Is modern medicine still evidence-based, or have we quietly mistaken rigor for certainty?

Evidence-based medicine is essential. It’s why we save lives, advance care, and trust modern healthcare. But as medicine has become more specialized and disease more complex, something subtle has happened. Rigor has increasingly turned into reductionism, and evidence is often applied in ways that don’t fully match the realities of clinical practice or patients’ lived experiences.

In this episode of The Trip Lab, I take a careful look at what we mean when we say “evidence-based medicine.” We explore the difference between statistical significance and clinical significance, how guidelines are created and why they are evidence-informed rather than infallible, and why many patients feel unwell despite having “normal” labs.

This conversation also examines how modern research methods struggle to capture complexity, particularly in chronic, system-level disease. We look at where reductionism has helped medicine advance, where it now falls short, and why ancient healing systems and emerging fields like systems biology, functional medicine, and precision medicine are pointing us toward a more integrated future.

This episode is not a rejection of evidence. It’s an invitation to reclaim it. To restore clinical wisdom alongside data, and to practice medicine with both rigor and curiosity.

In this episode, we cover:

• What “evidence-based medicine” actually means and how it’s evolved
• Statistical significance vs. clinical significance
• The strengths and limitations of medical guidelines
• Why reductionist models don’t fully explain chronic disease
• Why patients can feel unwell even when labs are “normal”
• How medicine might evolve to better study complexity
• Why medicine is both a science and an art

The podcast name, The Trip Lab, nods to psychedelics, but a “trip,” psychedelic or otherwise, is ultimately an exploration. A willingness to step outside familiar frameworks, question what we think we know, and notice connections that weren’t obvious before.

If you’ve ever felt tension between what the data says, what the guidelines allow, and what the patient in front of you actually needs... or if you are a patient who has been failed by modern medicine, this episode is for you.

Why do psychedelic experiences so often feel spiritual, sacred, or life-changing? Why are mystical-type experiences so closely linked to lasting therapeutic benefit? And why does medicine struggle to talk about them at all?

In this episode, we explore the neuroscience and psychology behind mystical experiences in psychedelics. We examine how shifts in brain networks involved in meaning, identity, and self-referential thinking can give rise to experiences of unity, insight, and transcendence, and why these subjective moments may matter more than the drug itself.

A grounded exploration of what psychedelic science is revealing about meaning, consciousness, and healing.

NAD has become one of the most talked-about molecules in longevity medicine—showing up in supplements, IV clinics, lab testing, and bold claims about aging and healthspan. But what does the science actually show?

In this episode of The Trip Lab, we take a clear, evidence-based look at NAD and use it as a lens to explore the broader field of longevity medicine. We break down what NAD does in the human body, why it’s linked to the hallmarks of aging, and why declining NAD is often a signal of cumulative cellular stress rather than a simple deficiency.

We also dive into the realities of NAD testing, the limitations of blood-based biomarkers, and what clinical trials of NR and NMN supplementation have—and have not—demonstrated so far. Along the way, we unpack why longevity research is both exciting and vulnerable to overhype, and why translating aging biology into meaningful human outcomes takes time.

This episode is for anyone curious about longevity medicine who wants clarity without hype—and a better framework for thinking about promise versus proof.

In this Deep Dive episode of The Trip Lab, we unpack hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) beyond the oversimplified “LDL bad, HDL good” narrative. We also take a clear-eyed look at the most common concerns people have about statins, what the evidence actually shows, and where these medications fit—and don’t fit—within a thoughtful, individualized approach to cardiovascular risk.

From there, we explore integrative strategies for managing elevated cholesterol and why, for many patients, lifestyle, metabolic health, and inflammation-targeted interventions may be more effective than medications alone.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why cholesterol is biologically essential and not inherently pathological
• The limitations of relying on LDL alone to assess cardiovascular risk
• How inflammation, insulin resistance, genetics, hormones, and lifestyle influence lipid metabolism
• When elevated cholesterol truly signals disease—and when it may reflect a compensatory or adaptive response
• The role of advanced markers such as ApoB, Lp(a), hsCRP and CAC scores
• Why risk stratification—not fear-based medicine—should guide clinical decision-making
• What statins can (and cannot do) and we break down the concerns people have with them
• Why integrative approaches (nutrition, exercise, herbal options and mind-body medicine) truly treat the root cause of disease

This episode is for clinicians, patients, and anyone looking to move beyond simplistic cholesterol narratives toward a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding of cardiovascular health.

In this season 2 opening episode of The Trip Lab, I return from maternity leave with a deeply personal exploration of how psychedelic experiences mirror one of the most profound transitions in a woman’s life: motherhood.

From the sudden crash of postpartum hormones to the full dissolution of identity and the slow reconstruction of self, I reflect on how becoming a mother felt strikingly similar to a psychedelic journey — raw, disorienting, expansive, and sacred.

We dive into the neuroscience of hormonal transitions, ego death, and neuroplasticity — exploring how estrogen, the Default Mode Network, and maternal brain remodeling all connect to the psychedelic experience. We also examine the often-overlooked wisdom of the menstrual cycle, the energetic sensitivity of pregnancy, and why the womb may be one of the most powerful maps for understanding transformation and healing.

This episode is for anyone curious about the intersection of psychedelics and the feminine — whether you’ve given birth, are hoping to one day, or simply want to understand how cycles, hormones, and identity shifts can open portals into deeper layers of self.

Topics include:

• Postpartum as ego death and rebirth
• Estrogen, neuroplasticity, and the psychedelic brain
• Psychedelics and the Default Mode Network in women
• Hormonal cycles and their influence on medicine journeys
• Ancestral wisdom, womb intelligence, and the sacred feminine

Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a hands on diagnostic and treatment modality that DOs learn in medical school. You may have seen the DO (rather than MD) after your doctor's name and never really understood what that meant. We dive into the difference between MDs and DOs and talk all about what osteopathic medicine is in this episode.

Many OMT treatments actually mirror what a yoga practice can do for you as well. Whether we are talking about the poses (or asanas) creating simultaneous activation and relaxation... or even the connection to the breath the augment healing... there are connections everywhere.

This podcast is also available in written form (with supplemental pictures and diagrams) at www.drmaryellawood.com.

In this episode we will take a deep dive into one of the leading causes of the global burden of disease-- hypertension, or high blood pressure. We will go over the pathophysiology, learn how hypertension develops and why it is so bad for the body.

After understanding the root causes, we can then better understand how our traditional pharmaceuticals, lifestyle interventions, and holistic integrative therapies work to treat this disease. ... and SPOILER! Holistic approaches turn out to be MORE effective than drugs to treat this one.

If you want to see another disease or disorder in this series, shoot me an email at thetriplabpodcast@gmail.com.

Today I will be introducing a new 'deep dive series' on The Trip Lab. We are going to be looking into the most common medical conditions to really understand what is happening in the body and how they develop. With that understanding, we can better understand how our treatments work-- including pharmaceuticals and surgery as well as integrative therapies like herbal medicine and mind-body medicine.

To start this series, we will look at how this divide between 'modern' medicine and 'alternative' medicine came to be. Why do we call western medicine the gold standard and ancient eastern approaches alternative? Well-- big pharma played a role. Take a listen if you want to learn how and why.