Symptom ≠ Solution

Reason #2 Not to Take Random Influencers' Advice:

One Symptom Can Have Many Causes

This one is important because sometimes y’all end up taking supplements that solve a different problem than what you have, which can do more harm than good.

For example, someone may take metabolism-boosting supplements for weight gain, thinking it's due to a slow metabolism. In reality, it might be caused by hormonal imbalances, medication side effects, or even emotional eating—all of which require different approaches.

One of my absolute favorite illustrations of this is as follows:

I once had someone come to me who’d tried absolutely everything for their insomnia. They’d even been to another acupuncturist for several months, and nothing worked. This didn’t surprise me because insomnia is rather complicated.

It can be caused by stress, alcohol/caffeine consumption, hormonal imbalances, and sleep disorders such as apnea—just to name a few.

After a few sessions of making no progress, I had her walk me through exactly what was happening, and she said, “Well, my cat wakes me up every couple of hours, so I never feel fully rested.”

Her problem wasn’t related to an internal imbalance; it was an environmental factor—in this case, her cat!

Which meant that no amount of acupuncture, herbs, or meditation was going to help with it.

And so, my friends, the moral of this story is this—it’s really important to work with someone who can identify the true cause of your symptoms. Without that information, you won’t get better.

PS: Also—cats can keep you up at night. There's that lesson too.