Big Fat Lies

How fear of eating fats is making people sick, sad, and dependent

"So, tell me about your diet," I say, leaning forward in my chair. My new client – let's call her Sarah – shifts uncomfortably.

"Oh, I eat really healthy," Sarah replies, a hint of pride in her voice. "Lots of whole grains, fruits, veggies. I've cut out red meat and I avoid fat like the plague."

I nod, having heard this refrain countless times before. "And how are you feeling?"

Sarah's proud smile falters. "Well, that's why I'm here, I guess. I'm always tired. Can't sleep. My mood's all over the place, and..." she hesitates, "I can't seem to lose weight no matter what I do."

"Anything else?" I probe gently.

"I get these anxiety attacks," she admits. "And lately, I've been having a glass of wine... or three... most nights. Just to relax, you know?"

I lean back, taking in the all-too-familiar picture. Here sits another victim of what I've come to call the "Healthy Eating Trap" – a person dutifully following the nutritional gospel preached by government guidelines and glossy magazines, yet falling apart at the seams.

"Sarah," I say carefully, "what if I told you that your 'healthy' diet might be the very thing making you feel this way?"

Her eyes widen in disbelief. "But... how? I'm doing everything right!"

Sickness is the New Normal

America's health is in crisis. According to the CDC, six in ten adults battle at least one chronic disease, with four in ten juggling multiple conditions. The true shock? A staggering 66% of Americans rely on at least one prescription drug daily. It worsens – 42% take two or more pills, and nearly a quarter swallow five or more.

Antidepressants, statins, and blood pressure medications top the list. Coincidence? Hardly. We're not just treating illnesses; we're chemically managing a population. As we dutifully follow 'healthy' guidelines, we're becoming sicker and more “medicated”.

Sickness has become the new normal. When I sit across from patients - their bodies drowning in inflammation, their minds clouded by brain fog, their energy sapped by invisible thieves - and tell them their "healthy" diet is the culprit, they look at me as if I've grown a second head. Suggesting that patients could improve their health through dietary changes, lifestyle modifications, and eliminate reliance toxic pharmaceuticals is often met with skepticism, labeled as radical or even unethical by the medical establishment.

The idea that their carefully curated plate of whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat options could be the source of their suffering is so foreign, so contradictory to everything they've been told, that it borders on heresy. We've reached a point where chronic illness, daily medications, and persistent discomfort are seen as inevitable parts of life rather than glaring warning signs. It's a world turned upside down, where vibrant health is the exception and sickness is the expectation. And in this topsy-turvy reality, suggesting that food - the very thing meant to nourish us - could be the poison seems nothing short of madness.

Every day, I find myself in a David and Goliath battle against a medical establishment deeply entrenched in outdated beliefs. My patients, desperate for answers, cling to the words of their doctors like a lifeline. "Your condition is genetic," these physicians confidently declare, absolving themselves and their patients of any responsibility. "Keep eating your whole grains and avoid saturated fats," they parrot, regurgitating the same flawed dogma that's been force-fed to medical students for decades.

When I suggest that their diet - the very one blessed by their doctors and the USDA food pyramid - might be the root of their problems, I'm met with a mixture of disbelief and defensiveness.

"But my doctor says I'm eating healthy," they protest, eyes wide with confusion.

It's a maddening cycle: the blind leading the sick, perpetuating illness under the guise of health. I'm not just fighting against disease; I'm battling a deeply ingrained belief system, a medical-industrial complex that profits from chronic illness, and the stubborn human tendency to trust authority over evidence. It's exhausting, it's frustrating, but the stakes are too high to give up.

Junk Science & Corporate Greed

In the 1950s, a perfect storm of bad science, corporate greed, and misguided government policy set the stage for one of the greatest health disasters in American history. Enter Ancel Keys, a physiologist with a talent for self-promotion and a chip on his shoulder. His "Seven Countries Study" claimed to show a link between saturated fat consumption and heart disease. The only problem? He cherry-picked his data, conveniently ignoring countries that didn't fit his hypothesis.

But why let facts get in the way of a good story? The sugar industry, seeing an opportunity to shift blame from their own products, poured millions into research designed to demonize fat. Meanwhile, the nascent vegetable oil industry salivated at the chance to replace traditional fats with their industrial seed oils.

The final nail in the coffin came in 1977 when the U.S. government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to play nutritionist. The result? The now-infamous food pyramid, a monument to misinformation that advised Americans to base their diets on grains and to avoid fats at all costs.

This toxic trio - flawed studies, corporate manipulation, and government meddling - birthed the "fat is bad" hypothesis. It was a perfect lie: simple, scary, and lucrative. America swallowed it whole, and we've been paying the price ever since with skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. If you want to learn more about how dire this crisis is you must watch this podcast with Calley and Casey Means.

The cruel irony? As we've cut fat from our diets, we've only grown fatter and sicker. It turns out vilifying an entire macronutrient essential for hormone production, brain function, and cellular health wasn't such a bright idea after all. Who knew?

Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the "fat is bad" myth stubbornly persists in the public consciousness, a testament to the power of ingrained beliefs and institutional inertia. It's a classic case of cognitive dissonance on a societal scale.

For starters, we're dealing with decades of indoctrination. From childhood, an entire generation has been bombarded with low-fat propaganda. It's on every food label, in every government guideline, and echoed by an army of well-meaning but misinformed healthcare professionals. This constant reinforcement has carved deep neural pathways, making it extraordinarily difficult for many to even consider alternative viewpoints.

Then there's the comfort of simplicity. The idea that we can avoid heart disease and stay slim simply by cutting out fat is seductively straightforward. It offers a clear villain and an easy solution. The truth – that nutrition is complex, highly individual, and that fat is essential for health – is far messier and less satisfying to our pattern-seeking brains.

We can't ignore the role of big industry either. The multi-billion dollar low-fat food industry has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. They've perfected the art of making highly processed, high-profit margin foods taste good without fat – usually by pumping them full of sugar and artificial additives. Admitting that fat isn't the enemy would be a financial disaster for these corporate giants, so they continue to push the narrative through clever marketing and lobbying.

The "backfire effect" is a psychological phenomenon that turns logic on its head. When confronted with facts challenging their core beliefs, people don't just resist – they double down. Each piece of contradictory evidence becomes a rallying cry, strengthening their resolve. In a twist of irony, every study debunking the "fat is bad" myth doesn't enlighten – it entrenches. The more science proves fat isn't the villain, the more fervently some cling to their low-fat gospel, treating butter and beef as poison. It's a cognitive arms race where facts are casualties, and outdated beliefs emerge as unlikely victors.

The result is a perfect storm of misinformation, with millions of people earnestly trying to eat "healthy" while unwittingly sabotaging their own health. They dutifully choose low-fat yogurts loaded with sugar, avoid nutrient-dense egg yolks, and opt for processed vegetable oils over natural saturated fats – all while wondering why they're still tired, overweight, and battling chronic health issues.

Fat: The Misunderstood Medicine for Body and Mind

Fat is not the enemy – it's the cornerstone of human health. Every cell in your body is enveloped in a fatty membrane. Your brain, the command center of your entire being, is 60% fat. The hormones that regulate everything from your mood to your metabolism are built from cholesterol, a fat that we've been told to fear. By avoiding fat, we're not just changing our diets – we're fundamentally altering our biology, and the consequences are dire.

When we strip fat from our diets, we're robbing our bodies of the very building blocks they need to function. Hormonal chaos ensues: testosterone plummets, estrogen fluctuates wildly, and stress hormones skyrocket. Is it any wonder that we're seeing an epidemic of infertility, mood disorders, and metabolic dysfunction?

The brain bears the brunt of this nutritional assault. Without adequate fat, particularly omega-3s, our neurons can't communicate effectively. The result? A tsunami of cognitive issues that we're too quick to label as psychiatric disorders. Depression, anxiety, ADHD – how many of these conditions are actually manifestations of a fat-starved brain? We're medicating symptoms while ignoring the root cause.

Consider the child labeled with ADHD, prescribed stimulants to focus. Or the teenager diagnosed with depression, given SSRIs to boost mood. What if their brains are simply starving for fat? We're quick to prescribe pills, but slow to question the low-fat dogma that may be causing these issues in the first place.

The cognitive impact extends beyond mood. Memory loss, brain fog, and even neurodegenerative diseases have been linked to insufficient fat intake. We're told to fear Alzheimer's, yet we shun the very nutrients our brains need to stay healthy. It's a cruel irony that our attempts to eat 'healthy' may be accelerating cognitive decline.

Perhaps most perversely, our war on fat is making us fatter. Without adequate dietary fat, our metabolism slows to a crawl. We become insulin resistant, inflamed, and paradoxically, unable to burn fat effectively. The obesity epidemic isn't a failure of willpower – it's the predictable result of following flawed nutritional advice.

The human body is a symphony of complex systems, all dependent on fat to function optimally. By demonizing this essential nutrient, we've disrupted this delicate harmony. The result is a population that's chronically ill, overmedicated, and metabolically broken.

The American population is overfed and undernourished. Until we embrace fat as a vital, health-promoting nutrient, we'll continue to see rising rates of physical and mental illness. The solution isn't another fad diet or pill. It's a return to the nutrient-dense, fat-rich foods that humans have thrived on for millennia. Your body is begging for fat. Isn't it time we listened?

Contrary to outdated nutritional dogma, saturated fats are not the heart-attack-inducing villains they've been portrayed as. In fact, they're crucial for hormone production, brain health, and cellular integrity. Sources include:

• Grass-fed butter and ghee

• Coconut oil

• Fatty cuts of grass-fed meat

• Full-fat dairy from pasture-raised animals

• Eggs, especially the nutrient-rich yolks

• Wild Caught Fatty fish

Don't fear these fats. They provide stable energy, support cognitive function, and can actually improve your cholesterol profile. These are mental health foods!

Egg consumption is associated with lower risk of depression. Those who ate ≥3 eggs a week had 38% lower risk of depression compared to those who ate none.

I've authored an in-depth article on optimizing nutrition for mental health through strategic biohacking. This comprehensive article, Available here, highlights key foods rich in bioavailable nutrients often deficient in the American diet. It places special emphasis on enhancing gut health and metabolic function, providing a roadmap to mental wellness through targeted nutritional interventions.

I prioritize:

1. Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished Beef and Lamb

2. Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished Organ Meats

3. Raw Milk Kefir

4. Pasture-Raised Eggs

5. Organic Berries

6. Organic Raw Carrots

7. Avocados

8. Wild-Caught Salmon and Low-Mercury Fish

9. Oysters, Clams, Mussells

10. Fermented Vegetables

11. Sweet Potato

12. Locally Sourced Honey

13. Organic Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao

The Unholy Alliance Wants Us Sick And Dependent

The unholy alliance between Big Food, Big Pharma, and the medical industrial complex is perhaps the most insidious conspiracy of our time. This triumvirate of profit-driven entities has masterfully engineered a system that keeps us sick, dependent, and coming back for more - all while lining their pockets with billions.

Let's start with the food industry. They've flooded our markets with processed, high-carb, low-fat products that are nothing short of metabolic napalm. These "foods" spike our blood sugar, inflame our bodies, and set us on a one-way track to chronic disease. Because they're cheap to produce, addictively tasty, and backed by government subsidies it’s a perfect storm of profit and politics, with our health as collateral damage.

Enter Big Pharma, stage left. As our bodies break down under the assault of modern diets, the pharmaceutical industry is all too happy to provide a chemical crutch. Blood pressure through the roof from all those refined carbs? Here's a beta-blocker. Cholesterol high from your liver working overtime to deal with excess sugar?

Statin for you.

These drugs don't cure the underlying issue - they merely mask the symptoms, ensuring you remain a loyal customer for life.

The real genius of this system? These drugs often come with side effects that require... you guessed it, more drugs. It's a pharmacological pyramid scheme, with your body as the unwitting base.

And who's writing all these prescriptions? Doctors, the supposed guardians of our health, have become unwitting (or in some cases, willingly complicit) pawns in this game. Influenced by biased research, courted by pharmaceutical reps, and trained in a system that prioritizes symptom management over root cause resolution, many physicians have essentially become high-end drug dealers in white coats.

The result is a populace that's increasingly medicated yet paradoxically sicker than ever. We're treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol - direct consequences of our diet - with drugs that do nothing to address the underlying metabolic dysfunction. It's like bailing water from a sinking ship without plugging the hole.

This sick-care system is a cash cow for all involved. The food industry keeps us coming back for more addictive, nutrient-poor foods. The pharmaceutical industry has us on a regimen of expensive, lifelong medications. And the medical industry? They've got a steady stream of chronically ill patients to treat, test, and refer to specialists.

The Mental Health Industry's Recipe for Perpetual Illness

The mental health industrial complex, with its armies of well-intentioned but misinformed professionals, has become a machine that dispenses pills first and asks questions later. In the face of mounting evidence linking nutrition to mental health, the majority of therapists and medical professionals remain stubbornly fixated on pharmaceutical solutions. It's a tragic irony: as patients struggle with symptoms rooted in nutritional deficiencies, they're prescribed drugs that often exacerbate the very metabolic dysfunctions underlying their conditions.

Consider the all-too-common scenario: a patient presents with depression, anxiety, or attention issues. Instead of a comprehensive evaluation of their diet and lifestyle, they're swiftly ushered down a path of psychotropic medications. SSRIs, benzodiazepines, stimulants – these become the first line of defense, despite their well-documented adverse side effects and clear negative health effects.

What's worse, many of these drugs further disrupt metabolic function, altering appetite, weight, and even hormone balance. It's a vicious cycle: nutritional deficiencies manifest as mental health symptoms, which are then treated with drugs that deepen the metabolic rabbit hole. All the while, the root cause – a diet starved of essential fats and nutrients – goes unaddressed, leaving patients trapped in a revolving door of symptoms and side effects.

This myopic approach isn't just ineffective; it's actively harmful. We're creating a population dependent on psychotropic medications, their bodies and brains further dysregulated by chemical band-aids that mask deeper nutritional wounds.

The result is a burgeoning epidemic of treatment-resistant depression, intractable anxiety, and a host of other chronic mental health issues. What’s the answer? Talk therapy and drugs?

What’s the definition of insanity?

Who Can We Trust?

In a healthcare system that prioritizes profits over patients, who can we trust? The Conscious Clinician Collective is aligning mental health and healthcare professionals who value medical freedom and informed consent. We're committed to providing people with information, not just following industry narratives.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

If you're a healthcare or mental health professional willing to challenge the status quo, we invite you to join us. Not a clinician? Your support is equally vital. We need initial funds to build our platform, and every tax-deductible donation helps. Together, we can create a healthcare system that truly serves people's wellbeing.

Join the Conscious Clinician Collective today - because health is too important to leave to those who profit from sickness.