From Amazon rainforest shamans to medical doctors at the Mayo Clinic, the commonality between effective medical traditions is a nuanced perspective. It is not a world of absolute good or bad, but one of context.

I have learned valuable lessons from Shamans in Mexico, rural Chinese taoists and medical doctors. If they understand nuance and they admit their limits, then I know I have something to learn. When they are claiming that everyone needs to do the same thing or that they are all powerful, then I know they haven’t been under any serious training. They have never had patients they cared about otherwise they would have stuck around long enough to see that they were causing harm and learned this.

The body is an interlocking system of feedback loops and regulatory systems. Because of this every action we take on the body effects the other systems as well. When one of these herbal effects is adverse, we call it a side effect. 

You first learned this when you were about 4 when it came to operating a hot and cold water faucet.

At the most basic level you can compare medicine to the nobs which control temperature on a bathroom sink.

You can turn the hot water up or down and you can turn the cold water up or down. If you want the water to be warmer, you simply release the hot water more. 

What if both are all the way open? You close off a bit of the cold water to get the temperature higher.

When someone says that X substance is for everyone based on promising research it is like saying that everyone needs more hot water and the way to achieve it to release more hot water. For some people it may be true, but for many more it will scald them or be useless.

How do these health gurus know the individuals situation in order to make such a sweeping claim? Perhaps both faucets are already open all the way and trying to open it more will actually break it. Perhaps they are already scalding hot and either need additional cold water or to decrease the heat. Imagine having a conversation with a “bathing specialist” where they insist that everyone needs more hot water. You would think they were mentally broken, right?

It’s more attention getting to say that there is a miracle herb for belly fat or that a single herb like cannabis or ginseng will solve the world’s problems. 

You can even point to research suggesting that it is.

You will hopeful people marching in waving dollars in the air, but it’s a scam and it gives our collective cultural heritage of botanical medicine a bad name. 

Cannabis is an important and sacred herb and should be used with respect for its effects on the body which also change based on strain and extraction methods.

Health may be simplified, but when it is simplified to the point where it has less nuance than operating a water faucet on a sink, then harm will follow. 

Many come at it from a well intentioned place and simply aren’t aware yet. That is fine, their good intent and humility will lead them to nuanced thinking because they are accountable enough to face reality and accept responsibility for their recommendations.

Whether you are a beginner or a master practitioner, think of the faucet analogy with any medical substance whether plant based, mineral, or synthetic. What temperature is the body in and how will you use plants to adjust their internal climate?

1. You can achieve heat by turning up the heat. You can also achieve it by turning down the cold.
   
   
   
   

2. You can achieve cold by turning down the heat. You can also achieve it by turning up the cold.
   
   
   
   

3. You can turn both down so that the water is flowing at a trickle. You can turn both up so that you have gushing warm water.
   
   
   
   

Keep this balance in mind and experience will lead to mastery over time.

Good luck botanical biohackers.

May be force be with you.