Your Inner Roadmap
The Cost of Fighting Your Own Design
This week’s issue of The Informed explores what happens when we work with the body instead: from how ultra-processed foods challenge systems designed for whole inputs, to how objective self-understanding can reduce internal friction, and why barrier-first skincare philosophies may be more effective than aggressive routines. Sometimes, better outcomes come not from doing more, but from choosing better alignment.
Health
Your Roadmap & Ultra-Processed Foods
Cancer rates are rising. Chronic disease has become normalised. Polypharmacy (defined as the use of five or more medicines) is increasingly common. If you are young and reading this and believe these outcomes are far away, I urge you to keep going. In recent years, we have seen a concerning rise in early-onset cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, now appearing in much younger age groups. What was once considered a disease of later life is shifting earlier, forcing us to look beyond genetics to lifestyle and environment.
I recently came across the idea of “eating as your ancestors would have eaten.” It made me pause and reflect, picturing the mountain villages my ancestors lived in and the foods that sustained them:
Home-made yoghurt
Goat’s milk cheese with garlic and herbs
Wood-fired flatbreads
Seasonal vegetables and fruit
Locally sourced lamb, beef, or chicken
These foods were simple, minimally processed, and prepared close to where they were eaten. Life was geographically small, but nutritionally dense. People consumed foods their bodies had evolved to recognise.
As society advanced, food production became more efficient. The industrial revolution removed the need to make food from scratch, replacing time and skill with scale and convenience. Today, entire supermarket aisles are devoted to products such as yoghurt alone with dozens of variations differing not just in flavour, but in additives, stabilisers, emulsifiers, and shelf-life extenders.
This is where ultra-processed foods enter the picture.
Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made from refined ingredients, often stripped of their natural structure and rebuilt with sugars, seed oils, flavour enhancers, and chemical additives. They are engineered for taste, convenience, and longevity (product longevity, not your longevity!). None of this sounds like it is biologically compatible for you.
When I think about the body, I imagine it as a roadmap inherited from our ancestors—main roads and freeways designed for certain inputs. That roadmap has not changed. What has changed is what we send down it. When the body is repeatedly exposed to foods it does not readily recognise, it must work harder to regulate blood sugar, manage inflammation, and maintain gut integrity. Over time, this low-grade physiological stress contributes to metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, and cancer risk.
This is not about perfection or fear. Ultra-processed foods are part of modern life. The issue arises when they form the foundation of the diet rather than the exception.
Eating with an ancestral lens can be as simple as asking yourself better questions:
Is this food close to its original form?
Would my body recognise it?
Does this nourish, or merely stimulate?
We live in an age of abundance. Yet, intentional eating has never become more powerful in enhancing our health span.
Wellness
Self-understanding
Self-help and personal development content (books, podcasts etc) have never been as widely sought after as they are now. We spend a great deal of time and put attention towards trying to fix ourselves. Productivity hacks, morning routines, mindset shifts. Often, the underlying assumption is that something about us is wrong and that with enough effort, we could behave, think, or perform like someone else.
But have you ever tried not to correct who/what you are, but instead understand it better?
Objective personality and behavioural assessments offer a different lens. Rather than asking how we should be, they help us understand how we are naturally wired to process information, respond to stress, make decisions, and interact with others. Tools that assess traits such as introversion versus extroversion, emotional reactivity, conscientiousness, or cognitive style are not verdicts on character. They are maps.
When people encounter these insights, a common response is relief. The chronic self-judgement softens. The person who struggles in highly stimulating environments is no longer “bad at coping,” but neurologically sensitive. The individual who needs structure is not rigid, but predictability-seeking. The one who requires solitude to reset is not antisocial, but internally regulated.
This reframing matters. Persistent self-criticism activates stress pathways that affect sleep, mood, and immune function. Understanding your baseline tendencies allows you to design your life more intelligently, choosing environments, routines, and expectations that work for you rather than against.
Of course, personality assessments are not the full picture. They do not excuse terrible behaviour, nor do they replace the work you need to do for development. Instead, it can guide what you do next to pursue your growth. Change becomes adaptive instead of punitive. Wellness is not about becoming a better version of someone else. It is about reducing friction between who you are and how you live.
The personality test I have undertaken is called DISC. This one was super informative for me!
Beauty
Exploring Korean Skincare
I have been using active skincare products since my early twenties. Like many, my routine evolved gradually; a combination of pharmacist knowledge, recommendations from friends, and the influence of social media. For years, my shelves were filled with what we might consider conventional luxury and cosmeceutical brands, including Dr Dennis Gross, Tatcha, Eve Lom, Elemis, and Chantecaille, alongside pharmacy staples including La Roche-Posay and Avène.
Over the past few months, however, I began experimenting with the Korean skincare landscape. I had long admired the quality of Korean skin, but like many, I had attributed it largely to genetics. As Korean skincare stores began appearing across the city, I started to question that assumption. Perhaps it wasn’t just genetics. Perhaps it was formulation philosophy, consistency, and barrier-first thinking.
I’ve since made a few permanent swaps:
Dr Dennis Gross Vitamin C serum → Medicube Deep Vita C Capsule
Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm → Beauty of Joseon Cleansing Oil
What stood out immediately was not just comparable efficacy to the western products I would use, but tolerance. Korean formulations tend to prioritise skin barrier support, gentle actives, and layered hydration rather than aggressive exfoliation or high-percentage actives.
One standout addition to my routine has been the VT Cosmetics CICA Reedle Shot serum. Notably, it is the only hyaluronic-acid–containing product I have been able to use consistently without triggering breakouts, something my skin has historically struggled with.