Big Food Is Poisoning America - And The Government Is Helping Them Do It
According to a study performed by the Commonwealth Fund, Americans are sicker than ever while spending more on healthcare than any other country.
Let that fact sink in for a moment. For a developed nation, we expect so much better for our country and we desperately want to see change.
So why are Americans spending so much on healthcare, and still getting sicker? it seems that the answer isn't in your medicine cabinet - it's in your pantry. We’re taking a look into the dirty alliance between Big Food, Big Pharma, and the politicians who enable them. From high fructose corn syrup in everything to SNAP benefits funding junk food addiction, we're exploring the system that's literally killing us for profit.
Follow the Money Trail
Want to know why corn syrup is in everything but fresh vegetables cost a fortune? Look at the subsidies. The government hands out billions to support crops that become processed junk food while fruits and vegetables get scraps. It's not an accident - it's policy. Policy written by lobbyists who represent companies that profit when you're sick.
The SNAP Scam
Here's the kicker: your tax dollars fund food stamps that can buy Coca-Cola but not vitamins. The SNAP program - supposedly designed to help low-income families, has become a taxpayer-funded pipeline straight to Big Food's bank accounts. Both Republicans and Democrats know this, but neither side wants to take on the food lobby.
When Medicine Becomes the Problem
The pharmaceutical industry has perfected the art of creating customers, not cures. Why fix the root cause when you can manage symptoms forever? Nicole's personal experience with doctors pushing expensive medications over lifestyle changes isn't unique - it's the business model. Keep people sick enough to need drugs yet healthy enough to keep buying them.
The Functional Medicine Revolution
There's hope emerging from an unexpected place: doctors who actually want to heal people. Functional medicine practitioners like Dr. Mark Hyman are exposing how food can be medicine - and how our current system prevents that knowledge from reaching most Americans. The catch? Insurance won't cover it. Real healthcare is becoming a luxury good, but we’re seeing changes in this space so we’re hopeful for the future.
Breaking the Cycle
The system won't change from the top down - there's too much money involved. Change starts with us asking uncomfortable questions: Why is processed food cheaper than real food? Why do doctors prescribe pills before discussing diet? Why does the government subsidize our sickness?
Every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of food system you want. Every conversation you have about this topic chips away at the lies we've been told. Every time you choose real food over processed garbage, you're fighting back against a system designed to exploit your health for profit.
The food industry is counting on your ignorance and your convenience addiction. They're betting you won't read labels, won't ask questions, won't connect the dots between what you eat and how you feel. Prove them wrong.
resources mentioned:
Commonwealth Fund: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024
Tucker Carlson show: https://youtu.be/mUH4Co2wE-I?si=7z163wWy8t8lqxpO
Realfoodology: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/realfoodology/id1529008803?i=1000689022149
Joe Rogan: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-joe-rogan-experience/id360084272?i=1000672259
309 Megyn Kelly Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ending-chronic-disease-forces-fighting-rfk-and-maha/id1532976305?i=1000702748981
Time Magazine Article: https://time.com/7272667/swearing-curse-words-health-benefits/
The Biggest LIttle Farm Trailer: https://youtu.be/UfDTM4JxHl8?si=hIRHHyQdAl4RKz4u
IG Conflictish: https://www.instagram.com/conflictish/?igsh=MXkxOGY4cHAzZ2p2bQ%3D%3D#
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[00:00:00] Nicole: we are gonna talk about something you actually wanted to talk about. I think before I did
[00:00:06] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:00:07] Nicole: all things big food
[00:00:09] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:00:10] it's a political issue because we've made it a political issue, right? Because of RFK and all that, but I don't, I don't know that there's clearly defined lines on this.
[00:00:20] Nicole: I don't think it's a political issue actually. I think it is a pharma lobbying, uh, pharma food, tobacco marriage that I think most. People don't know about, don't understand. That's what I think is totally wild. So there's a functional medicine doctor that I really like named Dr. Mark Hyman, and I've been listening to his podcast for years. and then when we were doing the Ozempic episode, I did some research and I came upon, um, Cali means, and Casey means
[00:00:54] not knowing that you had listened to them, [00:01:00] was the first time you listened to them Last July on the Tucker Carlson podcast.
[00:01:04] Was that the first time?
[00:01:05] Jolene: Yep. Yeah, I had read some stuff, but I hadn't, I hadn't watched a podcast
[00:01:10] Nicole: And, and they wrote a book called Good Energy, which I have yet to read, but I'm very curious to read, they're brother and sister.
[00:01:17] He was a lobbyist. They grew up in dc very achieving family and was a lobbyist for pharma and food. Right. And she was in her fifth year surgical, she was about to be a surgeon residency at Stanford and ended up quitting because she started to see the, uh, twisted marriage of pharma medicine. it's, it basically about chronic disease and that this met healthcare system is here to make us more sick than it is to make us healthy.
[00:01:56] Right. I had heard them together on that ozempic [00:02:00] uh, research and thinking, wow, they're really interesting. And then you were like, you need to listen to this Tucker Carlson podcast.
[00:02:12] Jolene: Which you were like, I am not listening
[00:02:16] Nicole: I did. I said, I am not, I'm not going to listen. I'm not going to watch. So what did your friend do? I watched it and, okay. Podcasters, men, podcasters. I know you have a lot to say. But two and a half hours y'all, these podcasts. It's a commitment all to say, girl, I watched the Tucker Carlson one and then I found this really cool one that I'll put in the show notes.
[00:02:50] It's a woman named Courtney Swan and she has her own podcast called Real Ology
[00:02:57] I totally recommend that podcast. [00:03:00] And then I, I listened to Joe Rogan, which I actually never listened to a Joe Rogan podcast, which again was two and a half hours, but it was Casey and Callie.
[00:03:11] And what was interesting too is that they all had different information, not conflicting information, but it was sort of valuable for me to listen to the Tucker Carlson one to list, and I guess that one. Made them famous 'cause they've gotten like bazillions of views.
[00:03:33] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:03:35] Nicole: Because of the COVID-19 crisis and how it was handled or not handled or mishandled or certain like that, that we as a society started to wake up and say, wait a minute, what are we putting in our bodies?
[00:03:54] Jolene: Mm-hmm.
[00:03:55] Nicole: obviously you're seeing, you know, more Alzheimer's, [00:04:00] more, uh, dementia, more uh, obesity, more chronic diseases like never before. So there was almost like this perfect storm. They're suggesting of awareness that people are like, wait a second.
[00:04:17] Jolene: Maybe it was that Republicans, if you were leaning more right, that you had a greater affinity for listening to this, this conversation on the heels of COVID. Because, you know, that was such a, either people were completely against the vaccine or, um, or they, me, I took the vaccine, but I'm like, eh, I am only gonna take the first one.
[00:04:46] Then I was like, wait, there's a lot to this, but then there were so much about the crazies coming out, about Ivermectin, and, that's completely insane. And how could you do that?
[00:04:58] Nicole: Do you remember Trump [00:05:00] though with his bleach suggestion?
[00:05:02] Jolene: I know, but he didn't really say that.
[00:05:04] Nicole: I'm talking about when Trump was like, I mean, people didn't know anything.
[00:05:08] Jolene: Maybe we should just drink bleach. He was kidding. And he didn't, I mean, and I don't
[00:05:12] Nicole: people take it seriously.
[00:05:14] Jolene: I don't know that anybody drank bleach. 'cause Trump told up
[00:05:17] Nicole: I think they did.
[00:05:18] Jolene: So anyway, I feel like, um, I,
[00:05:22] I feel like there was so much pushback against COVID and the vaccine that that kind of made everybody stop and take a look at, you know, what is the government telling us to do?
[00:05:32] Do we have a right to say, no, you shouldn't do this, and what else is the government telling us that we should do, um, that maybe we should take a look at? I mean, do you feel like that, like this kind of all started with kind of that, that
[00:05:46] Nicole: I, I don't know. I just, because what, as I've been deep diving, you know, I, I've considered myself someone that eats well. I have [00:06:00] a lot of privilege, I have a lot of resources. I'm a pretty well educated person and I try to eat organic and all the things. And then I'm doing all this research and I'm like, oh my God, I didn't know that the tobacco industry bought all the food industry and that in the eighties and nineties that.
[00:06:26] There is a revolving door between the FDA and between food and pharma and tobacco just going back and forth and that they're all like creating foods to be addictive. children are eating. Their diets are 70% processed food. And this was the thing, maybe you heard this, this, this blew my mind so that the farmers are being subsidized. Right. Grain and corn, which creates high fructose corn syrup is in [00:07:00] all, it was like almost all of our diets. What was, what was wild to me is that they said, as in Cali means said, um, that, uh, vegetables and fruit are.
[00:07:15] Considered a specialty, uh, crop and they're only subsidized 0.4% from the government, where 80% of subsidies are for corn and grain. That go to, uh, processed foods.
[00:07:34] Jolene: So, but I, I would also say that corn and soybeans are probably, they're the highest used crop and not just for high fructose corn syrup, but I bean to feed cattle and to feed cattle and, and livestock throughout the whole world. So, I mean, I'm sure your figure is right, but it's not just to produce, I think that [00:08:00] corn and soybeans are the highest agriculture produced product.
[00:08:04] God, I, I don't even know what the word I'm looking for is the product that, that we produce the most of, because it goes to so many, I mean, it goes to, you know, gasoline and ethanol and, you know.
[00:08:16] Nicole: The thing that I wanted to look up was that pharma is five. TI has spends five times more on lobbying than oil. It goes pharma and then food, and then oil is fifth. That's what I wanna say.
[00:08:32] the thing that came up over and over again was how, like in the 1960s, well, I guess it goes back to there was this whole thing about Rockefeller in 1909 wrote this bill and it hasn't been changed It was about supporting invasive surgeries versus seeing what's going on with what you put in your body. [00:09:00] And starting, I guess, in the 1960s, the Sackler family who has created this, epidemic, this opioid epidemic, they created Valium. And in the sixties, 30% of women. In the six 1960s, the birth control pill and then Valium were the first drugs given for life. Like in perpetuity. In perpetuity,
[00:09:31] Jolene: In perpetuity.
[00:09:33] Nicole: in perpetuity. Where before you would take something to get well and then you were off of it. And it became sort of a business model. And 30% of women in 1960s were prescribed, Valium to be better mommies.
[00:09:51] Jolene: Oh yeah. My mom was given speed because she was so tired, and so her doctor gave her, you know, speed. Oh, this'll help you, this'll [00:10:00] help perk you up. So they were given speed and Valium
[00:10:02] Nicole: yeah. And so you're looking at how like they're talking about 30% of kids now are pre-diabetic and they're talking about ozempic prescribing them for six year olds. And we're not actually talking about how do we make our crops regenerative? How do we help our soil?
[00:10:23] How do we help? Oh, this was the other one. Jolene, um, food stamps. The SNAP program.
[00:10:31] Jolene: I saw this too. This was Dr. Hyman so I listened to him on the Megan Kelly show, which I'm sure you probably didn't wanna listen to that one either.
[00:10:43] so she was interviewing him on her podcast and
[00:10:46] Nicole: Mark Hyman. Yeah,
[00:10:47] Jolene: when he said that, um, with Snap right now that 20% of Coca-Cola's profits, annual profits are from the SNAP program,
[00:10:59] Nicole: thought it [00:11:00] was 40%. I,
[00:11:01] Jolene: I thought he said 20% of Coca-Cola's profits come from food stamps of their annual sales.
[00:11:07] Nicole: yeah. So, and again, maybe we should Google this together. 'cause Cali said 40.2% of Coca-Cola revenue comes from snap
[00:11:16] Jolene: I thought food stamps, you couldn't buy junk food was food stamps. I didn't realize that you could.
[00:11:22] Nicole: here's the thing. Coca-Cola is cheaper than water. That's what they're saying. another thing that was wild is that, In a lot of low income areas, there are food deserts, there aren't organic farmer's markets. You guys, like, there are fast food places. And the reason a Big Mac is cheaper is because it's filled with ingredients that are subsidized from the United States government. And so all of these, the SNAP program is in bed with the lobbyists who are in bed with the corn. [00:12:00] Farmers and the soybean farmers who are growing their product to go into high fructose. If we as, as a government subsidized greens and avocados, like what would that look like? The Diabetes Association gets funding from the sugar company.
[00:12:24] Jolene: So does the American Heart Association, what, um, American Heart Association gets $192 million dollars from food and pharma
[00:12:33] per year.
[00:12:34] Nicole: Yes. the food industry also aggressively lobbies advertisers for Nickelodeon. So you see Nickelodeon programming and it's all, all the advertising is junk food.
[00:12:46] Jolene: Yep.
[00:12:46] Nicole: Just like you watch any news show in the evening, and it's all pharma
[00:12:51] Jolene: Yep.
[00:12:52] Nicole: and, and one, the ones that make me crazy are the pharmaceuticals that are the pills to help with the side effects of the [00:13:00] other pill.
[00:13:00] Jolene: Yeah. But I need to go back to the farmers because when you said that are using to subsidize the corn and the wheat or the beans and the corn for high fructose corn syrup. I, I just wanna make sure that we understand that there is so much more, that corn does.
[00:13:20] Then just to make high fructose
[00:13:22] Nicole: of course. But also
[00:13:25] Jolene: Let's not demonize the
[00:13:26] Nicole: No, no, no, no, no, no. I don't wanna deem a no, no. The farmers are getting the raw end of the stick
[00:13:32] Jolene: Okay. Yeah.
[00:13:33] Nicole: I think the farmers are having to produce, having to grow and produce and use pesticides in a way that is also poisoning the crops and poisoning us. It's not the farmer's fault, it's the demand because it's too difficult and too, uh, time consuming to try to farm.
[00:13:53] Regeneratively.
[00:13:55] Jolene: Regenerative.
[00:13:56] Nicole: lot of time and energy [00:14:00] and the demand, it takes a lot of money, it takes a lot of support, and their soil is already ruined. they were saying that as in Callie and Casey were saying that the United States uses 10,000 chemicals that they spray on their foods. Europe uses 400. And the reason is that there's no regulation on it in the United States
[00:14:28] Jolene: Well, there is regulation. It's just, it's a lot more, it's a lot broader than there are re you can't just use anything. I mean, there are
[00:14:36] Nicole: 10,000 chemicals is a lot.
[00:14:38] Jolene: right? Yes, I agree. I.
[00:14:40] Nicole: I mean, you had mentioned it in another episode about you dealing with your own food. Your own production and that Canada has dairy restrictions that you don't hear.
[00:14:54] Jolene: Yeah. Right. we both agree that, um, this is really messed up and we [00:15:00] started this with the functional medicine that, you know, as Dr. Hyman talks about being a functional medicine doctor as opposed to a conventional doctor that is writing prescriptions for the different problems that you have, instead of taking a look at a holistically.
[00:15:20] Or looking at this holistically and being able to identify, okay, what are all the things that are happening with you? Let's identify, you know, what are, instead of treating these symptomatically, what are you doing holistically that could be contributing to, you know, all of the things that you have, whether you're diabetic or migraines or depression, you know, all of the things that are happening.
[00:15:45] And it all comes back to what we're putting in our bodies. And that so much of that is, is driven then. So then if you dial in on, on what Kelly and Casey means have done and, and what Dr. Hyman has done, dialing in on our, [00:16:00] on like the system of our food and pharma and the lobbying, the lobbying, um, agencies.
[00:16:09] So the thing that Dr. Hyman had just talked about, or I guess me and Kelly brought this up. That Cali means had, had gone in front of, and I believe it was in Arizona, had gone in front of their, um, legislature to talk about, um, getting crappy foods out of their SNAP system. And that support, uh, against the bill.
[00:16:36] Like the, both Republicans and Democrats were like, no, no, we're not gonna do that. You can't tell us that these problems that the Americans are having are due to their diet. It could be exercise, it could be other external factors. And they're going, what? No, take a look at this. So, uh, that's where we are.
[00:16:58] And until we, [00:17:00] again, I don't think it's a political issue 'cause I don't think it's one side or the other. I think it's politicians being driven by money and,
[00:17:08] Nicole: They're married to pharma. They're married to their constituents that, you know, these corporations that give them money. I mean,
[00:17:17] Jolene: yeah.
[00:17:17] Nicole: It's maddening. because the pharmaceuticals are in bed with the food and that we're in a healthcare system that rewards doctors for writing prescriptions.
[00:17:28] Right. Versus like, okay, and I'm gonna take my example as being diagnosed with osteoporosis. And we talked about this in another episode, I am very conscious and very like interested in changing whatever needs to be changed. But I went to two different doctors, a endocrinologist and a rheumatologist. I was 54 years old, lean, athletic, capable, and they just looked at my bone density [00:18:00] scan and they're like, you need to take this drug. And you have to jab yourself for the rest of your life. And it is $4,000 a month,
[00:18:10] Jolene: Oh
[00:18:11] Nicole: $4,000. But insurance will cover it. And I remember thinking, and I was on the phone with the nurse that was training me how to do the injection. It was this whole thing, like, it has to stay refrigerated. It was like, your life is changing. And so she's telling me all of the side effects. And it was crazy banana time. Like, I, I am going to possibly do this to myself.
[00:18:42] Uh, and I would be dizzy. My nausea, like you name it, they were there, you know, diarrhea, constipate, all the things. And I had this feeling in my body and I was like. I cannot do this. I, I will not take this drug. She's like, okay. [00:19:00] And she's like, Nicole, you, you, only need to do it when you're ready to do it. And I said, okay. And I hung up the phone and I burst into tears. And I had so much going on with my life. I had a lot of people that were sick in my life. And so I hadn't done the research for myself to figure out what works for me.
[00:19:19] And I took that moment and I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna deep dive on all the stuff. And so I did. That drug, by the way, only has a 2%, efficacy rate of like creating 2% more bone. And that if I lifted weights, uh, took certain supplements, change my diet. I could increase my bone density by 10%.
[00:19:47] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:19:47] Nicole: I, I bring this all up because I like go call my functional medicine doctor and he's like, I want you to talk to this compound pharmacist. And I tell him what's going on with me and I'm crying [00:20:00] and he says, I think you're a perfect candidate for HRT hormone replacement therapy. And then I was taking all these supplements, it costs, sorry Linda, a fucking fortune what I am doing and not $1 is covered.
[00:20:17] Jolene: Covered by insurance.
[00:20:19] Nicole: I am doing what I can to not go into the hospital, to not have more, more money going into the system.
[00:20:28] I'm trying to take care of myself and nothing is covered. And most people, a lot of people don't have that.
[00:20:37] Jolene: Oh my
[00:20:38] Nicole: Right. And that's the same with food. It's all married is what? It's all married together.
[00:20:45] Jolene: there are so many things that we have to fix. This, this issue is so broad or I think it, it's, it's highlighting all of the bigger issues here. So number one is the lobbying [00:21:00] industry. Why are our senators and representatives and our president that they have to have the money from these lobbying organizations in order to continue to run for office?
[00:21:16] I mean, that's number one like that is such a cash cow for all of our, lawmakers that we've, we've got to look at that system and, and make changes because that just, uh, obviously that doesn't make sense. I mean, that just purely on, on the face of, of what that is. You're, you are getting money from somebody who wants you in that position and you are going to make laws then that benefit them. What,
[00:21:44] uh,
[00:21:45] no one would agree with that. Right.
[00:21:46] Nicole: studies, 50% of the medical studies are written and funded by the people that want to say that their product is good. Right. That
[00:21:59] Jolene: [00:22:00] 12 times, 12 times more money is spent by the food industry than the US government on these studies
[00:22:10] Nicole: And the studies are like, there was one that was, uh, saying that peanut butter and jellies is a while ago. Peanut butter and jelly on white bread was healthier on the food pyramid than, uh, eggs and meat. And that study was funded by Unilever, who makes Jiffy Peanut butter.
[00:22:32] Jolene: So there's number one. Number two is regenerative. God
[00:22:37] Nicole: it's hard, right?
[00:22:40] Jolene: regenerative
[00:22:41] Nicole: regenerative farming.
[00:22:43] Jolene: I would love to talk and I, I need to do more research
[00:22:47] Nicole: I have a good for the soul about that. So
[00:22:49] Jolene: okay. Okay.
[00:22:50] Nicole: I'm excited to share.
[00:22:52] Jolene: I would love to get a farmer's perspective on this.
[00:22:54] And I, obviously, I grew up in rural Iowa and, I come from a farming [00:23:00] community, so I would love to hear what are the pros and cons? I, I know that, um, the, the government subsidies help that family farmers so much. So I, I want to understand more about that. a friend of mine though, is now working for a, a seed company in Illinois. pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds
[00:23:21] Nicole: Oh, to eat?
[00:23:22] Jolene: to eat. Yeah. As a snack. And so I, he taught me so much about pumpkin seeds because pumpkin seeds are great for regenerative, regenerative, regenerative, regenerative farming. Because you can harvest a pumpkin, take the seeds out till up the, the pumpkin meat itself and into the soil and it's, great for the soil and, and all that.
[00:23:50] It takes less water to grow a pumpkin than it does any other seed out on the market. Um, it so interesting, like to talk [00:24:00] about and you're going, okay, why aren't we eating more pumpkin seeds? You know, hell with almonds. Let's eat, you know, pumpkin seeds because you know so much less water to that to get 'em to grow.
[00:24:08] I wanna understand more about from a farming perspective, you know, what does that look like and what are the farmers being rewarded for? You know, is it
[00:24:18] Nicole: exactly. And, and are they being pressured to use Monsanto like, or, uh, Roundup,
[00:24:26] Jolene: Yeah,
[00:24:27] Nicole: is that what it's called? Roundup or whatever, whatever said chemical that someone has lobbied for these people to use? I mean, you know, you know that Bear and Monsanto came together and Monsanto is, uh, uh, creates non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and that bear makes the drug
[00:24:48] Jolene: Drug
[00:24:50] Nicole: my dad, that's my dad.
[00:24:52] so Josh grew up next to Monsanto, the plant in St. Louis, and his dad has Alzheimer's[00:25:00]
[00:25:00] Jolene: Hmm.
[00:25:00] Nicole: and he had cancer. I don't know. But I am curious about, I would love to hear, maybe we can circle back another time talking to farmers. The farmers that you know, like what, because what I'm thinking, and even what, what Cali was saying when he talks to, to senators and congresspeople, they aren't like malicious about it, that most of them don't know.
[00:25:27] It's about not knowing. And so I'm wondering like, what are the pressures that the farmers are getting?
[00:25:34] Because this is an enormous overhaul. You go to another country, and eat their food and you feel better, your digestion is better, you're not bloated.
[00:25:46] Like there's all kinds of real things. And why are we so against? Going to the root cause versus just throwing a bandaid [00:26:00] on it or taking a drug or, or,
[00:26:01] Jolene: because it's convenience. It's all been convenience driven. And, and Dr. Hyman talked about this, and I think you touched on this too, in the 1960s with the liberation movement for women. Women don't have to be a stay at home. You could go have a career, you could go out.
[00:26:17] So then we had, the evolution of he, he talked about, um, Betty Crocker was invented Betty Crocker's, not a real woman, that she was invented by the food industry to come up with Betty Crocker cookbook that was using shortcuts, I mean, using, you know, cans of soups and add that to, you know, your pre-made pastas and or know and, and.
[00:26:42] How it was convenience that we're trying to do more and more convenient things to allow women to do more and men to do more. I mean,
[00:26:51] Nicole: Yeah, I mean, 'cause I wanna say, just like you said about you don't want me to demonize the farmers, which I am not, I respect, it's like the hardest job [00:27:00] ever. Uh, I don't want to blame the state of our health and our sickness on women,
[00:27:08] Jolene: Yes, no, no, no,
[00:27:09] Nicole: because to me I'm like, Hmm. When these men say that, I get it. I totally get it, Jolene.
[00:27:14] But I go, oh,
[00:27:17] Jolene: but it is kind of the evolution of, you know, grandmothers used to make everything homemade, right? I mean, they were,, they were making their own breads and all of the things. And for many reasons, we've become where, uh, a society then that depends on convenience.
[00:27:33] And so then you look at then the food deserts, and you look at those underserved communities that don't have the grocery stores, or to your point, the farmer's markets, but even the, you know, the grocery stores that that
[00:27:47] Nicole: and the, and if you have food stamps and they only go towards like processed food, that's where they're gonna get the most, uh, stuff from that mo amount of money. [00:28:00] Mm-hmm.
[00:28:00] Jolene: Right. Again, though, I, I, Dr. Hyman talked about, um, have you heard him talk about the, the family in South Carolina that he spent some time with, he went to, um South Carolina to a family that , both parents were overweight, kids were overweight, um, and he went in and he worked with them for a week to look at their kitchen, to look what they were eating, to look at their, you know, their food situation.
[00:28:25] And they didn't know how to cook. The wife didn't know. I mean, she knew how to open up cans and she knew how to heat things up in the microwave, but she didn't really know, she didn't have recipes. She didn't know how to go to a grocery store and, and utilize her stamp, uh, or her snap, um, food stamps to buy, you know, the best food to make for her family.
[00:28:47] They ended up, you know, losing tons of weight. The dad was on dialysis because he was in kidney failure and needed, I mean, you know, all the, all the things. And again, we just, it, we've stopped [00:29:00] educating,
[00:29:01] Nicole: I think it absolutely is education, but I do think that there's so much brainwashing,
[00:29:07] like me, meaning like the amount of pharmaceutical commercials, sugar, commercial, like everything, and the food is built, built.
[00:29:17] It is built, it's not really made, it's built to make you addicted, to make you want it more and more, more, if these to tobacco companies. Realize, oh, to, you know, everybody now knows smoking isn't good for us. What else can we do? Oh, let's buy the food industry and make those foods more
[00:29:38] Jolene: Yeah. Yep. I think there are so many different facets that need to be attacked with this whole issue that, I mean, it's not gonna happen overnight. It's not gonna happen in the next three years. I mean, this is, this has to be a, a change in our thinking and, and in our processes from a legislative standpoint, [00:30:00] farming, grocery, all of it.
[00:30:05] I hesitate saying that all big pharma is bad. You know, I, I look at,
[00:30:11] Nicole: Oh my gosh. They saved my dad so far in the sa, like, yes,
[00:30:16] Jolene: And, and you look at how much money it takes to do the research that they are doing. And so, I mean, to when they, you know, talk about the profits that these pharmaceutical companies are, you know.
[00:30:29] Are have, I do think that there are good things that a lot of pharmaceutical, the pharmaceutical industry, we can't just, again, demonize an entire industry. There are problems. We all see 'em, we all are now aware of 'em or becoming more of aware of 'em. And I look at all, you know, all of our products are non GMO, all of our ingredients are, we use non GMO ingredients, non genetically modified organisms in all of our [00:31:00] ingredients. for, for those people that think that that's important to them, God love them. I'm glad that they. They want their wheat that has not been grown in a lab that, that wheat has been, uh, planted and farmed
[00:31:16] Nicole: In the sun.
[00:31:17] Jolene: it. Yes. And, and, and that the seed has not been modified to make it, um, more resistant to insects and, and drought and all that.
[00:31:29] Those things are needed though, in third world countries. I mean, we're able to grow with, with the work that some of this genetically modified organisms, has done is allowing us to, to grow corn and wheat in areas in the Sudan that aren't going to have those things. Had we not been able to come up with a genetically modified seed for them to grow in their climates. So again, to go back and say
[00:31:59] that.
[00:31:59] Nicole: [00:32:00] Jolene, do we know like what their health is like now eating that kind of food?
[00:32:04] Jolene: Well, I, I think it's not that they're ingesting the, the pesticides or anything, but those grains are modified to, take less, water to be able to grow or that they can be more tolerant to the heat and the sun than they would to be able to grow in Kansas. There is good things that those companies that they are doing, but we've, we've. We've gotta keep them in
[00:32:29] Nicole: they, what do you think that they've been doing? Monsanto. That's good.
[00:32:32] Jolene: They have a division of their seed company that is, um, developing, um, seeds that can be used around the world, these, these modified seeds to be able to grow in climates that wouldn't be able to under normal circumstances.
[00:32:49] Nicole: I am skeptical of them. I have to say.
[00:32:53] Jolene: Okay. I mean, I,
[00:32:54] Nicole: I, I'm with you. I don't, I absolutely am not [00:33:00] trying to say if you're sick, don't go to the hospital or don't trust your doctors. if your doctor says you have cancer, I would do the treatment they suggest. I'm not saying that, but I also think that if we're looking at a society, an American society where there's an enormous amount of obesity, enormous amount of diabetes, enormous amount of cancer, they were talking in these, um, different podcasts that this next generation might not outlive their parents.
[00:33:34] Jolene: I think, are we, Are we already seeing that?
[00:33:38] Nicole: I.
[00:33:39] Jolene: think that's a fact. I think right now.
[00:33:41] Nicole: And the fact that it's like, okay, let's give him a drug versus let's let's do the hard work
[00:33:48] Jolene: Yep. Right?
[00:33:50] Nicole: change our food. Change our food source, change our soil. I mean, it's deep Jolene, it's the, it's the soil, it's the air, it's the [00:34:00] plastics we ingest. It's all of it. And yes, it's out of convenience and it's out of what?
[00:34:06] What's the highest profit margin?
[00:34:08] Jolene: yep, yep. So I think going back to how we started this functional medicine is, has absolutely changed the way that people are looking at their health now and they're able to take the veil off of. We used to go to the doctor and say, I've got this problem. The doctor gave us a pill. We said, okay, thank you.
[00:34:30] And we walked out and we did it. Like we didn't question it. We didn't question. Looking at everything else, we, and I feel like we're finally at that point, starting, I mean, I think there's a small minority of people that can afford to go to a functional health physician. Right? Because they're not covered by insurance.
[00:34:49] I think we're finally starting to shed some light on this and it starts with us.
[00:34:55] Nicole: If there's any sort of positive it's being is that we're all kinda awaken [00:35:00] and make our own choices. But I know that conservatives, generalizing, do not like regulations. Is that fair to say? In their government?
[00:35:12] Jolene: Well, it, it, to a degree, I mean, it depends on what you're talking about.
[00:35:16] Nicole: So what because RFK is now the Health SEC secretary do you think conservatives are open to putting, uh, regulations on, um, the toxins We put the pesticides we put on our food of, of looking more at regenerative, I just said it
[00:35:34] Jolene: Oh my God, that was so
[00:35:35] good. That was a good one.
[00:35:36] Nicole: farming because that's something that I really think as we liberals could totally like get on board and we can have a win together. Like really, it would be an incredible thing for us to like, Hey, y'all, like we all are. [00:36:00] How do we make ourselves better? This is not a partisan issue.
[00:36:04] Jolene: Right. A hundred
[00:36:05] Nicole: I don't know.
[00:36:06] One person that doesn't wanna feel good
[00:36:08] Jolene: Right. Well, and
[00:36:10] Nicole: or spend a lot of money on healthcare,
[00:36:12] Jolene: Let me ask you this. Do Democrats think that Republicans don't want clean water, clean air, clean food?
[00:36:22] Nicole: No, we Don't
[00:36:25] We do wonder. No, we don't think that. You don't want
[00:36:28] that. I'm not gonna speak for all Democrats I'll that I was curious for myself, I know that regulations, you're not into that stuff, but could we come together and be like, we have to stop this madness.
[00:36:44] Jolene: Yes.
[00:36:45] Nicole: all want to be healthy. This is banana time. Like, what can we do to make our soil clean and our air clean and our food clean and so that everybody has, um, [00:37:00] access to green food and listen. And in that regard, I am not saying don't drink your Coke. Don't, you know, go to your, get your Big Mac, but, but you have access to the fresh food.
[00:37:15] And, and I am a believer that if we're spending money on food stamps, if the government's spending money those stamps should go to Whole Foods,
[00:37:27] Jolene: yeah, I
[00:37:27] Nicole: only Whole Foods.
[00:37:30] Jolene: Yeah. I didn't realize that
[00:37:33] you
[00:37:33] Nicole: didn't know it either. 'cause it's just making our population sicker.
[00:37:36] Jolene: and soda and candy bars on Snap. I didn't know that.
[00:37:41] Nicole: I didn't know that.
[00:37:43] Jolene: So yes, I, so on behalf of all Republicans, yes, we also want these things for us all, but when you talk about regulations, it shouldn't be the regulations though when we talk about Republicans, were fighting against, when Democrats said in [00:38:00] California, all cars must be electric by 2030. If you don't have the means to back that up, then you can't make this blanket. Like, we've got to make sure that, um, there are no pesticides used on the crops by, you know, 2030. Okay. No, you can't just say that. You
[00:38:20] can't come up with a policy.
[00:38:22] Nicole: I don't think that works for anything. I, I agree with you in that regard. I, and I think it's bullshit when people say that,
[00:38:29] Jolene: Yeah.
[00:38:29] Nicole: listen, and I have got a, a second. Good for the soul. That has to do with my swearing and I've done such a good job not swearing. It's really hard not to swear in this particular topic, but I do think it's complete bullshit that that like when you say, like you said, electric cars, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[00:38:49] That doesn't do anything I want, like the actual steps. What are we going
[00:38:55] Jolene: are the steps?
[00:38:56] Nicole: are the steps? I love, I love a list. I love to [00:39:00] check it off. I'm left-handed. I love to check it off. I love to check like we could make that happen together.
[00:39:07] Jolene: Right.
[00:39:09] Nicole: This
[00:39:09] Jolene: gosh.
[00:39:10] Nicole: And you're gonna get pushback because people make a lot of money from the, from what's happening right now.
[00:39:16] Jolene: You just did like a Trump impersonation right there when you said that.
[00:39:20] Nicole: I did, I've
[00:39:21] Jolene: make a lot of money. You make a lot of money. See,
[00:39:24] Nicole: but, but they truly like, that's what. We, you and me,
[00:39:30] and people of like minds that want a healthy life and want our kids to be healthy.
[00:39:38] Jolene: Yep.
[00:39:38] Nicole: Like that's what we're fighting against. It's not Republican or Democrat. It's not liberal or conservative. It's like
[00:39:45] Jolene: Who's paying the bills?
[00:39:46] Nicole: paying the bills,
[00:39:48] who's lobbying against like you can.
[00:39:51] And I think what can we do? I guess we call our senators, we call our Congress people, we say this is what we want, and we're not gonna stop calling until [00:40:00] we get what we want. It's, it's a hard ask.
[00:40:04] Jolene: Yeah. But it, it has to start with having that conversation with the farmer and saying, okay, what are you being incentivized on right now? How do we switch this? How, I mean, let's have the conversations with the grocery stores, with the, the Krogers and the Albertsons and the Walmarts, and say, how do we. How do we get this to, to work for everybody?
[00:40:28] Nicole: That's right. How do we change it step by step? Check by check. Not by 2030, because then what happens is the can gets kicked and not nothing gets done.
[00:40:39] Jolene: And everybody says it can't be done. And so then nobody works on
[00:40:42] Nicole: That's right. And the politicians were like, well, I, I, you know, I said what I needed to say.
[00:40:48] Jolene: we need more functional health doctors and nurses and physicians assistance. We, you know, let's incentivize, you know, our, our med schools. Why is this not being [00:41:00] taught in medical school? But why is there not maybe a clearer path for a functional medicine doctor to get, uh, student loans and that type of thing, or to then go work in the lower income and the underserved communities to help them.
[00:41:17] Nicole: well, we all need help.
[00:41:19] Jolene: Yeah,
[00:41:20] Nicole: We all need help.
[00:41:21] Jolene: but you and I have the resources to get that help. Whereas, you know, somebody who's dependent on SNAP and doesn't have those resources, then
[00:41:33] Nicole: Western Medicine was founded on like, you all have specialties, like the neck and the head. That and, and the functional medicine doctors like, I wanna know all about you. Are you sleeping? Are you getting outside? Do you see sunlight?
[00:41:49] Are you depressed? Do you have sex?
[00:41:52] All the things they wanna know.
[00:41:54] Jolene: okay. Here's the other thing that I think is so, I don't know if this is, um, [00:42:00] revolutionary, but didn't we just lay off a whole bunch of government employees? Through Doge. I bet we could get them to start working in these areas.
[00:42:14] Isn't that a
[00:42:15] Nicole: singing my language. What the hell? And this is the I, the ironic part is you are a pro doge and now you wanna take those people and make
[00:42:27] Jolene: Let's put 'em to work on things that are important.
[00:42:29] Nicole: I agree with you. A thousand gazillion percent. Yes,
[00:42:37] Jolene: God, I love it. Okay, good. Give me your good for the soul.
[00:42:42] Nicole: Okay, I have two. One has to do with swearing. Hold on one second everybody. Hold
[00:42:49] Jolene: This is for Linda.
[00:42:50] Nicole: This is, listen, when I got this article, and I'm gonna put it in the show notes. It's from Time Magazine. Uh, and it's an article called The [00:43:00] Surprising Health Benefits of Swearing.
[00:43:04] Jolene: Oh.
[00:43:06] Nicole: Okay, everybody, so this will go in the show notes so that you can read it too. Here, here, here are some highlights. It can help you tolerate pain. You'll work out harder. It can help you regulate emotions. And sometimes except with Linda, it can make people feel closer. So that's one. That's my, that's my one. Good for the soul. But this one, uh, we'll also put, I think we should put in the show notes all of the, episodes that we all watched. The reference, the,
[00:43:44] I can't believe it, the Tucker Carlson one, the Joe Rogan
[00:43:48] Jolene: Kelly,
[00:43:49] Nicole: Megan Kelly one. The Dr. Mark Hyman one, the Courtney Swan.
[00:43:55] Real, real ology one. this is a documentary [00:44:00] from, uh, several years ago that I loved. It was 2019. It's on Netflix. It's so amazing. And I will also put the, um, the trailer in the show notes. Do you know the biggest little farm? Oh, I just got chills. Okay. It is all about regenerative farming
[00:44:26] Jolene: Oh,
[00:44:27] Nicole: and it's about a couple in south, uh, southern California and they were in their own careers and they decided to buy a piece of land and try to create this farm.
[00:44:40] And it is this beautiful documentary about the trials and tribulations of this kind of farming and the beauty. And you see like that everything's connected. The bee to the soil, to the pig, to the cow, to the bird, to the seed. It's beautifully [00:45:00] shot and I wanna talk about it after you watch it because, and I just thought everyone, considering we're doing this show today, please watch this.
[00:45:10] Please, please educate yourselves. 'Cause we need everybody to do this because we can only change it by changing how we spend our money too.
[00:45:22] Jolene: Yeah. Okay.
[00:45:25] Nicole: What is
[00:45:25] Jolene: Um, my good for the soul is, um, conflict ish.
[00:45:36] His name is Ryan Dunlap and he's the, he's the guy that sits in front very calmly in front of his fake fireplace, and he gives
[00:45:46] you. I've sent you a couple stuff on him. Well, his Instagram handle is conflict ish,
[00:45:53] Nicole: Okay.
[00:45:54] Jolene: He holds a cup that says ish on it. And, but his, his whole thing, he's a conflict, [00:46:00] um, strategist I think, or something like that, but he is so like real and just says real things.
[00:46:08] Like I think the one that I sent to you was even, um, like, why are you arguing? Like no one cares that you are or arguing and it just doesn't make sense. And, and he kind of goes into the psychology kind of of it. In a very calm way,
[00:46:21] Nicole: What about a, would you rather,
[00:46:23] Jolene: I have one.
[00:46:24] Nicole: okay. Do you wanna go
[00:46:25] Jolene: Do you?
[00:46:27] Nicole: I do
[00:46:27] Jolene: Oh, sure. Okay. Would you, and I kind of feel like maybe you've given me this one before
[00:46:33] Nicole: Oh,
[00:46:35] Jolene: because it sounded familiar was when I was doing it.
[00:46:41] Nicole: all right. Well, let's see.
[00:46:42] Jolene: Would you rather have the ability to see through people's clothes.
[00:46:48] Nicole: Oh my God, I did not give you
[00:46:50] Jolene: Okay.
[00:46:51] Nicole: It was a similar thing.
[00:46:53] Jolene: Okay. Or to read their minds.
[00:46:57] Nicole: Read their
[00:46:58] Jolene: like to, would you rather [00:47:00] see their woo-hoo, or would you rather read their mind?
[00:47:04] Nicole: Read their minds. It ha,
[00:47:06] Jolene: you really, I don't know that I wanna know what somebody's thinking.
[00:47:11] Nicole: I know it's a big risk. It's totally a big risk. But seeing their bodies, I,
[00:47:20] Jolene: Come on. Are there some people that you're like,
[00:47:23] Nicole: well, sure. Sorry baby. Sorry Josh. Uh, sure.
[00:47:30] Jolene: Okay,
[00:47:31] Nicole: I know that
[00:47:31] Jolene: you'd rather read their
[00:47:32] Nicole: was quick. Yes. I probably will regret that decision because I'm so freaking sensitive.
[00:47:39] Jolene: Yeah. I mean, you,
[00:47:41] Nicole: then I'm like, oh, that's how you feel about me, blah.
[00:47:44] Jolene: Or what if someone that you think doesn't like you and you can read their minds and you're like, oh my gosh, they do like me. See, it could go. It could go either way.
[00:47:53] Nicole: But they could be, let's see. It doesn't have to be about what they think about me. I mean, maybe they're thinking some brilliant thought[00:48:00]
[00:48:00] Jolene: Oh, right.
[00:48:01] Nicole: hear more about it.
[00:48:02] Jolene: Yeah,
[00:48:03] Nicole: I mean, who knows? It's, it could be, it could go dark quick, probably reading someone's mind. You're like, I, I don't, I don't need to hear any more of this. And if you're walking around and you're just hearing everyone's mind, that would kind of suck.
[00:48:17] Jolene: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:48:18] Nicole: You know what? You might be changing my mind. Because you could walk around and just see everybody naked in their clothes. Which could be a good time.
[00:48:28] Jolene: Like kind of Wouldn't that just kind of like change your, as you're walking down the
[00:48:31] Nicole: probably giggle. You just
[00:48:33] Jolene: right? Yeah.
[00:48:34] Nicole: you're like, oh. So you're basically living in a permanent nudist colony
[00:48:39] Jolene: Yes.
[00:48:40] Nicole: which could be hilarious and
[00:48:43] Jolene: You would just always kind of have like a smile on your
[00:48:47] Nicole: Well, it's like, it's like in the Brady Bunch, I think it was the Brady Bunch where I, I forget which kid was nervous about giving a speech, and they were like, just pretend that they're all naked in the [00:49:00] audience.
[00:49:00] I don't know if Alice the housekeeper told them to say that,
[00:49:02] and then they're like
[00:49:03] Jolene: that's, it's probably a little, that may have been a little risque for the Brady Bunch.
[00:49:07] Nicole: think it might have been, but I think it might have happened.
[00:49:11] Jolene: Hmm. Okay.
[00:49:12] Nicole: did I hear? I mean, I don't know. Just think of everybody naked
[00:49:15] Jolene: Yeah, I've heard that. Yeah.
[00:49:17] Nicole: And then you would just like permanently walk around your life with a kind of a giggle.
[00:49:22] That might be the better choice. Jolene,
[00:49:24] Jolene: So you're changing your mind.
[00:49:26] Nicole: may I?
[00:49:27] Jolene: Yes.
[00:49:29] Nicole: Yes, please.
[00:49:30] I'll
[00:49:30] Jolene: Okay. Okay.
[00:49:33] Nicole: I'll take the naked. Okay. I've got one for you.
[00:49:36] Jolene: Go ahead.
[00:49:38] Nicole: Would you rather be forced to sing along? Or dance to every single song you hear.
[00:49:48] Jolene: Oh, sing. Yeah. 'cause I'm a horrible dancer, so if I could, if I could sing to every song. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I'd love that. But like every song you hear,
[00:49:59] Nicole: Naked [00:50:00] people and you would just sing. That's, that's basically, so we would do this podcast and you just keep singing and I just keep looking at you naked or whomever was in the
[00:50:09] Jolene: exactly. How much fun would we be walking down the street together?
[00:50:16] Nicole: Fun and crazy.
[00:50:19] Jolene: Oh, I love that. Okay.
[00:50:23] Nicole: All right. Well thank you my dear.
[00:50:26] Jolene: Thank you my friend. This was good.
[00:50:28] Nicole: it was. I will see you very soon.
[00:50:30] Jolene: It's okay. Bye-Bye everybody.
[00:50:32] Nicole: Bye.
