The Gospel of Wellness Vocabulary Practice

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, social movements, medical concepts, and industry jargon discussed in Rina Raphael's 'The Gospel of Wellness'.

Wellness

The pursuit of well-being outside the realm of medicine, encompassing prevention and maintenance such as nutrition, fitness, sleep, and stress management.

Wanderlust

A traveling wellness festival and "all-out celebration of mindful living" that sets up pop-up outdoor fitness events.

WTHN

A New York acupuncture center pronounced "within" that positions traditional Chinese medicine as a modern luxury experience.

Ganja Goddess Getaway

A women-only weed retreat described as a "stoner girl slumber party" held on an equestrian estate.

Athleisurewear

Clothing designed for both exercise and general use to which two-thirds of American women devote half of their closets.

Permalancer

A gig worker with the workload of a staff employee but none of the freedom of a freelancer or the benefits and assurances of a staff member.

The Second Shift

A term coined by Arlie Hochschild in 1989 describing the double-career life where Western women work a full day at the office and then manage housework and caretaking.

Self-care (Historical)

A concept adapted by marginalized groups in the 1960s to declare health care as a civil right and described by Audre Lorde as "an act of political warfare."

Neurasthenia

A nineteenth-century catchall term for elite men's "weakness of nerves" caused by an overly civilized indoor life.

Clean eating

A food regimen emphasizing the consumption of unprocessed whole foods while typically excluding dairy, gluten, and added sugars.

Orthorexia

A medical name for an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating; often characterized by extreme food pickiness and restrictive dieting.

BMI

Body Mass Index; an outdated height-to-weight ratio tool that fails to account for muscle mass, bone density, age, or body composition.

Weight cycling

The clinical term for yo-yo dieting, where chronic deprivation and fluctuating weight gain increase the risk of heart conditions and diabetes.

Intuitive eating

An anti-diet philosophy that advocates listening to internal signals of hunger and fullness rather than subscribing to rigid rules.

Beautycounter

A billion-dollar company that uses a direct retail marketing model to sell products free of suspected "toxic" ingredients.

Endocrine disruptors

Synthetic chemicals that mimic and confuse the body's natural hormones.

Precautionary consumption

A practice where consumers acting as their own inspectors vigilantly avoid specific chemicals and interpret product labels to protect family safety.

Appeal to nature fallacy

The automatic assumption that something is better simply because it is natural and worse if it is man-made or synthetic.

Parabens

Rigourously tested preservatives used to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold in personal care products like shampoo and mascara.

Chemophobia

An outsized or irrational fear of synthetic chemicals and "chemical exposure."

Flow state

A near-trance-like state of focus where an individual is so absorbed in an activity that ruminating thoughts and the self melt away.

Tend-and-befriend

A phenomenon where women handle stress by seeking social support, facilitating bonding through the release of the hormone oxytocin.

Mensendieck system

A 1930s fitness fad involving functional exercise movements performed in the nude to enhance body consciousness.

Yentl syndrome

A cardiology gender gap describing the medical underdiagnosis and undertreatment of women unless their symptoms present like men's.

Functional medicine

A field that bridges wellness and medicine, claiming to treat the "whole patient" through lifestyle changes alongside alternative and conventional methods.

Femtech

A sector of Silicon Valley encompassing apps, software, diagnostics, and consumer tech specifically focused on women's health.

510(k) pathway

An FDA process allowing medical device companies to gain approval by proving a device is "substantially equivalent" to existing ones without providing patient data.

SnackWell effect

The psychological tendency to consume more of a food because it is marketed as low-fat.

Nones

A demographic term for religiously unaffiliated individuals, which includes four out of ten American millennials.

Sunday neurosis

The restlessness and anxiety experienced when an individual is idle or free of structure instead of being productive.

Healthism

A moralized view of health that stresses the primary responsibility of the individual through "lifestyle choices."

Biohacking

The practice of using biotech, anti-aging science, and nutrition to attempt to overcome physical limitations and achieve "optimal" performance.

Oocyte cryopreservation

The medical term for egg freezing, often marketed as a way to "freeze time" or "own your future."

Biophilic design

An architectural and real estate trend centered on nature-inspired design elements.

Wellthness

A luxury trend where a healthy body and wellness investment are treated as a demonstration of self-value and a top fashion accessory.