I've come to dislike this overused (in my humble opinion) word - hack. It has many meanings, most of them negative, such as when someone hacks your social media account. So many people are looking for a health/fitness "hack", defined as "a clever solution to a tricky problem". But might I remind you that it can also be defined as "to jury-rig or improvise something, usually as a temporary solution to a problem".
This latter meaning is particularly applicable to your health. In my experience, there are very few (if any) quick and simple answers. Our health doesn't go off the rails overnight (even though the most obvious symptoms may appear rather suddenly, they've often been building up over time), and so to expect that we can turn things around quickly is unrealistic. I would suggest anyone that tells you they have a quick fix or "hack" for you is really selling you a "patch" or "bandaid", rather than helping you deal with the root cause of your problems.
Here's an analogy I use often. Think of your body as a house. There are many parts of a house, many that you never see or even think of until something malfunctions. Like the foundation, or the plumbing. These are not exciting or glamorous parts of the house, but they perform critical functions. In your body, this might be your liver, hormones, thyroid, etc.
The more "interesting" parts of the house, like flooring, light fixtures, cabinets and faucets, are the things we see, touch and use on a daily basis. So perhaps on your body this might be your skin, hair, eyesight, joints, etc.
If you noticed a wet patch of paint on the wall of your house, would you simply dry it with a fan and then repaint? Or would you open up the wall to see where the water is coming from and fix the leaking pipe? If you found a new crack going up the wall, would you just fill it in and paint? Or might you head to the foundation to see what caused the crack? You can take the shortcut and just keep painting over these things, but you aren't solving the real problem, and over time, the leaky pipe or crack in the foundation are going to get worse and cause more damage.
So in this analogy, what do you do when you notice your nails becoming brittle and weak? Paint on some chemicals to strengthen them? Or might you look at what nutrients you are lacking in your diet, what toxins your nails may have been exposed to, or what processes in your body might be malfunctioning? If you find that lately you're always cold, have no energy and have put on extra weight - do you layer on the sweaters, pound the caffeine and run some extra miles on the treadmill? Wouldn't getting to the root cause of these things be a better long-term, sustainable solution?
You don't build a house starting with window coverings and fancy appliances. You start with a solid foundation and build up from there. Without a solid base, the windows will crack and without proper wiring, the appliances won't function. There are situations in life when a hack or shortcut will do, but your health is not one of them.
I often get questions like "Should I be taking (insert trendy supplement or so-called superfood here)? I heard it's good for (insert health condition here)." These are what I refer to as drive-bys, and I have a difficult time giving a short answer. I usually reply with several questions: what is the specific concern you are looking to address? what have you tried so far? how is your sleep? do you get regular exercise? what do you eat regularly? what are your stress levels? has your doctor prescribed anything for you/given you a diagnosis? what other supplements are you already taking? etc, etc, etc............because 99 times out of 100, my answer is "it depends". It would be irresponsible for me to give any other response.
Stop looking for hacks and quick fixes to your health concerns. You get ONE body for this ride through life, so you need long-term, sustainable solutions. Not patches and bandages.
Disclaimer because, lawyers: This is not medical advice, but my own personal opinion.
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