What’s helping your body might be destroying someone else’s land.
The wellness world loves to talk about purity, balance, and connection to nature—but it rarely talks about where those “natural” ingredients actually come from. Superfoods, supplements, herbal remedies—many are sourced from fragile ecosystems and overharvested landscapes that can’t keep up with global demand. You’re told they support your health, but no one tells you what they’re doing to the places and people supplying them.
Some of the most popular ingredients in holistic and alternative medicine are tied to land degradation, species loss, and exploitation of Indigenous knowledge or labor. None of this means you have to stop caring about your body. But it does mean the industry’s halo of green doesn’t always match the damage behind the scenes. If your wellness depends on someone else’s collapse, it’s not really healing.
1. Ashwagandha demand is draining water and displacing biodiversity.
Ashwagandha, an adaptogenic herb used for stress, focus, and energy, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Grown primarily in India, this drought-tolerant plant has become a high-value cash crop. But mass cultivation often replaces diverse local farming with monocultures—and that shift has consequences. Anjali Singh and colleagues note in Industrial Crops and Products that intensive ashwagandha farming can lead to declining soil fertility, water resource stress, and reduced biodiversity.
In some regions, ashwagandha’s boom is also displacing food crops or traditional medicines that local communities rely on. The plant itself isn’t harmful—but the way we farm it at scale is. Responsible sourcing from small farms or cooperatives using organic, regenerative practices can help. But if your ashwagandha comes in a mystery capsule from a megabrand, there’s a good chance it’s part of the problem, not the solution.
2. Palo santo harvesting is pushing sacred trees toward collapse.
Palo santo, often used in spiritual cleansing rituals, is a tree native to parts of South America, especially Ecuador and Peru. Traditional use involved collecting naturally fallen branches and deadwood—but global demand has shifted that practice into overdrive.
Writers at Ecuadorian Hands explain that illegal harvesting and premature cutting of palo santo trees, often driven by export markets, have placed increasing pressure on already fragile dry tropical forests. These forests are already vulnerable to climate change and deforestation.
When palo santo becomes a trend, it’s not just trees that suffer—wildlife loses habitat, and communities lose access to their own cultural resources. Many Indigenous groups have asked outsiders to stop treating palo santo as a casual commodity. If it’s not sustainably sourced and culturally respectful, using it doesn’t cleanse anything—it contributes to erasure.
3. Maca farming is disrupting fragile high-altitude ecosystems in the Andes.
Once a little-known root vegetable, maca is now found in everything from protein powders to fertility supplements. It grows at extreme altitudes in Peru, where it’s been used for centuries by Indigenous communities for strength and stamina. According to The Maca Team, increased global demand has led to unsustainable farming practices that deplete soils, reduce biodiversity, and disrupt traditional cultivation cycles.
The rush for maca has also fueled illegal farming and land conflict, particularly as foreign companies buy up highland plots. Farmers often no longer consume maca themselves because the bulk of it is grown for export, driving up prices and pushing out traditional uses. What was once a local staple has become an extractive industry. Buying organic maca from verified Peruvian cooperatives helps—but most shoppers never even check.
4. Sea moss harvesting is putting pressure on marine ecosystems.
Touted for its high mineral content and gut health benefits, sea moss (often called Irish moss or Gracilaria) has become a wellness obsession. It’s now sold in gels, powders, capsules, and smoothies. But large-scale harvesting, especially in the Caribbean and parts of Southeast Asia, can disrupt marine ecosystems by stripping reefs of protective algae and disturbing habitats for fish and invertebrates. In some regions, unregulated harvesting has led to overgrowth of farmed varieties, crowding out native seaweed species.
When done irresponsibly, sea moss farming contributes to coastal degradation, poor water quality, and damage to coral reefs already under threat. Ethical sea moss harvesting exists, but it’s the exception—not the norm. Most consumers never learn how much harm their supplement jar might be causing offshore.
5. Sandalwood oil production has turned a sacred tree into a poaching target.
Sandalwood is prized for its calming scent and skin-soothing properties, used in essential oils, perfumes, and Ayurvedic treatments. But high demand has made it one of the most illegally traded woods in the world. In India and Southeast Asia, sandalwood trees are slow-growing and increasingly rare, with wild populations nearly wiped out in some areas due to black market logging and poor reforestation efforts.
To make things worse, only mature trees contain the aromatic heartwood used for oil—so poaching younger trees results in waste without yield. Attempts to cultivate sandalwood commercially have had mixed results, and the slow-growing nature of the tree makes ethical sourcing difficult at scale. If your oil or incense doesn’t specify where the sandalwood came from, there’s a real chance it was taken under exploitative or unsustainable conditions.
6. Turmeric farming is degrading soil and fueling chemical overuse.
Turmeric has become a global superstar in wellness culture—touted for anti-inflammatory benefits, liver health, and immunity. But the sudden spike in demand has transformed it from a traditional crop into a cash commodity, especially in India. To keep up, many farmers have shifted to high-yield, chemical-intensive practices that deplete soil, increase pesticide use, and reduce biodiversity.
Turmeric is naturally hardy, but intensive monocropping weakens the land over time. Farmers who once grew a variety of local foods now prioritize turmeric exports, often at the expense of their own food security and long-term soil health. It’s not the root itself that’s harmful—it’s the scale, and the pressure. Sustainable turmeric can be grown organically, often within regenerative systems, but that version rarely ends up in mass-market golden lattes or powdered supplements.
7. Reishi mushroom farming is straining forest ecosystems in China.
Reishi, known as the “mushroom of immortality,” has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for its calming and immune-boosting properties. But rising global demand has put pressure on wild reishi populations and encouraged rapid, high-density cultivation.
In some regions of China, forests have been stripped to make room for mushroom farms or for the collection of wild specimens, often with little ecological oversight. The production process itself—when done at scale—can involve artificial substrates, excessive energy use, and high levels of water consumption. Worse, many reishi supplements on the market are grown quickly and cheaply, leading to reduced potency and questionable quality. The result is a product that’s both less effective and more damaging to the environment it came from. If it’s not certified organic and traceable, that “healing” mushroom may come with hidden costs.
8. Frankincense resin is being overharvested to the point of collapse.
Frankincense has been used in spiritual, cosmetic, and medical practices for thousands of years. It comes from Boswellia trees, mainly in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. But global demand for essential oils and wellness products has pushed harvesting beyond sustainable limits. Resin is tapped by wounding the tree—and when done excessively, the tree weakens, stops reproducing, or dies.
Some regions are seeing 80–90% reductions in seedling survival rates. Overharvesting also undermines the livelihoods of the communities that depend on frankincense collection, especially when middlemen or corporations take over trade routes. Conservation groups have called for urgent regulation, but most brands don’t tell you where their oils come from. If you’re burning frankincense or using it on your skin, it’s worth asking how much of the source forest will still exist in a decade.
9. Coconut oil production contributes to deforestation and wildlife loss.
Long marketed as a miracle product, coconut oil is found in everything from moisturizers to toothpaste to cooking sprays. But coconut farming—especially in Southeast Asia—has led to significant deforestation and the displacement of endangered species like the Philippine tarsier and the clouded leopard. Unlike more sustainable crops, coconuts grow best in sensitive tropical zones that are easily cleared for monoculture. The problem is that coconut oil feels eco-friendly—natural, plant-based, zero-waste in appearance. But that “green” image hides an extractive system that often relies on underpaid labor, land grabs, and declining biodiversity.
The global market has also pushed farmers to abandon traditional multi-crop systems in favor of large-scale coconut plantations. If you use coconut oil regularly, look for certified fair trade and organic options—or consider whether a local oil could serve you just as well.
10. Spirulina and chlorella farming can damage aquatic ecosystems when mismanaged.
These blue-green algae are beloved for their nutrient density, often marketed as superfoods packed with protein, B vitamins, and antioxidants. But when grown in outdoor ponds—especially in poorly regulated or experimental facilities—spirulina and chlorella can become environmental hazards.
Wastewater runoff, contamination of local water bodies, and disruption of nearby aquatic life are all documented risks. Some facilities use closed-loop systems that avoid these issues, but many do not—and few brands are transparent about their sourcing. As demand rises, so does the temptation to cut corners.
There’s also concern about microcystin contamination in some batches, a toxin produced when algae are grown under stress. The irony is clear: a product sold to detox your body may be polluting the water systems it came from. Sustainable algae farming is possible, but only if accountability becomes part of the wellness equation.