Organ meats. Retinol. Detox protocols. Sacred cows in the alternative health world.

Dr. Garrett Smith, aka the Nutrition Detective, joins us to unpack the growing debate around vitamin A toxicity, bile metabolism, and why some of the most celebrated “superfoods” may not work the same for everyone.

At the center of the conversation is his Toxic Bile Theory — the idea that bile is not just a digestive fluid, but one of the body’s primary waste routes. When overloaded, he argues, it can shift from protective to inflammatory and drive chronic symptoms many people can’t seem to resolve.

We explore where detox culture goes wrong, why “healing crises” may not be what they seem, and why stopping ongoing exposures may matter more than adding another supplement.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Vitamin A debate: deficiency vs. toxicity
• Why serum retinol levels often rise with age
• Toxic Bile Theory and bile as a terrain issue
• Organ meats and why some people feel worse on them
• Detoxification vs. agitation
• Raw milk vs. conventional milk — what actually matters
• Copper toxicity concerns and mineral balance
• Why MSG may be good for you (seriously!)

This episode will challenge assumptions, especially for those in ancestral or nose-to-tail nutrition circles. As always, the goal isn’t to dictate conclusions, but to examine ideas and test them against your own experience and terrain.

You can learn more about Dr. Smith at his website https://nutritiondetective.com/ and also follow him on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/nutritiondetective, and on X at https://x.com/NutriDetect.

Support Terrain Theory on Patreon! Our recently-launched member platform gives you access to a ton of free & exclusive content. Check it out: https://www.patreon.com/TerrainTheory

Terrain Theory episodes are not to be taken as medical advice. You are your own primary healthcare provider.

If you have a Terrain Transformation story you would like to share, email us at ben@terraintheory.net.

Learn more at www.terraintheory.net

Follow Terrain Theory:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrain_theory/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Terrain-Theory

X: https://twitter.com/terraintheory1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@terraintheory

Music by Chris Merenda

Long before modern TCM was standardized, systematized, and filtered through a biomedical lens, Classical Chinese Medicine described health as harmony...not the absence of pathogens, but the presence of balance.

In this conversation, Tommy Hughes walks us back to the original canon — the Huangdi Neijing, the language of Qi, the cosmology of seasons, and the principle of treating what is not yet diseased.

We explore the distinction between pathogenesis and salutogenesis, why ancient physicians prioritized vitality over diagnosis, and how the classical view of epidemics centered on terrain, climate, and susceptibility rather than transmission alone.

Along the way, we unpack:

• The differences between modern TCM and its classical foundations
• Why “treating what is not yet diseased” represents a fundamentally different medical paradigm
• How dampness and seasonal energetics shaped classical understandings of epidemics
• The principle of correlative resonance and what we tune ourselves to
• Why chronic disease in the classical texts implicates the Heart and the spirit, not just the body
• The risks of biohacking extremes in a system built on balance

This is a return to first principles. A medicine rooted in rhythm, relationship, and responsibility for one’s terrain.

Is Classical Chinese Medicine the original Terrain Theory?

To learn more about Tommy's work, follow him on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@naturallytom2302 or reach out to him at naturallytom@tutamail.com.

Support Terrain Theory on Patreon! Our recently-launched member platform gives you access to a ton of free & exclusive content. Check it out: https://www.patreon.com/TerrainTheory

Terrain Theory episodes are not to be taken as medical advice. You are your own primary healthcare provider.

If you have a Terrain Transformation story you would like to share, email us at ben@terraintheory.net.

Learn more at www.terraintheory.net

Follow Terrain Theory:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrain_theory/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Terrain-Theory

X: https://twitter.com/terraintheory1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@terraintheory

Music by Chris Merenda

What if many of the chronic issues we label as “disease” are really the result of lost space, broken flow, and a body that can no longer breathe from the inside out?

In this episode of the Terrain Theory Podcast, we’re joined by fascia researcher and Block Therapy founder Deanna Hansen for a deep exploration of fascia as the physical environment of the body...and why its condition may determine how well your terrain can heal, detoxify, and regenerate.

Deanna reframes fascia not as passive connective tissue, but as the body’s primary communication and flow system – the medium through which oxygen, nutrients, lymph, and waste must move. When posture, stress, trauma, and dysfunctional breathing compress this system, flow breaks down. Elimination slows. Cells suffocate. Symptoms emerge.

Throughout the conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why diaphragmatic breathing is the engine of circulation, lymphatic movement, and nervous system regulation
• Why most people can’t access proper breath until fascial compression is released
• How gravity, posture, and chronic stress physically reshape the body over time
• Why pain is often the first signal of blocked flow...and how to work with it instead of against it
• How fascia decompression restores space so the body can clear waste and reestablish balance

Most importantly, this episode gives listeners a new lens for understanding their health: not as something to be forced or fixed, but as a terrain to be opened, decompressed, and allowed to flow.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re “doing all the right things” but your body still feels stuck, this conversation may explain why...and show you a path back to movement, breath, and internal flow.

Learn more about Deanna and her work at her website: https://bit.ly/BlockTherapy_TT.

Follow Block Therapy on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blocktherapy/, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@Fluidisometrics and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DeannaHansenBlockTherapy/.

Access your FREE GIFT from Deanna here: https://bit.ly/BlockTherapy_FreeGift

Support Terrain Theory on Patreon! Our recently-launched member platform gives you access to a ton of free & exclusive content. Check it out: https://www.patreon.com/TerrainTheory

Terrain Theory episodes are not to be taken as medical advice. You are your own primary healthcare provider.

If you have a Terrain Transformation story you would like to share, email us at ben@terraintheory.net.

Learn more at www.terraintheory.net

Follow Terrain Theory:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrain_theory/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Terrain-Theory

X: https://twitter.com/terraintheory1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@terraintheory

Music by Chris Merenda