We’re not broken; we’re just living in a world our bodies don’t understand.

Lately, I’ve been wrestling with big questions: What does it mean to be truly healthy? What does it mean to be a provider guiding people toward a life of joy and vitality? As a nurse practitioner steeped in functional medicine, orthomolecular principles, and ancestral wisdom, I’m convinced we’re living through a seismic paradigm shift in healthcare. For decades, the prevailing philosophy was simple: a pill for every ill. Pop a tablet, fix the symptom, move on. Even in the realms of functional, holistic, and integrative medicine—where we pride ourselves on digging deeper—we’re still, at times, tethered to the old paradigm. We swap synthetic drugs for supplements, lab tests for biohacks, but are we missing the forest for the trees?

I believe we’re barking up the wrong tree if we think health is about “fixing a broken body.” Our bodies and minds aren’t broken. They’re ancient, resilient systems—honed over millennia to thrive in harmony with nature—struggling to keep up with an ultra-modern world. We’re hunter-gatherers in high heels and cubicles, eating processed carbs under fluorescent lights, sleeping five hours, and wondering why we feel off. This isn’t a failure of biology; it’s an evolutionary mismatch. Our lifestyles have outpaced our genes, and the result is a cascade of imbalances: hormonal chaos, metabolic dysfunction, thyroid sluggishness, and minds clouded by stress and fatigue.

As providers, our role isn’t to patch up a defective machine. It’s to create a healing environment where the body’s innate wisdom can take over, bringing itself back into balance. Health isn’t a destination we force; it’s a state we cultivate. And as patients, you don’t need to be “fixed”—you need a map back to human, a guide to realign your ancient biology with the comforts of modern life. Here’s how we can draw that map together, weaving primal practices with today’s world to reclaim vitality, happiness, and balance.

The Evolutionary Mismatch: Why We’re Out of Sync

Picture a hunter-gatherer 50,000 years ago. She rose with the sun, her eyes drinking in morning light to set her circadian clock. She walked barefoot on the earth, grounding her body’s electric charge. Her diet was rich in animal fats, organ meats, and foraged greens—ketogenic by nature, fueling her brain and body with precision. She moved in bursts: sprinting after prey, carrying water, stretching by a fire under the stars. Stress came in waves, but so did rest, laughter, and connection with her tribe. Her biology was perfectly matched to her environment, and her body knew how to heal itself.

Now, fast-forward to 2025. We wake to alarms, not sunlight. We’re bathed in blue light from screens, not firelight. Our feet rarely touch the earth, encased in shoes or concrete. We eat processed foods—grains, sugars, seed oils—that our genes don’t recognize. We sit for hours, move too little, and sleep in fragments. Our stress is chronic, unrelenting, with no tribal campfire to soothe us. Our biology hasn’t changed since that hunter-gatherer’s time, but our world has. The result? Insulin resistance, hormonal swings, thyroid dysfunction, and a vague sense that something’s off. We’re not broken; we’re just living in a world our bodies don’t understand.

Even functional medicine, with its focus on root causes, can fall into the trap of the old paradigm. We order labs, prescribe supplements, and chase biomarkers, but are we truly listening to the body’s ancient wisdom? Are we creating space for healing, or are we still trying to “fix” what we perceive as flaws? It’s time to shift our lens: health is about aligning our modern lives with our primal blueprint, not battling our biology.

A New Paradigm: Creating a Healing Environment

If our bodies aren’t broken, what do they need to thrive? A healing environment—one that honors our evolutionary roots while embracing the best of modern life. This isn’t about rejecting technology or living in a cave. It’s about crafting a lifestyle that speaks to our genes, letting our bodies and minds do what they’re designed to do: balance, repair, and flourish. As a provider, my job is to guide you in building this environment, not to dictate fixes. As a patient, your journey is about rediscovering your innate resilience, not chasing perfection.

Here’s what a healing environment looks like, drawn from ancestral wisdom and tailored to today’s world:

Eat Like Your Ancestors: Our hunter-gatherer forebears thrived on animal-based, ketogenic diets—rich in grass-fed meats, fish, eggs, and organ meats, with minimal carbs. These foods fuel ketosis, stabilize blood sugar, and nourish the brain, as Dr. Georgia Ede’s work shows. Swap processed carbs for nutrient-dense foods: a breakfast of eggs and liver, a lunch of beef and kale, a dinner of salmon and Brussels sprouts. Add bone broth for gut healing and fermented veggies for probiotics. This isn’t a diet; it’s a return to what your body craves. Modern twist? Use an Instant Pot for broth or order grass-fed meats online.
Sync with Light and Earth: Our biology is wired for sunlight and grounding, as Dr. Jack Kruse emphasizes. Morning sun exposure (20 minutes +) resets your circadian rhythm, balancing hormones and thyroid function. Barefoot walking on grass (15 minutes + daily) reconnects you to the earth’s electrons, reducing inflammation. These primal practices are free and powerful. Modern twist? Wear blue-blocking glasses at night to mimic firelight, or ground on a park lawn during your lunch break.
Move Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Our ancestors didn’t “exercise”—they moved naturally: walking, sprinting, carrying, stretching. Barefoot walks (20 minutes, 4x/week), strength train or do bodyweight circuits (squats, lunges), and gentle yoga mimic these patterns, boosting insulin sensitivity and stress resilience. Once a week, try a sprint interval (30 seconds, barefoot) to channel your inner hunter. Modern twist? Stream a primal movement class online or join a local barefoot walking group.
Rest and Connect: Stress is the modern predator, keeping us in fight-or-flight. Fire gazing (10 minutes, 3x/week, by a candle) calms the vagus nerve, mimicking tribal rituals. Sleep by 10 PM (at the lastest in a dark, cool room to honor your circadian clock. Connect with a community—whether a primal movement group or an online ancestral health forum—to feel the tribal support our ancestors relied on. Modern twist? Use a meditation app for guided breathwork or host a virtual “campfire” chat with friends.
Nourish with Ancestral Superfoods: Organ meats like liver are nature’s multivitamins, packed with folate, B12, and B vitamins to support methylation and energy. For those with MTHFR variants, active forms (methylfolate, methylcobalamin) can bridge the gap, but liver remains a cornerstone. Oysters, salmon, and bone marrow deliver zinc, omega-3s, and fats our genes recognize. Modern twist? Take desiccated liver capsules if fresh liver isn’t your thing, or sip seaweed broth for iodine.

A Map Back to Human

This healing environment isn’t a quick fix—it’s a map back to human, a guide to weave modern comforts with ancient biology. It’s about small, intentional steps: swapping cereal for eggs, screen time for sunlight, stress for firelight. As a provider, I’m not here to “cure” you; I’m here to walk beside you, helping you create space for your body to heal itself. As a patient, you’re not a problem to solve—you’re a resilient being rediscovering your roots.

The old paradigm—pills, patches, and fixes—kept us chasing symptoms. Even functional medicine can veer too close to this, with its arsenal of supplements and protocols. The new paradigm is simpler yet profound: trust your body’s wisdom. Feed it ancestral foods, bathe it in sunlight, move it with purpose, and rest it with care. Your hormones will stabilize, your thyroid will hum, your weight will shift—not because we “fixed” you, but because we let your biology catch up.

Are we all barking up the wrong tree? Maybe. But the right tree is closer than you think. It’s the one rooted in the earth, warmed by the sun, and nourished by the foods and rhythms our ancestors knew. Let’s draw that map together—a path back to human, where health and happiness aren’t goals but natural outcomes of living in sync with who we are.

Ready to Start?

Try one primal practice this week: 20 minutes of morning sunlight, a barefoot walk, or a liver-rich meal.
Journal how it feels to reconnect with your ancient biology.
Reach out to a provider or community who sees health as a journey, not a fix.

Here’s to thriving as the ancient beings we are, in the modern world we’ve built.