What To Watch
9 Documentaries to Improve Your Health and Wellness in the New Year
Gut checks, visualization tools, meditation guides, and more.
By Ashley Lee
Jan. 5, 2026
9 Documentaries to Improve Your Health and Wellness - Netflix Tudum
It’s happening: 2026 is going to be the year you get healthy. That goal needn’t be limited to sticking to a workout routine or incorporating more whole foods into your menu planning — though those are good, too. You might set an intention as simple as practicing better sleep habits or getting a gut check — literally.
Don’t forget, wellness also includes your mental health, social health, sexual health, financial health, and more. So whether you’re looking to better appease your anxiety, connect with others, or curb your spending habits, these nine documentaries about health and wellness are an entertaining and informative place to start your wellness journey this year. New year, new you, right?
Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut
In this documentary, German doctor Giulia Enders explains how the gut works via four test subjects — Maya, the pastry chef who’s afraid of her own food; Daniell, the doctoral student with chronic gut pain; Kimmie, the mom who struggles to lose weight; and Kobi, the competitive eater who can’t feel hunger. They participate in a study examining their gut bacteria to gain insight into their microbiomes and discover what their digestive systems reveal about their health.
Headspace Guide to Meditation
It’s time to take better care of your mind. This show is a friendly, animated guide to reducing stress, managing negative emotions, and living in the moment. These eight episodes offer easy-to-learn techniques and accessible prompts to jump-start your meditation practice. Also on the service: Headspace Guide to Sleep, which dips into subjects like sleep rhythms and insomnia, and also includes guided wind-downs to get started immediately.
Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones
Dan Buettner wrote the book The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons from the Healthiest Places on Earth, in which he shares strategies from places around the world where notably high percentages of people enjoy longer-than-average lives. This four-part docuseries takes viewers to some of these Blue Zones — Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California — to witness the habits, diets, and lifestyles of its various centenarians.
The Mind, Explained
Dreams, anxiety, focus, and creativity are some of the mind-centric topics explored in this illuminating series, complete with narration by Emma Stone and Julianne Moore. It’s a spin-off of the series Explained, which itself has some wellness-related episodes throughout its three seasons, tackling topics like sugar consumption, the female orgasm, and skin health. Plus, check out Sex, Explained and Money, Explained, two more offshoots that are just as enlightening in regard to sexual health and financial health.
The Minimalists: Less Is Now
Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are authors and podcasters who promote the benefits of a life with less. This documentary introduces these two longtime friends and their philosophies, and also includes testimonies from various people who have adopted a similar lifestyle for themselves. Plus, it features tips to help viewers interrogate their own everyday habits, potentially avoiding mindless spending with intentional decision-making.
The Playbook
Patrick Mouratoglou, Glenn “Doc” Rivers, Jill Ellis, José Mourinho, and Dawn Staley have transformed their athletes into champions. In this docuseries, these venerated guides of soccer, tennis, and basketball share their proven plans for success — in sports and in life. Each episode focuses on a specific coach, who reveals the critical moments in their lives that ultimately shaped the personal philosophies they practice on and off their respective playing fields. These lessons are valuable for anyone just wanting to win at life.
The Principles of Pleasure
Sexual health is arguably equal parts physical, mental, and social health, and this three-part docuseries explores all three and how they relate to each other, specifically when it comes to women. Its episodes dispel longstanding taboos around orgasms and walk viewers through under-discussed topics like sex education, eroticism, and consent — all in a refreshingly approachable manner, thanks to its engaging animation, expert insights, and entertaining narration by Michelle Buteau.
Stutz
Jonah Hill is a proud patient of world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Phil Stutz — so much so that he made a documentary about the doctor and his singular methods. Stutz calls these methods the Tools, a series of visualization exercises designed to help people let go of their negative innermost thoughts in order to live happier lives. The movie features intimate conversations between Stutz and Hill, during which Stutz shares stories from his 40-year career and explains his unique approach to mental health.
You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment
Considering a change in your meal plan? This documentary captures an intriguing Stanford University study of identical twins, in which each sibling sticks to a different diet plan for eight weeks. One twin is put on a plant-based diet free of meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy; the other consumes an omnivore diet that includes meat and animal products. Four twin pairs participated in the experiment, with results providing intriguing insight into life expectancy, risk of heart disease, and sexual drive.
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