When Health Advice Hurts: Returning to the Wisdom of Your Body
You’re just trying to take care of yourself.
So you pop on a podcast while you’re driving or doing the dishes — hoping to hear something helpful. And at first, it feels good to feel inspired. But then it starts to build: a list of things you’re apparently doing wrong. The oils you shouldn’t be using. The blood sugar hacks you should be doing. The supplements they say you need.
One minute seed oils are the devil. The next, you’re not getting enough Omega-3. One expert says breakfast is essential. Another swears by fasting. And somewhere in the middle, you’re just trying to get through your day — trying to feed yourself without shame, to survive chronic symptoms, to feel a little better in your body.
It’s no wonder you feel confused.
It’s no wonder you feel like you can’t keep up.
It’s no wonder you start wondering if you’re failing.
And it’s not your fault.
The truth is, this kind of health advice — especially when it’s delivered with urgency, charisma, and fear — doesn’t just land in your brain. It lands in your nervous system. It can trigger a sense of threat. A spike in cortisol. A rush of panic that makes it feel like you have to act now, change everything, do better.
But what if the problem isn’t you?
What if the problem is the way this culture drowns out your own body’s quiet voice — the one that already knows what safety feels like?
The Stress Response Behind the Urgency to "Be Better"
It’s easy to think we’re just being dramatic or “too sensitive” when we spiral after hearing intense health advice. But there’s actually something much deeper going on — something profoundly biological.
When we listen to an expert who speaks with certainty, urgency, and a hint of fear — our nervous system doesn’t always interpret that information as neutral.
It can interpret it as a threat.
That’s because our bodies are exquisitely wired for protection. And when something sounds dangerous — like “this food is toxic” or “you’ll never heal unless you cut this out” — the brain perceives it as a possible danger. In response, it activates the stress response: cortisol rises, heart rate may increase, breath becomes shallow. Suddenly, there’s a gripping sense of urgency.
You might feel it in your chest. A flutter in your stomach. A rush of energy to do something. Fix it. Control it. Be better.
And then comes the inner critic — the one that says:
“Why haven’t you been doing this already?”
“No wonder you’re still sick.”
“You need to try harder.”
This cascade can be so fast, you might not even notice it happening. One minute you were just listening to a podcast. The next, you’re deep in self-blame, Googling supplements, rewriting your meal plan, or skipping meals to “reset.”
But here’s the truth:
This response isn’t about failure.
It’s about protection.
Your body is trying to keep you safe — from illness, from harm, from being out of control.
And even though it can take you far from peace, it’s not something to be ashamed of.
It’s something to understand with compassion.
Because when we notice the stress response, we can start to meet it differently.
We can pause before we react.
And that pause… can be the beginning of coming home.
The Infant Within: A Birthright Forgotten
Before you ever heard of inflammation or insulin spikes…
Before you knew the words “clean eating” or “gut health”…
You were an infant.
You cried, and someone came.
You were fed, and you softened.
You didn’t count macros or question fullness. You didn’t worry about what time it was, or how many carbs were in your milk.
You simply received.
Feeding was comfort.
Feeding was warmth.
Feeding was connection — to your caregiver, to the rhythm of your body, to the world.
This is your birthright.
And even if your early experiences with feeding were not ideal… even if there was stress or chaos around food growing up… the imprint of that possibility still lives inside you. The possibility of trust. The possibility of receiving. The possibility of being fed with love, not fear.
That part of you — the one who once knew how to feel hunger and fullness, the one who knew how to cry and be held — is still here.
She may be buried under layers of survival, stress, and striving.
But she has not disappeared.
And every time you come back to your body — every time you pause the podcast and listen inward instead — you are whispering to her:
“I remember you.
I’m coming back.”
The Guru Trap: When Certainty Feels Like Safety
In moments of confusion, pain, or chronic struggle, our bodies long for something to anchor to.
Something that feels certain. Solid. Clear.
And so, we seek it out — often unconsciously — in the voices of “experts,” “healers,” or wellness influencers who speak with a kind of unshakeable authority.
They tell us exactly what to eat, what to cut out, what to buy.
They offer a sense of order in a world that feels overwhelming.
It’s human to be drawn to that.
To want someone to just tell you what to do so you can finally feel better.
But this is where the trap lies.
Because when we hand over our power to a guru — no matter how “healthy” their message sounds — we’re often handing over the very thing we’re trying to reclaim: our relationship with our body.
Their voice gets louder than our own.
Their rules replace our instincts.
Their fear becomes our internal compass.
And often, this dynamic plays out without us even noticing.
Especially if we’ve been chronically unwell.
Especially if we’ve been gaslit by the medical system.
Especially if we’ve been disconnected from our own body for a long time.
It makes sense that we go looking for safety.
It makes sense that we want someone to “fix it.”
And it makes sense that we’d want to belong to a belief system that promises healing.
But the most sustainable healing doesn’t come from being saved.
It comes from coming home.
The Return: From Panic to Presence
There is a moment — sometimes so small you might miss it — where something inside you says:
“This is too much.”
“I don’t want to live like this anymore.”
“I’m tired of trying to fix myself.”
That moment matters.
Because that moment is the doorway.
The soft threshold between living in reaction — and beginning to live in relationship.
Relationship with your body.
With your needs.
With your truth.
You don’t need to have all the answers to begin.
You don’t need to be free from doubt or confusion.
You only need the willingness to pause — to ask:
“Is this information creating safety, or is it creating fear?”
“Does this advice connect me to my body, or pull me further away?”
“Can I slow down and check in with what’s true for me?”
This is the beginning of the return.
Not to the rigid rules or urgent fixes, but to something much older, much wiser, and much more sustainable:
Yourself.
A Somatic Pause: You Can Come Home Now
Let’s take a moment — right here, before you move on with your day.
If it feels safe to do so, place one hand on your heart, and the other on your belly.
Feel the warmth of your palms.
Notice the rise and fall of your breath.
Let this be enough.
No rules. No fixing. No urgency.
Just you — here — with your body.
And maybe, just maybe, a quiet remembering:
I was born knowing how to eat.
I was born knowing how to feel.
I can return to that knowing, one breath at a time.
Ready to return to your sovereign knowing?
This is exactly the work we do in nutrition therapy: rewiring your nervous system so you can feel safe, empowered, and peaceful around food—rather than overwhelmed, guilty, and anxious.