Before You Add Another Thing to Your Health Routine...

There is an enormous amount of money to be made from convincing us that the answer to feeling better is something we have not bought yet.

The latest longevity supplement, wearable that monitors another bodily function, red-light therapy, blue-light glasses, intravenous vitamins. A powder made from something grown halfway up a remote mountain and harvested under conditions that apparently justify the price.

Some of these things may have value. Some have emerging evidence. Some are probably doing little more than taking a recurring payment out of your bank account.

But before we ask whether the latest product or protocol works, there is a more useful question: What is it being asked to compensate for?

The order matters

A supplement may help address an identified deficiency. A device may support recovery. Testing may uncover information that changes the way we approach someone’s health.

I use supplements, testing and targeted interventions in my clinical work when there is a clear reason for them. But none of them exists in isolation.

There is little point taking the latest you-beaut anti-ageing supplement if you are routinely under eating, your digestion is not working well, you barely see daylight, your sleep is disrupted and your body has no predictable rhythm. It is a bit like installing an expensive sound system in a house with cracks in the foundations. The sound system may be excellent. It is simply not the most pressing issue.

Our biology still requires nourishment, light, darkness, movement, sleep, recovery, connection and a degree of predictability. No amount of clever marketing makes those needs obsolete.

The foundations may not be fashionable, but they are doing most of the heavy lifting.

Foundational does not mean simplistic

This is where advice about “getting back to basics” can become irritatingly glib.

Sleep does not cost anything, but that does not mean good sleep is easy to achieve. A person may be dealing with pain, menopausal symptoms, sleep apnoea, shift work, caring responsibilities, anxiety or a nervous system that has forgotten how to stand down.

Nourishing food is fundamental, but access to it is shaped by time, money, cooking facilities, health literacy, culture, family demands and how much capacity someone has left at the end of the day.

Movement may be free, but pain, disability, fatigue and unsafe environments can change what is possible.

Human connection is essential, but loneliness is not resolved by instructing someone to “join a group” or make new friends on social media.

Foundational health is not about handing people a patronising checklist and telling them to try harder.

It means understanding what the body needs, identifying what is getting in the way and finding realistic ways to create more supportive conditions. Sometimes that is simple. Sometimes it requires proper investigation, treatment and personalised support.

Addition is not always the answer

The wellness industry tends to work through addition. Add the supplement. Add the treatment. Add the tracking. Add the morning routine. Add twelve new habits to an already overcrowded life. Soon, looking after your health becomes another source of pressure.

When I work with someone, the answer is not always to add more. Often, we need to simplify, prioritise or remove something that is creating noise without producing much benefit.

We may need to look at whether they are eating enough before debating which form of magnesium to take. We may need to stabilise their daily rhythm before attempting to optimise their sleep score.

We may need to investigate why digestion is impaired before adding another expensive supplement to what I call "the cupboard of hope". (You know, that kitchen cupboard or drawer that's filled with expensive supplements that you brought on line or the cheap ones you grabbed at the supermarket. You take them for a couple of weeks and "hope" they make a difference - then you give up and I'm sure that if you checked today, most of the cupboard of hope contents will be past their use by date).

We may even need to decide that a health practice which is technically “good” is not currently helping because it is creating more stress than value.

The goal is not to assemble the most impressive wellness routine. It is to give the body more of what it needs, less of what is disrupting it and enough consistency to allow it to respond.

Supplement means “something added

The clue is in the word.

To supplement means to add to something that already exists. It does not mean to replace nourishment, compensate indefinitely for insufficient sleep or override a life that asks more from the body than it has the resources to provide. There may be a place for the purple powder. But it needs to earn that place.

Before adding the next product, protocol or piece of technology, ask:

What foundation is this supporting, and is that foundation actually in place?

Because sophisticated strategies can be useful. But biology still gets the final say.

Next time, I’ll bring this series to its practical conclusion with a filter for assessing wellness claims, so you can decide what deserves your attention, your money and a place in your life.

About the author

Mary-Leigh Scheerhoorn is a Nutritional Medicine Practitioner, Health Strategist and founder of Genesis Health & Lifestyle Solutions. Her work sits at the intersection of biology, behaviour and real life, brought together through GENESIS, her systems-based approach to the art and science of living well.