The Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar is a cautionary tale about the dangers lurking in the modern wellness industry. It tells the story of Belle Gibson, a now-disgraced Australian influencer who convinced the world that she had cured her cancer ‘naturally’ with diet. She set up several ‘charities,’ then stole 100% of the proceeds. The number of people who were harmed by Gibson’s anti-science approach to a deadly disease is unknown, but there is no doubt that there were many.
Eventually, Gibson was fined over $400,000 AUD for what she did, and to this day, hasn’t paid a penny.
Credit: https://www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/b2538e04-87f5-4af5-bd6f-f6cf88b488c4
The series also follows the story of Milla, whose character is modelled off of Gibson’s real-life rival, Jessica Ainscough. Ainscough had a rare form of cancer, but chose to reject conventional treatment in favour of a juicing regimen by the Gerson Institute (portrayed in the series under the name of the Hirsch Institute).
Although for a period of time Ainscough said she cured her cancer with juicing and enemas, this was short-lived, and she ended up dying from her disease. Her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer while Jessica was sick, and refused conventional treatment in solidarity with her daughter, died a short time before Jessica did.
Tragedy all around, much of which was probably preventable. The wellness industry should shoulder the entire blame for all of it, and unfortunately, I think it’s going to get a lot worse.
People who reject conventional cancer treatments for alternative ones are significantly more likely to die of their disease. This is a fact that the wellness industry chooses to ignore, to the detriment of its followers.
What can start as a seemingly innocent pursuit of health can quickly spiral into manipulation, financial exploitation, and profound physical and emotional harm. The show highlights the worst aspects of the alternative health world—predatory marketing, pseudoscience, and gaslighting—all tactics that have become disturbingly common in today’s wellness landscape.
Under the growing influence of figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the situation is only set to deteriorate further. With RFK Jr. and other prominent activists and influencers unchecked in their amplification of anti-science rhetoric, the wellness industry will become even more emboldened in its misinformation, potentially putting lives at risk.
This article explores the insidious themes in Apple Cider Vinegar and how they reflect the broader dangers of the wellness industry, from the ways influencers manipulate their audiences, to the devastating real-world consequences of believing their lies.
The Cult of “Independent Thinking” and the War on Science
A defining feature of wellness grifters is their claim to be “free thinkers,” while dismissing people with opposing views as brainwashed “sheep.” Milla is an influencer-turned-wellness-guru who has cancer, but rejects conventional medicine as corrupt and ineffective.
There’s an underlying narrative in both Belle Gibson and Milla’s stories that “Big Pharma” is just out to convince us that alternative cures aren’t effective. Yet, paradoxically, wellness gurus demand unquestioning faith from their followers, who swallow dubious health advice without hesitation. Both Gibson and Ainscough earned huge amounts of money from unsuspecting people by exploiting their stories on social media.
IMO, it’s not compassion that drives many of these people to promote their crap. It’s a craving for attention, fame, and money.
This isn’t unique to Apple Cider Vinegar—it’s a common playbook in the wellness industry. People like Gwyneth Paltrow, the Food Babe, and countless Instagram “health coaches” push the idea that conventional medicine is a scam, while selling their own unproven treatments at premium prices. They tell their followers that real “critical thinkers” reject mainstream science, all while insisting that their expensive juice cleanses and obscure herbal remedies are beyond scrutiny (and conveniently ignoring that wellness supplements and other accoutrements are now a $6.3 trillion dollar industry).
RFK Jr. has already demonstrated a willingness to capitalize on this dynamic. His vocal opposition to vaccines and other public health measures has emboldened conspiracy-driven wellness influencers. Under his influence, and with other unqualified people in government positions – including Dr. Oz and Casey Means – we can expect to see even more aggressive attempts to undermine trust in real medicine while boosting the fortunes of those peddling unregulated “natural” remedies.
Preying on Vulnerable People—Then Blaming Them When It All Goes Wrong
One of the most disturbing aspects of Apple Cider Vinegar is how it depicts the way the wellness industry preys on vulnerable people—only to turn on them when their “miracle cures” inevitably fail. The owner of the ‘Hirsch Clinic’ convinces Milla and her mother to abandon conventional treatments, offering them a “natural” path to healing cancer. But when Milla’s mother’s health deteriorates, the clinic owner shifts the blame onto her.
his kind of victim-blaming is rampant in real life. I personally have seen people say things like:
- “You must not have followed the protocol properly.”
- “Your mindset is holding you back.”
- “You’re detoxing. This means it’s working.”
This is a cycle of abuse designed to keep people hooked—first on false hope, then on shame.
This shame is often used to upsell more and more products to ‘help’ the person. There’s always another level, another product, another expensive test. Someone who buys into an alternative treatment often finds themselves trapped in an endless cycle of purchases, with each new step promising to be the one that finally works.
Think about the “detox” industry:
- You start with a juice cleanse.
- When that doesn’t work, you need a liver flush.
- Then you need expensive supplements to “support” your organs.
- Still sick? Maybe it’s parasites. Time for another cleanse.
This is how wellness scammers keep people spending. With the rise of alternative health influencers who position themselves as “brave warriors” against medical tyranny, these schemes will likely to become more aggressive.
Inventing Illnesses to Sell Cures
One of the most disturbing plotlines in Apple Cider Vinegar is watching Belle Gibson convince herself and others that she is grievously ill. This thinking is reinforced by her ‘doctor,’ who doesn’t wear shoes and works out of an abandoned floor of a random building. He uses a machine with electrodes to ‘check’ her organs for DNA damage, then tells her that she’s sick and sells her a machine for $10,000.
It’s hard to determine if people like Belle are intentionally misleading others, or if they truly and completely, perhaps due to an undiagnosed mental illness, believe their own lies.
Using vague symptoms like “fatigue,” “brain fog,” or “inflammation,” wellness gurus persuade us that they have an undiagnosed (and conveniently unprovable) condition that only their products can fix.
Scammers rely on the fact that most people experience mild, everyday discomforts. A little bloating? Probably “toxic gut.” Feeling tired? Must be “chronic adrenal fatigue.” They create fear around common, harmless bodily sensations and use that fear to sell expensive, unnecessary treatments. The term Munchausen by Internet‘ has recently been invented to explain groups of people who believe, falsely, that they are sick because of like-minded people on social media.
The tragedy is that real medical conditions are often overlooked in this process. Instead of seeking legitimate healthcare, people waste time and money chasing pseudoscientific diagnoses that do nothing but fund the influencer’s lavish lifestyle.
The Charisma Trap: Why We Believe Attractive Liars
One of the hardest truths about the wellness industry is that it thrives not because of science, but because of storytelling. Apple Cider Vinegar captures this perfectly. The main characters are conventionally attractive, have emotionally compelling stories, and large massive social media followings—so people believe them, even when their claims make no sense.
We are wired to trust people who look good, sound confident, and tell a compelling story. This is why so many wellness influencers can sell blatant nonsense while qualified healthcare professionals struggle to get through to the public. A Harvard-educated scientist who speaks in careful, nuanced terms about the complexity of health will lose every time against a beautiful influencer who tells an emotionally gripping story about healing through celery juice, even when there’s zero proof of it. Beauty signifies ‘health’ in our society. Confidence and authority, even when they’re false, are huge selling points…even if what’s being sold, is garbage.
RFK Jr. has mastered the art of sounding authoritative while spreading misinformation, and his endorsement of wellness pseudoscience will give even more credibility to these influencers.
The Ripple Effect: When Wellness Lies Destroy Lives
The lies of the wellness industry don’t just hurt individuals—they have devastating consequences for entire families. Apple Cider Vinegar highlights how buying into these scams can cause profound loss, with both Milla and her mother dying of untreated cancer.
In real life, we see this time and time again:
- Parents refuse vaccines for their children, leading to preventable diseases.
- People with curable cancers reject chemotherapy and die needlessly.
- Families go bankrupt chasing alternative cures.
These are not just harmless fads. They are belief systems that can cost people everything. When someone lives in an echo chamber, especially one that contains professionals whose credentials inspire trust, these belief systems are amplified and corroborated.
Extreme Diets, Eating Disorders, and Fear of Food
In Apple Cider Vinegar, Milla freaks out in an organic restaurant because her meal isn’t completely organic. This reflects another dark side of the wellness industry: the way it can fuel disordered eating thinking about food.
Extreme dietary rules—whether it’s raw veganism, carnivore diets, or obsessive “clean eating”—often lead to malnutrition and food phobias. Many people who fall into wellness culture develop orthorexia, a disorder characterized by an unhealthy obsession with eating “pure” foods. And yet, wellness influencers rarely acknowledge this harm, because fear sells…and they’re often knee-deep into it themselves.
Except for Belle Gibson, who consumes copious amounts of alcohol – a real toxin – throughout the series.
Black Salve, Illegal Cures, and the Big Pharma Conspiracy
Black salve is illegal for a reason—it’s a dangerous, unregulated treatment that can cause horrific injuries. Yet, as Apple Cider Vinegar highlights, wellness scammers will happily sell illegal or dangerous products while claiming that the government is “hiding the truth.”
The idea that “Big Pharma” is suppressing the sales of natural cures is a cornerstone of alternative health marketing. In reality, many of these treatments are illegal because they’re actively harmful. But as RFK Jr. continues to push anti-government rhetoric, expect these dangerous products to become even more widespread.
When Confronted, They Have No Evidence—Just Excuses
Finally, Apple Cider Vinegar shows what happens when wellness grifters are confronted: they have no real evidence. Instead, they accuse critics of being “mean,” “closed-minded,” or “sheep.” They never provide proof—because they can’t.
And yet, people keep falling for it.
In the current political climate, the wellness industry will probably only become bolder, more exploitative, and more dangerous. The question is: will we let them?
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