The Crisis of Trust: How Wellness Influencers Are Filling the Healthcare Gap

I haven’t had a consistent primary care doctor since I turned 18 and moved on from the pediatrician I’d seen since birth.

Though I get a yearly physical, it’s typically with a new doctor every time, depending on my location, who’s available, my insurance and which office picks up the phone—usually after several calls and endless hold music. Timely appointments are tough to come by, so if I need more immediate attention, I’ll head to an urgent care.

When I finally do get to see a doctor, it’s a cold, clinical experience in a white cube of a room, more often than not with a doctor who’s a stranger.

Compare that to wellness influencers effortlessly floating across your phone screen, making longevity, happiness, less bloating, glowing skin, and a strong immune system seem as easy as taking a supplement with your lemon water.

Answers to our pressing medical questions have never been so convenient and alluring.

This struggle to find quality healthcare information and providers is remarkably common. According to a 2023 study by the National Association of Community Health Centers and HealthLandscape at the American Academy of Family Physicians, over 100 million Americans—approximately one-third of the population—face barriers to accessing primary care. Even more concerning, this number has nearly doubled since 2014.

A System in Decline

Dr. Mike Varshavski, known to his 29 million social media followers as “Doctor Mike,” points to several factors contributing to healthcare’s failure to provide answers people seek: solo practice family medicine offices closing or being bought out, reduced insurance reimbursement rates, and crushing administrative burdens on physicians. As one of the lowest-paying specialties, fewer medical students are choosing family medicine.

The obstacles to accessing primary care are even more significant for women and BIPOC communities, particularly Black women, who are more likely to experience medical gaslighting and subsequently less likely to trust doctors.

Trust itself has become a major issue in healthcare relationships.

“Survey data indicates that trust in institutionalized expertise has been in decline in the US since the 1950s,” says Stephanie Alice Baker, associate professor of sociology at City St George’s, University of London. “Throughout the late 20th century, a series of scandals involving the pharmaceutical and food industries has sown distrust about the financial and political motives of scientific and medical institutions.”

This erosion of trust intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Pew Research Center, confidence in scientists acting in the public’s best interests dropped by 14% between April 2020 and fall 2023.

The Wellness Alternative

Meanwhile, tens of millions of videos across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram feature people whose lives have supposedly been transformed by wellness rituals or products. These creators collectively promote all aspects of the wellness industry—a multi-trillion dollar sector encompassing mental wellness, nutrition, physical activity, wellness tourism, weight loss, alternative medicine, personal care, beauty, and more.

But these videos don’t always prioritize viewers’ well-being. The wellness influencer landscape includes a spectrum of creators with varied motivations: medical professionals with corporate sponsorships or their own product lines, influencers with little or no medical training accepting gifts or running ads for companies they promote, and entrepreneurs pushing their products above actual health benefits.

The Federal Trade Commission requires that relationships between influencers and brands be disclosed with tags like #ad or #sponsored. Yet regardless of disclosures, these wellness videos convey the impression that every aspect of health is within individual control.

“What wellness influencers do very well is make it seem like if you do X, you will be healthier,” explains Jessica B. Steier, who holds a doctorate in public health and hosts the Unbiased Science podcast. “It makes people feel like they have a ton of control over their health, and that’s empowering.”

It’s no wonder we’re drawn in, potentially lured down a rabbit hole of misinformation if the influencer lacks accurate information—or worse, is intentionally misleading us.

When Misinformation Goes Viral

As a health and lifestyle journalist for 11 years, I’ve covered countless wellness trends. What I’ve consistently learned from interviewing physicians is that what matters most isn’t the trend of the moment, but the fundamental principles of a healthy lifestyle: balanced nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sleep, stress management, and community connections. However, these basics aren’t the magical solutions that make wellness trends so marketable.

While navigating the obstacles to finding a primary care provider can be frustrating, having a medical expert you trust is essential to avoid relying on uncredentialed influencers promoting the latest wellness trends for their own benefit—potentially putting your health at risk.

Brian Southwell, a distinguished fellow and lead scientist for public understanding of science at RTI International and adjunct professor at Duke University, defines misinformation as “information that asserts or implies claims that are inconsistent with the weight of accepted scientific evidence at the time.”

The wellness influencer landscape has produced notorious cases of misinformation. Belle Gibson, whose story inspired a Netflix series, falsely claimed to have terminal brain cancer in 2013, telling Instagram followers she was healing herself naturally with diet rather than conventional treatments. She launched a wellness app and cookbook, earning half a million dollars in under two years.

Fitness influencer Brian Johnson, known as “Liver King” on social media, promoted consuming raw animal organs and an “ancestral” lifestyle while selling supplements through his $100 million business. In 2022, leaked emails revealed he had been using steroids and human growth hormone.

In some cases, wellness advice has had deadly consequences. Paloma Shemirani died at 23 from a heart attack caused by an untreated tumor after refusing chemotherapy in favor of alternative treatments recommended by her mother, an anti-vaccine influencer. Similarly, anti-vaccine influencers Dmitriy Stuzhuk and Cirsten Weldon both died after contracting COVID-19.

The wellness misinformation landscape has grown more complex with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as US Secretary of Health and Human Services. Despite having no medical background, RFK Jr. surrounds himself with wellness influencers promoting his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

The Trust Factor

Why might people trust wellness influencers more than their doctors? Dr. Garth Graham, cardiologist and global head of healthcare partnerships at YouTube and Google Health, points to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, which found people consider someone a legitimate health expert not only when they have academic training but also when they have personal experience with health issues.

“People trust information from people who are similar to them or can empathize with their cultural or personal experiences,” Graham explains.

The Edelman report revealed that among the 73% of participants who see a clinician regularly, 53% feel their doctor is “slightly or not qualified” to address all their health concerns. When doctors can’t address an issue, 65% turn to non-institutional sources like friends, family, online searches, and social media.

According to a 2025 KFF health information tracking poll, 55% of US adults use social media to access health information and advice at least occasionally, with higher percentages among young adults and Black and Latinx communities.

The Edelman report found young people aged 18-34 were twice as likely as adults over 55 to follow uncredentialed advice, and 58% said they had regretted a health decision made based on misinformation.

The Appeal of Wellness Content

The appeal of wellness influencers goes beyond shared experiences. As we seek health information, time becomes a crucial factor.

“People spend about 2 hours daily on social media. They see influencers who look approachable and relatable,” explains Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist and clinical immunologist with nearly 4 million social media followers. “They start to develop this parasocial relationship where they think they actually know this person when, really, they don’t.”

After all, you might listen to an influencer for hours, compared to only 15 minutes with your doctor.

Wellness influencers speak with authority and confidence, provide simple solutions to complex problems, and simplify nuanced information. According to Baker, author of “Lifestyle Gurus,” three key factors—authenticity, accessibility, and autonomy—are central to how influencers establish trust with followers.

“Influencers make it seem like they’re on the same level as you,” adds Mariah L. Wellman, assistant professor at Michigan State University. The power dynamics in a doctor-patient relationship aren’t present with wellness influencers.

This makes it easier for wellness influencers to develop relationships with followers. They have time to do so compared to physicians who see patients in brief appointments throughout the day. Creating content without research takes far less time than producing evidence-based information.

Fighting Back with Facts

In response to the spread of health misinformation, the World Health Organization created Fides in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The network—named after the Latin word for “good faith” and the Roman goddess of trust—comprises over 1,200 healthcare professionals working to combat misinformation with evidence-based content.

“To create misinformation takes minutes. To debunk misinformation sometimes takes weeks,” says Andrew Pattison, who leads the initiative. “Creating good health content takes time, effort, knowledge and research, whereas health misinformation can be done in 5 minutes with just a phone.”

Wellness influencers expertly utilize social media features. “These influencers are utilizing every part of the apps possible to push their narrative and sell their products,” notes Mallory DeMille, a Conspirituality podcast correspondent who calls out problematic wellness content.

Consider the wellness products promoted through TikTok Shop. According to Capital One Shopping research, about 79% of US TikTok Shop products fall in the health and beauty category, despite TikTok’s rules prohibiting content with medical claims, exaggerated promises, or weight management products.

Health professionals are adopting similar tactics to spread accurate information. Dr. Varshavski observed what made wellness content successful and applied those techniques to share evidence-based health information.

“I realized that they’re great speakers who understood the platforms well,” he says. “Titling, thumbnailing, and being entertaining needed to come first for the medical information to land.”

Dr. Rubin uses similar strategies on TikTok: “I utilize certain tactics to get higher on the algorithm, like having a hook. I often say ‘holy cow, folks,’ which signals to viewers that I’m about to discuss something important.”

The Real Costs of Misinformation

Following wellness influencers’ advice can have serious consequences beyond the screen. A February 2025 University of Sydney study examined about 1,000 Instagram and TikTok posts promoting five popular but unproven medical tests that reached approximately 200 million followers.

“Around 70% of people promoting these tests had a direct financial interest,” says Brooke Nickel, one of the study’s authors. “These tests require resources that are being diverted from people who actually need them.”

DeMille has witnessed the harm firsthand. Since challenging wellness influencers online, she’s heard stories of people declining conventional cancer treatments based on influencers’ claims about natural healing methods. These stories typically end one of two ways: either followers eventually get needed medical treatment, or they don’t survive.

An August 2025 study by Baker and colleagues found that 81% of “cancer cure” videos on TikTok featured false or misleading advice.

“The best that can happen is you lose money, time, and energy,” DeMille says of following wellness influencers’ advice. “The real harm is when someone forgoes evidence-based treatment because of these parasocial relationships.”

Public health experts worry that people might skip necessary medical care in favor of wellness trends. “They think they have a stomachache, so they’ll do a parasite cleanse instead of getting clinically diagnosed,” Steier explains.

A History of Health Deception

Health misinformation isn’t new. The term “snake oil” became popular in the late 1800s after Clark Stanley marketed rattlesnake oil as having healing properties. In 1917, investigators discovered it contained no snake products whatsoever—just mineral oil.

“There’s a direct connection to some of today’s challenges,” says Southwell. “It suggests there are aspects of human nature we need to consider.”

The medical freedom movement of the 1980s promoted “healthism”—the individual’s right to make healthcare decisions independent of government or medical establishments. Wellman sees this as the foundation of today’s Make America Healthy Again movement.

The internet expansion in the 2000s made it even easier to share health stories—or misinformation—with a few clicks.

The Path Forward

Social media platforms have policies to address misleading content, but their approaches vary. TikTok works with independent fact-checkers to identify and restrict false information. Meta will remove misinformation likely to cause physical harm but has shifted toward community-based fact-checking through its Community Notes feature. YouTube Health labels content from licensed healthcare professionals and accredited institutions.

However, the burden ultimately falls on users to think critically about health information they encounter online. Digital literacy is crucial—taking a moment to evaluate content before sharing can prevent the amplification of questionable information.

“Sharing posts triggers the algorithm to amplify content to more people,” Rubin explains. “Taking a second to decide whether to share can prevent creating echo chambers that promote unproven therapies.”

We must also address why people turn to social media for health information—lack of access to trusted healthcare providers. By 2037, the US is projected to face a shortage of over 87,000 primary care physicians, with particular impact on rural areas.

More funding is needed for accredited experts to communicate with the public, which requires significant time and resources. In response to federal scientific research funding cuts, initiatives like the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy are working to connect scientists with communities.

Many doctors accept corporate sponsorships to support their educational content, though this often draws criticism about conflicts of interest.

“If I accept funding, I’m criticized as ‘a shill,'” Steier says. “It’s frustrating because it means science communicators can’t be compensated for our time, while wellness influencers aren’t held to the same standard and make a full living.”

Despite these challenges, effective health communication remains essential, whether in a doctor’s office or online.

“We have to recognize that patients are taking a journey with health information online,” says Graham. “The question is, how can we make it a better, more high-quality journey?”

What people ultimately seek online is a community that understands them. That’s the role online influencers have assumed, too often not for the better.

Between navigating misinformation and accessing healthcare, frustration is natural. However, we must continue thinking critically about the content we consume while pursuing truth. Any of us can be drawn to misinformation when seeking unavailable help—because ultimately, our search for health answers represents our desire for control, our fear of mortality, and our will to live. These are feelings we all share.