Everyone loves a “hack,” right? We all want a workaround or clever shortcut that saves time and solves a problem. But what happens when hacks meet chronic illness?

Vitamin D isn’t a vitamin, it’s part of the steroid hormone axis alongside cortisol, estrogen, testosterone, and DHEA. This distinction is important because when you supplement with a steroid hormone, you don’t simply raise a level, you introduce a signal into a tightly controlled feedback system that’s designed to regulate itself.

There’s no shortage of health information—God knows there’s no shortage. The problem is the format it’s being delivered in and what that format is doing to people’s ability to actually get well.