The Bathtub Analogy

Dr. Bob used a simple image to explain homeostasis: imagine a bathtub with water running in from the faucet and draining out the bottom.

If the inflow equals the outflow, the water level stays constant. That's homeostasis—the appearance of stability created by balanced flow.

Disease From Imbalance

But what happens if you turn up the faucet without opening the drain wider? The tub overflows. Disease from excess.

What if the drain opens too wide? The tub empties. Disease from deficiency.

This simple image explains almost everything about health and disease.

Free Radicals Are Like That Water Level

Free radicals are like that water level. Your body constantly produces them as a byproduct of metabolism—about 4 kilograms of superoxide per year, which is an enormous amount of oxidative stress. And you have to repair the damage at a rate proportional to how much you're creating.

"If you have it right, you can just keep it going."

The endocannabinoid system is the regulator of this balance. It's the hand on the faucet and the drain, constantly adjusting flow rates to keep the water level stable.

All Age-Related Illness

All age-related illness? That's the bathtub overflowing or draining. The balance has been lost. The flow has been disrupted.

Chronic inflammation is the tub overflowing—too much damage, not enough repair. Degenerative diseases are the tub draining—not enough building, too much breakdown.

The Pharmaceutical Problem

This is why so many pharmaceutical approaches fail. They try to plug the drain or turn off the faucet entirely, rather than restoring balance.

Take osteoporosis drugs. Your bones are in constant remodeling—building up and breaking down simultaneously. Osteoporosis happens when breakdown exceeds building. The conventional approach? Drugs that stop the breakdown.

Sounds logical, right? But you impair the flow. You need both synthesis AND degradation for healthy bone remodeling. Stop one side, and you get brittle bones that look dense on a scan but shatter under stress.

"Women would literally break their hips stepping off a sidewalk."

The better approach? Don't stop degradation—enhance synthesis. Shift the balance toward building rather than trying to freeze the process in place.

The bathtub analogy is simple, but it explains why health is about balance, not elimination. You don't want to stop processes—you want to balance them.

Flow forward.