Imagine this: A woman locks herself in a room for ten days. No food. No water except what the “prana” supposedly provides. She’s not in a cult She’s a modern “Breatharian” guru, with books, seminars, and thousands of followers in 2026. Her name? Jasmuheen. And when they finally opened the door, she was sneaking snacks and begging for a cheese sandwich.
But here’s the part they don’t put in the highlight reels: At least four of her followers are dead. Starved. One was Verity Linn, found mummified in a Scottish forest, her diary filled with Jasmuheen’s “21-day process.” Another mother in Australia. A man in Germany. All convinced they could live on light and air.
Welcome to The Rooted Rite.
This blog rips the soil off the wellness industry, digs into the real ancient rites of plant medicine, and calls out the frauds who turned healing into a deadly grift.
My name is Cristina and I’m a recovering herbal medicine skeptic, and someone who has grown to question everything about the healthcare system.
This blog isn’t here to sell you crystals or $100 detox kits. I’m here to root you in truth; herbalism and naturopathic medicine have kept humanity alive for 60,000 years. Big Pharma stole half its blockbuster drugs from the very plants they now mock. And the wellness space? It’s become a predator-filled jungle where influencers sell starvation and detox kits as enlightenment.
First, what the hell is The Rooted Rite actually about?
Every post, I go deep into one sacred plant, one forgotten rite, or one modern scam. I blend 5,000-year-old indigenous knowledge with peer-reviewed science, interview licensed naturopathic doctors who actually went to real medical school, and expose the grifters making millions off your fear. No woo. No corporate sponsors. Just roots, rites, and receipts.
Because here’s the ugly truth nobody in wellness wants you to hear:
Herbalism isn’t “alternative.” It’s original.
40% of every pharmaceutical drug on the planet came from plants. Aspirin? Inspired from willow bark that Native peoples used for centuries. Artemisinin? From sweet wormwood is the exact plant Chinese healers used for malaria for 2,000 years. It won a Nobel Prize, after scientists isolated the molecule and patented it.
Big Pharma didn’t invent healing. They industrialized it, jacked up the price 10,000%, and then spent billions lobbying to make sure your insurance won’t cover the original plant version. John D. Rockefeller, yes, the oil baron, literally funded the Flexner Report in 1910 that shut down almost every herbal and homeopathic medical school in America so he could sell petroleum-based drugs.
That’s not conspiracy. That’s documented history.
Now, naturopathic medicine, the step-sister everyone loves to hate.
Licensed naturopathic doctors train for four years in accredited medical schools. They learn pharmacology, diagnostics, the whole deal, plus herbs, nutrition, acupuncture, and how to actually fix the root causes of health issues instead of slapping a pill on the symptom.
And yet, in most states they’re still fighting for the right to call themselves “doctor” while a 22-year-old wanna be TikTok influencer with a $29 certificate can sell you “breathwork” that supposedly replaces food.
The data is brutal: Pharmaceutical adverse reactions kill over 100,000 Americans every single year. Herbs? The National Poison Control barely has a category for them. But tell that to the FDA when they raid a small-batch herbalist while fast-tracking another opioid.
That’s the controversy they don’t want you saying out loud, the system that calls natural medicine “unproven” is the same one that approved drugs that created the opioid epidemic.
But here’s where I get really dangerous
The wellness industry is just as corrupt, sometimes worse, because it wears a green-washed mask.
Enter Breatharianism, the ultimate wellness scam. The claim, You can live on sunlight and air alone. No food. Ever.
Jasmuheen’s been pushing this since 1993. She wrote “Living on Light.” She ran $2,000 seminars. She told the world she weighed 106 pounds and glowed with prana.
Then, Australian 60 Minutes locked her in a hotel room with cameras rolling. Day one: fine. Day two: blood pressure crashing. Day three: she’s pale, dizzy, and the crew catches her sneaking out for a secret hamburger. She blamed “the media’s negative energy.”
Her defense for the dead followers? They didn’t do the process right.
Let me translate: “It’s your fault you starved to death following my instructions.”
And it’s not just her.
Another crazed example is Maxim Lyutyi, a 44-year-old Russian raw food influencer, who was sentenced to prison in April 2024 for his role in the death of his 1 month son, Kosmos. Guess how this innocent died. Kosmos died from starvation and pneumonia after being fed only “sunlight” and being subjected to extreme “strengthening” practices.
In 2025 alone, FDA recalls hit dozens of “miracle” wellness products, male enhancement pills laced with hidden Viagra, detox teas causing liver failure, supplements that were literally just colored rice powder. Social media is flooded with influencers pushing “one cure for everything” while hiding behind “these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA” disclaimers.
You know the red flags:
- Blame-Oriented Coaching
- Fear-Driven Decisions
- “Quick Fix” Marketing
- Overpriced Supplements
- Lack of Credentials
- Unnecessary Costs
- Guaranteed effects for specific diseases
- Poor quality or untraceable sourcing
- Positioning as a full medical replacement
- Moralizing or shaming health choices
- “Cure,” “guarantee,” or “miracle” language
- One-size-fits-all or “secret ancient blend” solutions
So what’s the rite? The real one?
It’s discernment.
It’s knowing that a properly prepared tincture of echinacea can shorten a cold better than most over-the-counter garbage and that swallowing colloidal silver because some guy on YouTube said it cures everything will turn you blue forever.
It’s understanding that naturopathic doctors who combine berberine with diet can reverse type 2 diabetes in studies, while the “raw vegan breatharian” down the street is slowly killing herself for content.
I’m not here to choose sides in the war between pills and plants. I’m here to end the war with truth.
Next post, I’m taking dandelion root to war, the “weed.” Big Pharma calls worthless that actually outperforms some prescription diuretics in clinical trials. I’ll show you how to make your own tincture safely, and why your doctor never mentioned it.
I want to hear from you
Comment or DM your story
- The wellness scam that almost killed you
- The herb that actually worked when nothing else did or the doctor who laughed when you asked about herbs to compliment modern medicine and ailments
- How the healthcare failed you
I will read submissions anonymously.
Subscribe and never let anyone convince you that breathing is a meal replacement.
This has been The Rooted Rite.
Stay rooted. Practice your Rite
The Rooted Rite 
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