The Dark Side of The Food Industry: How The Standard Diet Is Making Us Sick & Fat

Mark Hyman

Apr 24, 2024

Episode description

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Food has become a more complex part of our lives than ever before. Much of what we think is food is actually many ingredients disguised as food, with entirely different, often negative impacts on the human body. Sadly, this is a greater problem here in the US than in other parts of the world, thanks to the food industry, corrupt intentions, and broken policies. Today, I talk about all this and more with my guest Jason Karp, whose personal experience of nearly going blind due to a toxic lifestyle led him to discover a different way; he made it his mission to get “back to human.”

In this episode, we discuss:

Jason’s personal health journey and why that has prompted him to take on the campaign against Kellogg’s (7:53)
The unhealthy state of America’s food industry (22:42)
How Kellogg’s has one cereal formulation for Canada and another for the US that is full of chemicals (26:07)
The correlation between food dyes and ADHD, and the failure of Kellogg's pledge (29:04)
The political aspect of food regulation and dangers of unregulated food additives (32:55)
Why we are in a state of metacrisis and what that means for our future (37:18)
The bidirectional relationship between food and mental health (46:04)
The financial burden of healthcare on the US government due to unhealthy diets (53:52)
Supporting the Kellogg's Initiative: Sign the Petition (1:06:03)

We have a lot to do to shift our food system and eliminate harmful ingredients in the US, but there are ways to enact positive change starting today. We can all support a cleaner food industry and better health by voting with our dollar, purchasing real food, and getting involved in policy policy changes. I hope you’ll listen to this episode to learn more.

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Mindsip insights from this episode:

Choose Canadian Froot Loops for safer ingredients

The Froot Loops sold in the US contain multiple artificial dyes and BHT that are not included in the superior, safer version the same company sells in Canada.

#nutrition

#safety

Drive rapid change in food industry through consumer action

The fastest way to change the food industry is through consumer action, as even a 5% drop in sales over a few quarters would force a company like Kellogg's to change immediately.

#efficiency

#food

Combat loneliness to reduce mortality risk equivalent to smoking

Loneliness is the greatest predictor of early death and has a comparable mortality risk to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

#loneliness

#mortality

Challenge America's GRAS principle for safer food choices

The US food system operates on a 'Generally Recognized As Safe' (GRAS) principle, where new ingredients are considered innocent until proven guilty, unlike Europe's more cautious approach.

#food

#risk

Hold Kellogg's accountable for broken food dye promise

In 2015, Kellogg's publicly pledged to remove all artificial food dyes by 2018, but then quietly removed the pledge from their website and continued to use them.

#processed-food

Choose less processed foods for better health like in the 1970s

People in the 1970s were healthier despite eating burgers and fries because the food was far less processed, with McDonald's fries then fried in beef tallow instead of containing 19 ingredients like they do today.

#nutrition

#processed-food

Implement warning labels for harmful food dyes to protect children

In Europe, products with certain artificial food dyes require a warning label, similar to cigarettes, stating they may impair children's learning and cause behavioral disorders.

#children

#food

Address metacrisis by transforming food systems for holistic health

We are in a metacrisis where our physical health, mental health, and planetary health are all declining simultaneously, largely driven by our food system.