Podcast 075: Foundational Health Strategies & Evolution’s Expected Inputs

Everyone is different, and healthcare should be individualized for each person – especially when it comes to herbalism! But, on the other hand, people are also quite alike in many ways, and it turns out that there is in fact a general approach to building health. That’s what this episode is about: foundational health strategies you can turn to in any situation.

Conventional medicine hinges upon a diagnosis. Without knowing precisely what’s wrong, you can’t proceed with a pharmaceutical solution. Herbalism is different, and especially holistic herbalism. As herbalists, we can absolutely help with specific complaints and health issues – matching the right herb to the right person at the right time. But we also can help even when “nothing’s wrong”! We can look at a situation and say: hey, your digestive system (or cardiovascular system, etc, or even the body in general) just isn’t really functioning well right now. Let’s think about a total overhaul. How can we rebuild this system so that it works well and stays healthy?

A good place to start is with what we might call the “expected inputs” a human body would naturally encounter in the course of human evolution. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a lot in common, even when they lived in very different environments from each other. They had to move to get their food, they slept when it was dark, and they had a very different relationship to stress than we do today. Working to align our habits and exposures to more closely resemble theirs (without falling into the trap of “paleo re-enactment”), we can provide the body what it is programmed by evolution to expect. This leads naturally to better health.

Interested in this framework for herbalism & holistic health? We elaborate on these ideas and look at them from a different angle in a FREE mini-course you can jump into right now! Check it out here: