then became completely swept up by the mindsets and promises of the wellness world, seeking to change herself through force of mind and habit, rather than through surrender and challenging, often painful, personal inquiry. She realizes that even while she was looking more and more "the part," what she was really doing was creating more and more layers of insulation around herself and the truth of the world.

The author calls out the wellness industry for being what it too often is: a sleight of hand, a ploy, a trap—where the more you can pretend you are not bothered by the world's pain the more "enlightened" you have become. It reminded me of how many people I knew during my years following a very similar journey, I would hear yoga practitioners claim to be "above it all."

We should all be bothered by the current state of affairs, which includes a world that is in a stage of falling apart—indicated by failing social systems and institutions, climate change, and trust in and concern for each other, animals, and the planet. While many of us (white folk) may have the privilege of escaping into blissful bubbles courtesy of the New Age/wellness world, we don't have the right. Nor do we have the time—not if we want a healthier world to pass down. Thus, this book is also a resource, and a gut check for many white "do-gooders." Packed with quotes and important historical context, the truth becomes crystal clear. The most clever part of this book is how she moves from laying blame at the feet of the wellness industry (where much belongs), but soon enough, turns the mirror around, and the reader is asked to explore their own complicity in American toxicity.

The author has delved into and is grappling with her own shadows and those of America. It is calling us now to do the same.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for this book to give you actionable items to support the wellness in your community, this book is not for you.

However, if you are just starting your journey into social justice and reformative justice work, this book is for you.

If you already have a good grasp of topics such as racism, poverty, and whiteness involving wellness, then you pretty much already know everything there is in this book. This book is great if you use it in a diversity, equity, and inclusion task force so everyone has the same definitions and history on subjects, or if you are not an American or living long-term in America and want to know more about American culture, then this is for you. I started reading this book in hopes it would talk about the commodification of wellness in our culture, which it did touch on a little bit with the beauty industry, diets, gyms and more. But I had hoped it would have gone more in depth into social media, the changing culture for youth, the difference in history of what it meant to be well in the 1950s versus now, and similar routes. However it delved deeply into subjects of race and more, which is definitely needed but was a heavy portion of this book.

It felt at times that it was a bibliography of the author. There were plenty of stories from her life in American Detox, that oftentimes felt out of place or dragged on, or chapters that seemed to hit on the same part over and over again. However if you do not know the intricacies of race in America, of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry, then I urge you to pick up this book. If I wasn't in a field where I already work with the subjects, this would be a great starting point for many people. It delves into the history of things and the intersectionality, and although it was written at the start of the covid pandemic, it still touches on that a little bit.

As a starting book for social justice work, this book is perfect. However if you are looking to read a book that tells you about the problem and then how to work to solve it, this book is not for you.

[Jennie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was somewhat of a let-down, honestly. Kelly is not the first author to arrive at her points but writes as if she has to belabor them, or else! That the Wellbeing Industry(TM) exists as a part of the same system that damages people so much they need its services in some kind of dastardly feedback loop, and that those services put all impetus and responsibility on the individual and not society to do all the healing, and that it caters heavily to white, wealthy, cisgendered women is not news to me. I got weary of her making the same statements over and over with only slight variations in tone. It's a tautological feast, if that's your thing.

I absolutely appreciate that she wrote this book, but she's either preaching to the choir or shouting so loudly she's scaring off the newbies. I also found something disingenuous about her finding herself finally by becoming a yoga instructor--as if that isn't very, very outside the realm of possibility for the majority of the people she's describing as being left behind by this industry. It did not come across as a revelatory or introspective moment, and is exhibited mainly as her means of entry into her new ways of thinking about the problem(s) of Wellness(TM), without the necessary examination of the privilege that allows her to do it in the first place. It comes across weird, like an awkward blind spot. I dunno. Maybe I skimmed that part a little because I was getting bored?

I do appreciate her breaking the sections down and posing thought-provoking questions in each. I found these to be more helpful than a lot of her text, because hello repetition. Those are the more teachable aspects of the book and without them, this might've been a bit more of a slog.

Overall, it's a good introduction if you're not terribly familiar with your own privilege or the white- and wealth-washing of the Wellness industry. If this is old news to you, this will confirm your understanding but not add much to it.