Dr. Deb 0:00
Did you know that the average American child today consumes over 3000 food additives, chemicals that were never tested for long term safety, or that since the 1980s childhood chronic disease rates have tripled, while pharmaceutical profits have grown 1,000%

Dr. Deb 0:19
for 25 years, integrative medicine practitioners have been sounding the alarm while being dismissed as fringe and quacks. Well, now that fringe movement has reached the highest level of government our White House,

Dr. Deb 0:34
what if everything you’ve been told about maintaining your family’s health has been influenced by the same corporations profiting from your illness. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on one of the most controversial health crusades in American history. This is not a story about left versus right. It’s about life versus profit from fringe to mainstream, how integrative medicine’s 25 year battle for health and freedom reached the White House. Welcome back to Let’s Talk wellness now this show where we uncover the root causes of chronic illness, explore cutting edge regenerative medicine and empower you with the tools to heal. I’m Dr dab, and today we’re diving into the hidden corporate forces corrupting our health care system and the controversial efforts by leaders like Robert F Kennedy Jr to make America healthy again.

Dr. Deb 1:32
So grab your cup of tea or coffee, and let’s settle in for an amazing discussion.

Dr. Deb 1:39
You know, I remember when I started practicing, people would come into the office with one blood pressure medicine, maybe an allergy medicine, and they didn’t have a lot of medical interventions. Now I see people on three to five blood pressure medicines, often three to five other medications. And you have to start to wonder, Is this our environment doing this, where we just can’t control things the way we used to? Today,

Dr. Deb 2:12
we’re going to talk about this hidden health crisis, because it’s really become a major problem,

Dr. Deb 2:22
the health crisis hidden in plain sight. What if your symptoms aren’t your true diagnosis? What if the rising tide of chronic disease in America isn’t just bad luck or genetics, but the result of systemic changes to our food water and our environment.

Dr. Deb 2:42
Today, I want to take you behind the headlines and political noise to examine something that affects every single one of us, the forces shaping our health landscape and the controversial figures who’s now at the helm of our nation’s health policy. Let me start with something personal.

Dr. Deb 3:03
In my practice at Serenity Healthcare Center, I’ve seen disturbing patterns over the last two decades, children and adults coming in with complex, multi system conditions that simply weren’t common. When I first started practicing, we would see one or two people with these type of symptoms. Now I see five to 10 people with the same type of symptoms. Autoimmune conditions that used to be rare are now commonplace. Developmental delays that once affected one in 10,000 children now impact one and 36

Dr. Deb 3:43
and one of my grandchildren is one of those children. As a functional medicine practitioner, I’m trained to ask why, why are we seeing these dramatic shifts? What environmental factors might be driving this surge in chronic conditions? That’s exactly what Robert F Kennedy, Jr has been asking for years as an environmental advocate and now as Secretary of Health and Human Services, he has the power to do something about it. His make America healthy again. Initiative isn’t just a catchy slogan, it’s a fundamental challenge to how we think about health and disease in America,

Dr. Deb 4:26
I need to be clear about something important. What’s happening now with the Make America healthy again movement isn’t new to those of us in integrative medicine for over 25 years, practitioners like myself and pioneers like Dr Mark Hyman, Dr Perlmutter and the late Dr Bradstreet, along with many others that you would never recognize because they worked in the trenches, witnessing these disturbing health trends and speaking out about them, but not in a public arena.

Dr. Deb 5:00
Speaking out about them, one on one with the clients they touched every single day. That’s precisely why so many of us have stepped away from conventional medicine and entered integrative practice. We saw this broken system and wanted to create real change, and I’m really excited today to see Dr Casey means starting to speak out at a very powerful level on what’s been happening with the food industry, what’s been happening with our government and our pharmaceutical companies. It is a brave thing that she is doing, because many who have tried to do what she has done have lost their licenses, lost their livelihood and been turned away by their own families.

Dr. Deb 5:50
We recognize that our medical system has designed, was designed to manage symptoms rather than address root causes. We see how pharmaceutical interventions were being prioritized over lifestyle changes. We understood the powerful influence that food companies chemical manufacturers and pharmaceutical Giants had on both medical education and on health care policy, and for 25 years, we were often dismissed as alternative or fringe, but now many of the same concerns we’ve been voicing for decades are being elevated to the highest levels of government policy. This isn’t a partisan issue. Chronic disease doesn’t care if you vote red or blue, the companies profiting from both illness and treatment don’t distinguish between conservatives and liberals when marketing their products, they market to the whole this is about something much deeper. It’s about how corporate influence has shaped our very understanding of what it means to be healthy. Take our food system. For instance, since the 1950s we’ve witnessed a complete transformation in how food is produced, processed and preserved. Over 10,000 chemicals are now permitted in our food supply, many without rigorous safety testing or any safety testing. For that matter, big food companies have engineered products specifically designed to bypass our natural satiety signals, creating what scientists call hyper palatable combinations that trigger addiction like responses in our brains.

Dr. Deb 7:39
Is it any wonder we’re facing unprecedented rates of obesity, diabetes and metabolic dysfunction, and what has come to save the day for these food companies that have created these chemicals that have made us obese and made us have conditions that don’t allow us to lose weight? Well, of course, it’s GLP one, it is the best weight loss product on the market ever that costs $1,300 a month in this country, but yet in Europe, it costs $88

Dr. Deb 8:15
a month. And we’re not just pushing this for adults. They want to approve this medication for six year olds. That means that we have six year olds that are obese enough that they’re having medical conditions like an adult, and they will need to take an injection every week for the rest of their lives to control their obesity and their diabetes, one that our pharmaceutical companies and our food industries created. Do you see the vicious cycle that goes round and round? They’re all in this together, making money together, off of all of us, and it’s time we take this back and join this movement to make ourselves and our country healthy again.

Dr. Deb 9:06
Similarly, our pharmaceutical industry has evolved from producing life saving antibiotics and emergency medicines to marketing daily medications that manage but rarely cure any chronic illness and create many other side effects that you’re going to need another medication to manage. The business model here is clear. There’s more profit in treatments than there are in cures.

Dr. Deb 9:35
So this brings us to Kennedy’s controversial appointment and the firestorm it has created in both public health circles and the media Love him or hate him, Kennedy has forced us to confront uncomfortable questions about the intersection of corporate power and public health.

Dr. Deb 9:55
Robert F Kennedy Jr’s make America healthy again initiative.

Dr. Deb 10:00
Of represents one of the most ambitious attempts to reshape American health policy in decades. He’s requested a $500 million boost in the federal health budget specifically earmarked for nutrition education and promoting healthier lifestyles, a dramatic shift from the traditional focus on disease management and pharmaceutical interventions, Kennedy has already begun pressuring major food companies to eliminate artificial dyes linked to behavioral issues in children. I’ve known this for a long time. When I started as a naturopath, I worked with a pioneer, Dr kanetsky, who did allergy testing in his office, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most exquisite physicians in this industry that were doing cutting edge care back in the early 2000s

Dr. Deb 10:54
Dr Kay had known about what food dice did to children for at least 10 years prior to that, and we used to allergy test kids in that office, where we would give them a dye underneath their tongue, and we would watch them to see what happened, and their behaviors completely changed. There were people that would lose their complete ability to focus. Dr Doris Rapp has written and documented allergy testing in her office for decades, and there’s one story that she tells that I will never forget, and it was a teenage boy who suffered from depression, and she was allergy testing him in her office, and she gave him citrus, and when she gave him this food that obviously was not completely natural, he would curl up in a ball and he would cry, and he would talk about committing suicide, and 10 minutes later, she would give him a different dilution, and he was back to normal, just like I’m talking to you right now. But the crazy part of all of this was he had absolutely no recollection of his suicidal feelings while he was in that state.

Dr. Deb 12:15
This was my first introduction to what food can really do to us and how impactful this can be and if we can find these foods that create these feelings inside of us and eliminate them and neutralize them to what’s happening to us, we can be healthier and we can be happier.

Dr. Deb 12:33
So when we think that this is new on these artificial dyes, I can tell you that it’s not. It’s been a problem for a very long time, and we’ve known it’s been a problem for a very long time, but it is not mainstream. And if it’s not mainstream, people don’t know about it and people don’t trust it.

Dr. Deb 12:52
So like Bobby Kennedy, has promised comprehensive studies into the rising prevalence of autism and other developmental conditions. I think this is key. My office has treated autism for 25 years. We’ve seen such a growth of autism in this country that we need to start asking, Why? Why is it affecting one in 36 and primarily boys over girls? Can we really run a country with one in 36 of our men having a developmental condition? What is going to happen to our economy? What is going to happen to our industry? What is going to happen to our innovators? What is going to happen to our military? We need to start asking these questions.

Dr. Deb 13:43
Now, I know this can be controversial, and he’s pushing for bans on sugar sweetened beverages in the food stamp programs in several states, arguing that taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize products that fuel the diabetes epidemic. I know, again, this is a controversial topic, but is soda or pop a food? No, it’s just crap. It’s pure sugar, and it’s destroying our children. It’s destroying our country. It’s destroying our health, the obesity level. I remember when I was a kid, if we got soda, it was on a special occasion, and we would get these little juice jars from the grocery store. They were very small. Many of you my age probably remember them. If you’re younger, you don’t know what I’m talking about, but they were maybe about a four to six ounce jar, and that’s what we would get for soda on a special occasion. Now, you would get a 32 or 36 ounce container of soda at the fast food store, or you’re drinking two or three, you know, 20 ounce bottles a day. You’re not drinking any water.

Dr. Deb 15:00
This is a problem. These products were not meant to be drunk this way, be consumed this way. Did you know Coca Cola has a lobbyist at the White House, at the government, to lobby for them on the food industry. Do you really think Coca Cola is a food now I’m going to be the first one to admit I love Coca Cola. It is, it is one of my favorite things, but it is a problem, and they should not have the ability to lobby our politicians for anything. I’m sorry, but they should not.

Dr. Deb 15:39
You know, these movements align with what many of us as functional and integrative medicine have been advocating for years, addressing the root causes of chronic disease rather than simply managing them. Kennedy’s focus on environmental health factors, chemicals in our food, our water and consumer products echoes what I’ve been teaching my patients about creating a clean environment to support natural healing for over 20 years. What’s fascinating to me is seeing how this movement has grown from dedicated practitioners like myself to visionaries like Dr Casey means, who’s now being embraced at the highest levels of government. And Dr means has pointed out she left her surgical career precisely because she saw how broken and exploitative our health care system had become. Like many of us, she wanted to focus on keeping people out of the operating rooms, rather than performing surgeries that might have been prevented through lifestyle interventions. What Dr means and other leaders in the integrated health community bring to this conversation is a perspective that crosses political boundaries. The make America healthy again movement isn’t just conservatives or liberals. It includes functional medicine practitioners, regenerative agricultural advocates, health freedom supporters and many others across the political spectrum.

Dr. Deb 17:10
What unites them is the recognition that Americans are chronically ill for preventable reasons, and our children are being and bearing the brunt of the corrupted system.

Dr. Deb 17:25
Kennedy’s supporters highlight his efforts to reform our food system. Take artificial food dyes, for instance, while the FDA has maintained these petroleum derivative coloring colorings are safe. Let me repeat that, because I think it really needs to be heard. This is a petroleum derived coloring and oil based coloring that they’re saying are safe, and numerous studies have linked them to behavioral problems in children’s like I just talked about, and countries like the UK and Norway require warning labels on products containing these dyes,

Dr. Deb 18:05
yet they remain in our systems. In the American children’s food Kennedy’s push to eliminate these unnecessary chemicals seems like common sense to many parents who’ve seen behavioral improvements when removing these substances from their children’s diet.

Dr. Deb 18:24
Kennedy has also questioned the widespread use of fluoride in children’s dental products and water supplies, a practice that’s been standard for decades, while previous scientific reviews have generally found water fluoridation safe and effective for preventing tooth decay. Emerging research has raised questions about potential neurodevelopment effects and other certain exposure levels. Are we quite wondering why yet we see so much neurological problems these days? Why are we seeing more als than ever before, or Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia. Ms,

Dr. Deb 19:05
I remember being at a conference.

Dr. Deb 19:08
Gosh, this had to have been early 2000s

Dr. Deb 19:11
and there was a lecturer there talking about fluoride and the toxicity levels of it. And he showed a area in another part of the country,

Dr. Deb 19:23
not country, but world, in a third world, country, I would say, very impoverished. I won’t say where,

Dr. Deb 19:33
where leaders dumped fluoride into the soil.

Dr. Deb 19:40
And after decades of this fluoride being dumped into the soil, he showed a very distinct picture of several men and several children with horrible bone deformities to the point where they could barely walk. Their teeth were gone. They.

Dr. Deb 20:00
I’m picturing the picture in my head, and it’s even hard to describe. It was so traumatic, like bone deformities that were legs were like this, and their arms were crippled, and they couldn’t walk, they couldn’t eat. It’s horrifying to see that. And yet, in this country, research shows that it’s safe. Well,

Dr. Deb 20:27
maybe we’re not dumping the amount of fluoride into the soil here the way they did there,

Dr. Deb 20:34
but if you could see this picture, you would never forget it in your mind, and it would make you realize that what we’re being told is not the truth.

Dr. Deb 20:47
You know these these leaders, they’re arguing that we need to apply precautionary principles Better safe than sorry methodology, especially when it comes to our children and their developing brains. And I question, how can somebody argue that that’s wrong?

Dr. Deb 21:09
How can we sit here and say, let’s just give the pharmaceutical companies in the food industry and the tobacco industry all the ability to do whatever they want, because they’re truly not going to do something that harms us. Are we crazy? Are we crazy for saying that, of course, they’re going to do whatever they want. They’re going to do whatever they want, because it’s driven by money, and anytime that we think there’s going to be somebody else there protecting our children, protecting us. I’ve got news for you, nobody’s coming to save your children, but you,

Dr. Deb 21:46
nobody’s going to change this, except for you.

Dr. Deb 21:54
Kennedy’s vision for restructuring our health agencies includes streamlining the bureaucracy, eliminating redundancy and shifting focus from disease management to prevention, many functional medicine practitioners would agree with this emphasis on nutrition, removing environmental toxins and lifestyle approaches to chronic disease. It is what we practice every single day. Areas of traditionally unfunded in our conventional system.

Dr. Deb 22:26
Now, however, Kennedy’s approach has sparked intense criticism for many in the medical and public health communities. His most controversial position involves vaccines and infections of the disease prevention areas where his statements have alarmed many health professionals, including those who might otherwise support his environmental health initiatives, and since taking office, he has made significant cuts

Dr. Deb 22:53
to this industry and campaigns and infectious disease prevention programs, even as the nation faces concerning outbreaks like the recent measles surge that they say has sickened 1000 people nationwide, he maintains that he is pro safety rather than an anti Vaxxer, and his rhetoric and policy decisions have fueled his hesitancy, according to many public experts at HHS statements said his long standing advocacy has always focused on ensuring

Dr. Deb 23:29
that these vaccines and other medical interventions meet the highest standards of safety and are supported by the gold standard of science.

Dr. Deb 23:38
He’s hiring researchers who have published work suggesting that there are connections between these ingredients and our developmental delays.

Dr. Deb 23:50
We need to look at this. We need to know for certain that the things that we’re giving to our children are safe and effective

Dr. Deb 24:01
as someone who practices functional medicine, I understand more than anything, the desire for personalized health approaches, including thoughtful consideration of medical interventions. I’ve worked with families who have legitimate questions about medical treatments by also recognize the vital importance of preventing disease and devastating communities. This tension between personalized medicine and public health, between questioning authority and maintaining essential protections, lies at the heart of every debate of every healthcare practitioner I have ever spoken to,

Dr. Deb 24:40
and this is beyond

Dr. Deb 24:44
this discussion. It is beyond anything that we’re talking about today. Personalized medicine should be just that, and every person in this country should have the ability to make their own choice of.

Dr. Deb 25:00
On how they want to care for their bodies and their children,

Dr. Deb 25:05
and we should be allowing these children to have safe and effective treatments, as well as their parents and as well as adults.

Dr. Deb 25:17
Tenant Kennedy’s tenure at HHS Secretary presents a study in contrast that reflects the complex reality of health policy in America.

Dr. Deb 25:27
On one hand, we have the push for cleaner food, reduced chemical exposure, and greater focus on nutrition and prevention approaches that align with functional medicine principles and could potentially reduce chronic disease rates. On the other hand, we have skepticism on all of the medications, on all of the things that we’re giving our children. We have skepticism on our research. Is it accurate? Is it true? What’s going on with it? And I think personally, it’s been a long time coming that we ask these questions and that we don’t just trust the pharmaceutical companies and the big food industries that they are giving us appropriate data, because we know it’s not, and we need to take away the ability of these pharmaceutical companies to market directly to the public that has never been allowed before, and now every commercial you see is a pharmaceutical company providing and marketing to you on a new drug.

Dr. Deb 26:39
This should not be happening. Drugs should be coming as recommendations from your practitioner, not from the TV, and we should know exactly if this drug is safe or not. And when we look at the number of drugs that have been pulled from the market after only being on the market a few years because of side effects and complications, we have to start to question all of this.

Dr. Deb 27:06
So ultimately, what does all of this mean for you and your family? How do you navigate these contraindications to protect your health in a shifting landscape?

Dr. Deb 27:18
Well, first, recognize that health is rarely black and white. We can simultaneously appreciate efforts to reduce harmful chemicals in our food while maintaining our healthy schedules and our

Dr. Deb 27:34
evaluations, our physicals, those kinds of things

Dr. Deb 27:38
we can support nutrition and education, while advocating

Dr. Deb 27:45
for affordable health care access for all children, we could force our medical schools to provide more than just four hours of nutritional Education during medical school,

Dr. Deb 28:00
and they provide a lot more time in looking at drug therapy. Second, we can become informed advocates to our own health question sources of information, including mine, look for evidence based approaches that honor both individual biochemical uniqueness and the importance of public health measures that protect communities. Third, you can focus on what you can control. Regardless of policy shifts in Washington, you get to choose what comes into your world. Choose whole, unprocessed foods whenever possible, reduce environmental toxin exposure in your home. Prioritize sleep management and movement. Build a relationship with healthcare practitioners who listen to your concerns and treat you as a partner in your health journey.

Dr. Deb 28:53
Use natural cleaners, use essential oils, get the chemicals out of your environment.

Dr. Deb 29:02
But here’s what practitioners like myself and Dr Casey means have been emphasizing for decades. Healing requires your active participation, as Dr means discovered during her medical training and I’ve seen throughout my career, you don’t have to remain trapped in a healthcare system that keeps you sick, you can enter a system with eyes wide open, one that addresses root causes and genuinely heals,

Dr. Deb 29:31
however, and this is crucial, and you must be willing to change your lifestyle. No doctor. Let me repeat this, no doctor, no supplement and no policy change can overcome the effects of consistently poor dietary choices, chronic stress, inadequate sleep and environmental toxic exposure, the most powerful medicine is what you need to do.

Dr. Deb 30:00
Every single day. This is what makes integrative medicine so revolutionary. We see you as an active participant in your healing journey, not as a passive recipient of treatments. We partner with you to address those root causes of your illness, rather than simply managing your symptoms. We go and find the root cause, and finally, we engage in respectful dialog about these issues, not in a 10 minute conversation, but more like an hour long conversation.

Dr. Deb 30:36
Our health discourse has become as polarized as our policies politically, but healing happens in the middle ground where we can acknowledge complexity and seek uncommon understandings.

Dr. Deb 30:55
Now let’s share some of our key takeaways from this episode. For 25 years, integrative medicine practitioners have been warning about the same issues now being addressed by the Make America healthy agenda. Dr Casey means and other leaders in the integrative health community have been pioneers in advocating for root cause approaches to chronic disease. The Maha movement combines promising food system reforms with controversial changes to policy, corporate influence in our food and healthcare systems has contributed to rising chronic disease rates. Government policy shapes everything from food safety to medication access with real consequences for families and true healing requires not just policy change, but your willingness to change lifestyle habits. The tension between individual health freedom and public health protections defines the current debate.

Dr. Deb 31:56
Practical steps to protect your family include choosing whole foods, reducing toxic exposure and becoming an informed health advocate.

Dr. Deb 32:06
We need science based wellness approaches that acknowledge both environmental factors in chronic disease and the importance of preventing infectious disease. I

Dr. Deb 32:19
want to thank you for joining me today on Let’s Talk wellness. Now, if this episode has resonated with you, share it with someone who could benefit from learning how government policy and corporate interests shape the health of our children and our communities. Get involved, if it’s on a political level, a local level, or just getting involved in your family’s health reform, you have to take a step forward. You have to take a stand if you want a healthier community and healthier family.

Dr. Deb 32:55
Remember, wellness isn’t just about feeling good, it’s about thriving in every area of your life. If you’re ready to explore how root cause medicine can help you visit serenity healthcare center.com

Dr. Deb 33:09
or you can reach out directly through

Dr. Deb 33:14
our social media channels, Instagram, Facebook. You can also email us on our website.

Dr. Deb 33:22
If this episode has resonated with you, please do me a favor, like share and subscribe so you don’t ever miss another episode, and until next time I’m Dr Deb, reminding you to take care of your body, mind and spirit. Be well, and I’ll see you in the next episode. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Let’s talk wellness now brings expert insights directly to you. Please note that the views and information shared by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Let’s Talk wellness now its management or our partners, each affiliate, sponsor and partner is an independent entity with its own perspectives. Today’s content is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered specific advice, whether financial, medical or legal. While we strive to present accurate and useful information, we cannot guarantee its completeness or relevance to your unique circumstances. We encourage you to consult with a qualified professional to address your individual needs. Your use of information from this broadcast is entirely at your own risk. By continuing to listen, you agree to indemnify and hold let’s talk wellness now and its associates harmless from any claims or damages arising from the use of this content. We may update this disclaimer at any time, and changes will take effect immediately upon posting or broadcasts. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find this episode both insightful and thought provoking. Listener discretion is advised.

This episode is sponsored by Serenity Health Care Center, where we specialize in uncovering the root causes of chronic health conditions to help you achieve optimal wellness. Visit us at www.serenityhealthcarecenter.com or call 262-522-8640 to learn more.

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