Life in the age of “good for you”

My brother texted me the other day, “Is warm water with lemon actually good for detoxing?”

I loved this question, mostly because it gave me the opportunity to text him back with a brief dissertation and gave him the opportunity to regret asking the eldest daughter to explain something. 

So, here we go! Reporting live from the age of “is good for.”

We hear this phrase constantly— lemon water is good for eliminating toxins, lymphatic drainage massage is good for anti-aging, this plant is good for (insert every possible symptom a human being could experience). 

It’s not that lemon water, lymphatic drainage, and plants aren’t good, and good for specific things— they are. 

Rather, the issue here is that “is good for” is overwhelmingly vague. And misleading.

If we did everything that is allegedly “good for” us that we read about on health blogs or saw on our Instagram feeds, we’d likely make ourselves worse from the ever-illusive quest of perfect health. 

A far more interesting question is— why? Why is lemon water good for eliminating toxins? For whom? And, in what context? Also, WTF even are toxins?! (Hot take— I think they’re overblown.)

It’s funny to me that people critique Traditional Chinese Medicine as un-scientific, “there isn’t enough evidence yet,” because 1) you’d think thousands of years of close study and documentation, paired with a myriad of modern research would suffice and 2) Traditional Chinese Medicine is an entire medical system devoted to the how, what, when, where, why and for whom.

When we take a deep breath, slip back into our human softness, feel our feet on the ground, and stare up at the sky in silence, we suddenly remember the web of life, the interconnectedness of all things. We can feel it. 

In school, we would learn that everything can be both medicine or poison, depending on how it is applied. 

Often more metaphorical than literal, the point is that there is no such thing as “good for.” 

While a particular therapy, plant, or intervention might be good for one person, it may be counterproductive or even harmful for another person, even one who shares the same condition. 

Why?

Because we have to understand the root. We have to understand the why.

Two people who have been diagnosed with insomnia, for instance, may have completely different root causes, or patterns, that have created the insomnia. 

For instance, we might diagnose one person as having Heart Yin Deficiency, while the other may have Liver Qi Stagnation. 

If we tonify, or over-nourish the person with fullness, we will make their insomnia worse.

If we move, or course qi too vigorously for the person with deficiency, we will make their insomnia worse. 

So, it is paramount that we understand why the person has insomnia.

Often, insomnia supplements that we find on the shelf will combine herbs that have all been found to be “good for” sleep without any regard for how they work in the body. As a result, you have supplements filled with a hodgepodge of herbs that have totally contradictory effects in the body.

Patients come to me all the time saying, “I’m on this Peaceful Sleep, Women’s Hormonal Health, etc. supplement, but it didn’t work.” Or, “it made my symptoms worse.”

And, this is why— supplements that throw a bunch of herbs and constituents into a bottle are not necessarily treating that unique person’s pattern, or patterns, creating the symptoms. 

In order for medicine, or any kind of health conscious endeavor, to be effective, we truly have to understand the person in front of us. And approach them as a little universe unto themselves— layered, unique, and already whole. 

As I say to my patients, you already have everything you need. Your body just needs a little support. 

So, is warm water with lemon good for you?

You know your body best— try it, and you tell me! 😘