Keto, paleo, low-fat, low-carb, Mediterranean, Whole30, vegan, flexitarian, Atkins… the list could go on.
Diet trends seem to come and go in the blink of an eye, which might explain why the overwhelming majority of Americans are confused about what they should eat. The reality is there are pros and cons to just about any nutrition program, but what we know for certain is that the so-called ‘diet wars’ distract from the actual issue at hand which is: You are what you eat.
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by Casey Means, MD, author of Good Energy, to discuss why Americans are so unhealthy and the role diet culture plays in that.
Make America Healthy Again
Dr. Means was a Stanford Medical School graduate in the fifth and final year of her surgical residency when she realized overall health and the healthcare system in the United States was broken. “I looked around me at what was happening in American health and realized that even though I’m working hard in my lane as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, more broadly, American health is just getting destroyed,” she said.
When she actually started looking into why chronic illnesses like obesity and diabetes are on the rise, she realized there was a gap in her education. “When you look at the science through the lens of root causes – not just the symptoms we’re treating, not just the drugs that we need to prescribe to all these different ailments that we have – what we find is that nearly every chronic disease torturing American lives today is rooted in metabolic dysfunction,” Dr. Means explained. “And that is an issue with how our bodies literally power themselves.”
That is the premise of her book. “When our cells make ‘good energy,’ we have good metabolic health and many of the conditions that are plaguing us can improve,” Dr. Means shared. “That needs to be the central focus of our American healthcare system, and right now it is the intentional blindspot of the American healthcare system.”
While the book covers important topics like exercise, sleep, toxins, environmental aggressors, and more, the biggest driver of cellular health is food. “Food is going to become your body. It’s going to become your thoughts. It’s going to become who you are,” she said. “Right now, 70 percent of our calories are coming from ultra-processed, industrially manufactured ‘Frankenfood’ devoid of nutrients and filled with toxic additives… Of course we’re sick.”
The Problem with Diet Culture
As Dr. Means noted, three-quarters of American adults are now considered overweight or obese, while 40 percent of children fall into that category. Diet culture in the U.S. has certainly not made people healthier. “We have to realize that the diet wars are a charade,” she said. “Diet controversy is intended to confuse us, so that, as consumers, we’re spinning our wheels, not sure what to eat, and grasping for different solutions sold to us by marketers and the food industry.”
In her view, it is merely a distraction from what actually matters. “The vast majority of American calories and the foods that are being shoved down kids’ throats is pesticide-covered, plastic-filled, chemical-laden, science experiment food from a factory that is destroying our cellular health,” Dr. Means explained. “So, steps one, two, three, four, and five are to get off ultra-processed foods before even talking about a dietary philosophy.”
The focus, she said, should be on what you are eating rather than how you are eating. “Just look at the world, there are so many different traditional types of diets with different macronutrient compositions and different types of foods that people are eating, and we are designed as humans to have all these redundant pathways in our body that can use different types of foods to generate cellular health,” Dr. Means shared. “But the common denominator between a carnivore diet that leads someone to improve their metabolic health and a vegan diet that leads someone to improve their metabolic health is real, unprocessed, clean foods. There are more commonalities than differences.”
Megyn noted that she recently had her annual checkup with her cardiologist, who emphasized having a diet low in saturated fat. While Dr. Means said there is nothing wrong with the advice, it is just a piece of the puzzle. “We all are biochemically individual, so what really matters is the interaction between the saturated fat and your body and then how that is actually leading to your health outcomes,” she said.
The net-net: “The diet wars are a distraction from what matters, which is eating high-quality, nutrient-filled, non-chemically laden food,” Dr. Means concluded. “The key point is that many industries benefit from our mass confusion about diet.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 887 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.