Realfoodology - What You Eat Could Be Fueling Cancer, Is Big Food The New Big Tobacco | Grace Price

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

EP. 222 In this episode of the Realfoodology podcast, I sit down with the incredible Grace Price, an 18-year-old changemaker who is already making waves in the world of cancer prevention and food acti...vism. Grace, who you may recognize from her powerful testimony at the Senate, shares her inspiring journey—from losing her grandfather to cancer to creating a free documentary that explores the link between processed foods and cancer. We discuss the corrupt influence of big food and the dangers of ultra-processed foods. We also talk about regenerative farming, tackling food deserts, and empowering Gen Z to challenge the status quo when it comes to public health. Don't miss this eye-opening conversation on how we can flatten the cancer curve and improve our food system for future generations! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction   00:05:51 - Grace’s Documentary   00:07:55 - Cancer Research   00:09:59 - Genetics and Cancer   00:13:31 - The Food Pyramid and Other Big Food Corruption   00:19:18 - Ultra-Processed Foods Are the New Cigarettes   00:22:22 - Dietitian Curriculum and the Importance of Whole Foods   00:25:41 - Bottom-Up Change   00:27:28 - Big Tobacco and Big Food   00:33:40 - Kellogg Campaign and Senate Roundtable 00:35:53 - Coca-Cola Donating to the American Cancer Society   00:40:16 - How Bad Is Processed Food & Worst Processed Foods   00:44:38 - Carb Loading and Blood Sugar Spikes   00:45:31 - Cigarettes and French Fries   00:48:14 - Clorox and Twinkies   00:50:07 - Getting Gen Z Involved   00:54:53 - Harnessing the Power of Rebellious Teens   00:56:08 - Climate Change and Agriculture   00:58:06 - What’s Next for Grace   01:01:56 - CGMs and Learning the Long-Term Impacts of Processed Foods   01:03:38 - Flattening the Cancer Curve   01:06:48 - Grace’s Health Non-Negotiables   Show Links:  211: BRCA, Modernizing Cancer Treatment, + Medical Ketosis | Dr. Thomas Seyfried  No Such Thing As Vegan Food | Chef Mollie of Sage Cancer: A Food-Borne Illness Good Energy (Book) Health Roundtable (Senate Hearing) Kiss The Ground (Documentary)  Common Ground (Documentary)  The Ends (Restaurant)  Sponsored By:  Organifi Go to www.organifi.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 20% Off and from 11/12 - 11/13 enjoy Fall savings 🍁 - 12% off sitewide for 48 hours Paleovalley Save at 15% at paleovalley.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY Timeline Go to timelinenutrition.com/REALFOODOLOGY and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off Olive Oil Get a free $39 bottle at Getfresh324.com$1 shipping Our Place Use code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off at fromourplace.com Wellnesse Go to wellnesse.com/realfoodology Check Out Grace Price:  Instagram  Tik Tok  X (Twitter) Check Out Courtney:  LEAVE US A VOICE MESSAGE Check Out My new FREE Grocery Guide! @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database  Produced By: Drake Peterson

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Starting point is 00:00:00 on today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. With cancer specifically and a lot of these diseases, it comes down to they're trying to spread the message that it's out of your control. The minute it's in your control, then that means you are suddenly outside of their control. Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Courtney Swan. I'm here in Austin. And today I interviewed Grace Price. You may recognize her name. She is the 18 year old. Yes, 18 year old girl that I spoke at the Senate with.
Starting point is 00:00:33 And I am just in awe of this woman. She created a documentary about cancer. It's called Cancer, a Foodborne Illness. It has almost 5 million views on Twitter. So I highly recommend going and watching it. It's free. It's like 23 minutes. And her story is really cool. So like I said, she's 18, which I can't, I cannot get over. I cannot wrap my brain around it because I at 18 was getting drunk with my friends. I was not thinking about things like cancer or trying to save the world.
Starting point is 00:01:06 But here she is. She dove into the research. It starts with a sad story. Her grandpa actually got cancer and passed away. And she would not accept that the doctors were just saying, oh, it's just bad luck. Like, oh, he got a stroke of bad luck. She decided, no, I think that there's more to this.
Starting point is 00:01:23 And I want to learn how I can do everything I can to prevent getting cancer. And she dove on this journey of interviewing doctors like Thomas Seyfried, who I had on the podcast recently. I highly recommend going back and listening to that episode. He's a Boston professor who has amazing breakthrough research on cancer. He was in this documentary. Callie Means was in the documentary, some really amazing experts, doctors, thought leaders. And she takes us on a journey of learning what she learned about the corruption and the collusion of big pharma and big food and the medical system and how they're not telling us everything that we know about cancer. Genetics only play a very small role in it. And there's a epigenetic component happening here
Starting point is 00:02:12 where your genes may play a small role, but it's your environment. It's the things that you're exposed to. It's your daily diet. It's the things that you're drinking every day that really have the ability to move the needle. So this was an amazing episode. I hope you guys love it. If you could take a moment to rate and review the podcast, it would mean so much to me. It really, really does. It helps this show so much, like more than you can even imagine. And if you're loving this particular episode, if you want to share the videos that we created that I put on Instagram, or if you want to just simply share a screenshot, let your community know that you loved the episode. Tag me at Real Foodology and at Real Foodology Podcast. Your support means so much. And it really, truly, it means everything. Without you guys, I wouldn't
Starting point is 00:02:54 be here. So thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for supporting. And I hope that you love the episode. Thanks. Bye, guys. Fall is here, and that means it's time to cozy up with something special. i'm excited to share that organifi has made their pumpkin spice even better than before with an enhanced flavor and effectiveness this limited edition blend is the tastiest way to wind down in the evening imagine a smoother creamier taste and texture that wraps you in warmth bringing you all the nostalgia of autumn with every sip but it's not just about the flavor this delicious pumpkin spice blend is packed with relaxing and soothing ingredients that promote restful sleep and nourish your body after
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Starting point is 00:05:40 slash real foodology for 15% off your first order and experience a coffee that nourishes your body and mind every single day. Grace, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah, thank you so much for coming. When I booked this in Austin, I was like, I have to get Grace on. You and I both. Oh, yeah. We both spoke at the Senate recently, which was incredible. And I also listened to your, so I actually heard your podcast episode on Alex Clark. Oh, yeah. Yeah, before I even met you. And then when I saw you on the lineup for speaking at Senate, I was like, oh, my God, that's the girl, the 18-year-old girl who I listened to on Alex Clark's podcast. And your story is so incredible. So you created a
Starting point is 00:06:26 documentary about cancer. It's called Cancer, Foodborne, and Illness. And I just checked it on X yesterday, and it has 4.8 million views. Yeah. So it, I mean, none of that was expected. Like if you would have asked me when I was in high school, hey, do you think the documentary that you're dreaming of and working so hard to put together would gain that much traction? I was like, well, I just hope the story really resonates because honestly, I couldn't think of any other way to put all of the mind-boggling information out that I had learned on my health journey, which I think a lot of people can relate to because, you know, once you open up the Pandora's box, it all comes flooding out. And suddenly you're questioning everything and you realize
Starting point is 00:07:11 how broken the entire system is and how many lies we've been told. So the goal of the documentary was just to be that for people, even though it's only like 23 minutes in total. So I, yeah, I'm really glad that it seemed to resonate with people on X. Oh my gosh. It was, and it was so well done. I was like, you're 18 years old and you created a documentary. I mean, I told you this before we started filming and I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but I'm like, when I was 18, I was getting drunk with my friends. Like, and you're over here creating a cancer documentary. I mean, it's truly, it's incredible. And the information was amazing.
Starting point is 00:07:47 You had people like Thomas Seyfried on there. Oh my gosh. His work is incredible. I had him on a podcast recently. Yeah. Oh, and he's so good. So I want to know, you set out to find out what's happening with cancer and what did you find?
Starting point is 00:08:01 Well, I found a lot of stuff. You know, I think that cancer is often left untouched by most people when they just try to think about what even causes this disease because they think it's too complex. They think, you know, one day maybe we'll have a cure. And they think that it's ultimately out of their control, just genetic or arises from random somatic mutations that you can't do much about. And so I think that when it comes to just people's approach to the disease, that is pretty common. And for my documentary, I went and I interviewed people on the street and I said, what do you think the number
Starting point is 00:08:37 one cause of cancer is? Every time they were like, genetics, genetics, you know, if your parents have the disease, I guess that that means you're more likely to have it. A couple of times people were like, I don't know, I don't even want to think about, you know, it's just, that's kind of what the disease has become. But I think it also is a reflection of how we approach chronic diseases in general, in this second age of medicine, which is we're trying to treat something chronic as if it's acute. Like we are trying to create a pill for this illness that'll solve everything. And that's just not the best way to do it. You know, prevention is the best cure you will ever find
Starting point is 00:09:18 when it comes to something that's a chronic disease. If it's something like you broke your elbow, then yes, okay, go get a cast and you'll heal. But this is much, much deeper. So we need to shift into a third age medicine that I think is going to be focused on preventative personalized healthcare. Yes. Oh, and I was so, I was blown away by that segment. And there was not a single person that said anything about diet and lifestyle. And I was really shocked by that. It was crazy. It was crazy. And considering the group of people I was asking too, I mean, I live in downtown Austin. I was on 2nd Street. There's a Sweet Greens there and stuff. And these are just people walking around and that's still what people believe. So let's talk about this because clearly a lot of people still think that genetics plays a much larger role in cancer than it actually does. So what's your opinion and what did you find out in the film as far as like how much do genetics really actually play a role in cancer?
Starting point is 00:10:15 Yeah, no, that's a great question. And I don't want to come off as saying genetics don't play any role because I think oftentimes I talk so much about the metabolic origin of the disease that people are like, oh, well, you know, that's like wrong. You're discounting genetics. That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm obviously not a doctor. I am not even a college graduate, but I am really, really passionate about biochemistry. And I think that if you immerse yourself in the science and really try to dig deep into what the hallmarks of cancer are, so what we observe amongst all kinds of tumors, and what really drives the disease, oftentimes it's not genetics. It seems to be lifestyle factors in our environment that lead to a chronic inflammation that then causes our cells to be damaged and most importantly, our mitochondria to lose their
Starting point is 00:11:17 integrity. And when they lose their integrity, I mean, I think Dr. Casey Means does a wonderful job explaining this in her book, Good Energy, but that is our, that's our source of life and energy. Like our mitochondria, it goes so much deeper. Like even if you just look at how we acquired mitochondria, like they have their own DNA. They are functioning within ourselves as their own beings and we're not taking care of them. And so when you look at that, I mean, and Professor Seyfried has done work on this as well, the metabolic origin of the disease, which is that our mitochondria get damaged, and then everything goes downhill from there. Our cells stop using oxidative phosphorylation for producing ATP, which yields up to like 38 ATP. And instead, they start using aerobic glycolysis, which yields up to like 38 ATP. And instead they start using aerobic glycolysis, which yields
Starting point is 00:12:07 up to like two ATP per glucose molecule. So way less efficient for an energy source. But our mitochondria are clearly not able to do their normal metabolism. And so we end up falling back onto that. And then that's why these cancer cells have such a desire for glucose and all this. So it gets really deep and complex. And there are other metabolic pathways too, like the glutaminosis pathway that these cells can use. But it seems to have to do with our environment. Like it really does. And there's even a study in the National Institute of Health that says that 90 to 95% of cancer cases are caused by environmental or lifestyle factors.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Wow. This is a legit study. Like, I'm not just pulling this out of my pants, you know? And I found this and I was like, how are people not talking about this? That only leaves 5 to 10% for genetics. Exactly. And you just said, how are people not talking about this? And you so beautifully laid this out in your documentary about how our food system and our medical system have all been captured by corporate interest. And I think that's playing a large role in people being kept in the dark because we are told by these regulatory bodies that it's all genetics. There's nothing you can do about it. And then meanwhile, they're also telling us that just eat the food pyramid.
Starting point is 00:13:24 Oh, yeah. You know, and you'll be fine and you're going to be healthy. And it's, they're also telling us that just eat the food pyramid. Oh, yeah. You know, and you'll be fine and you're going to be healthy. And it's actually been the complete opposite. Total opposite. So yeah. So tell my audience a little bit about what you found when you were digging into this, like how deep the corruption really goes. It's honestly terrifying. And I consider myself just a radical optimist. I think it's important to always look for the best in people and in experiences in life. And it was really depressing seeing how deep the corruption flows. I think the most depressing part is that anyone would ever wish or neglect the fact that the repercussions of them putting profit over public health is someone laying in a hospital bed because they were diagnosed with cancer or someone getting a limb removed because
Starting point is 00:14:15 they have type 2 diabetes or someone who is now completely deteriorating mentally because they have Alzheimer's. That is the reality of what the corruption is doing. Like, I don't want it to just seem like I'm trying to call out corruption because it's morally wrong, which it is. Yeah. But it's like, what is the cost of their corporate greed? And that's the cost. And I think people can pretty unanimously agree that that is terrifying. Like no one wants to have to experience that. No one wants their loved one to experience that, their friends, their coworkers. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Starting point is 00:14:53 And so for these people to even have a slight awareness that that is what these foods can lead to. That's just absolutely disgusting to me. As the crisp fall air rolls in and the leaves start to change, I've been focusing on keeping my energy high and supporting healthy aging so I can enjoy every season to the fullest. Lately, I've been using MitoPure by Timeline and the results have been amazing. Developed after over a decade of Swiss research, Mito Pure is a urolithin A postbiotic, something that's hard to get just from your diet. Since I started using it, I've noticed better muscle strength, faster recovery, and a steady boost in energy that helps me take on these cooler days with ease. I am such a huge fan of Mito Pure. I think it's my favorite supplement
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Starting point is 00:17:39 olive oil club today for just $1 and taste the difference for yourself. Head to their website and elevate your cooking with the best olive oil out there. Go to getfresh324.com. That's G-E-T-F-R-E-S-H-324.com for a free bottle and pay just $1 shipping. I totally agree. I was talking about this on another podcast with somebody yesterday that it's, you know, it's to this point where people's lives when when you have companies that are this's, you know, it's to this point where people's lives, when you have companies that are this large, you have these corporations, their lives become just a number on Excel sheet. They're not actually thinking about them as human beings, as a dad, a mom, you know, somebody's child. And that's the unfortunate reality of it. And I know it's
Starting point is 00:18:21 really scary for people to hear, but I also think that it's, in a way, I almost find it empowering to know that just because now that I know this, I can act accordingly and do whatever I can to protect myself from this system. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And there was one thing that you pointed out that I really want my listeners to hear because this is crazy. So there was a 95 percentage of the 2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee had conflicts with big food and big pharma. 95% of them.
Starting point is 00:18:52 I actually meant to look this up. I want to know what it's like now in 2024. I think I've actually read that it went down a little bit because people are calling this out so much. But that's insane. Yeah. So, how, okay, let's talk about, I want to dive into, I mean, I have so many questions to ask you right now that I'm like, what direction do I want to take this next? So when we were talking in the Senate,
Starting point is 00:19:18 you said that ultra processed foods are the new cigarette for your generation. So we've just outlined everything so far that you've found that we've been lied to about what's really happening with cancer. There's a lot of colluding happening. And now we're finding out that ultra-processed foods are really making us sick. They are. Yeah. So can you talk about that? Yeah. I mean, they're making us so sick. And what I think is so fascinating about ultra processed foods is it seems as though we are repeating exactly what happened in the 20th century with tobacco. And whether you want to acknowledge the fact that big tobacco literally bought big food companies back in the 1980s, like Kellogg's and Kraft,
Starting point is 00:20:07 and, you know, rolled out all of their different methods for creating highly palatable, addicting foods, and then exited in 2001. Like, that's a pretty direct connection, you know, if I would, I would say so, once they lost cigarettes as their main source of profit. And when you look at what the cigarette industry did with kids and how they targeted them, it almost, I mean, it almost looks exactly the same as what we're seeing with kids and ultra processed foods now. They would put signs that were marketing things like camels at the eye level of children because they knew they could try to get them to go and buy cigarettes, get addicted, you know, and kids, kids don't have as much willpower
Starting point is 00:20:51 either. Like they were targeting the, I mean, honestly, like just the less strong mentally and physically and kind of the weaker links of society by doing that. The most vulnerable. Exactly. Most vulnerable. And so when you see that and then you see that, you know, there was a study that came out that dieticians on TikTok were paid off by General Mills to promote cereal as healthy. So they're using their credibility to then get teens and which all my friends are on TikTok. I can tell you that for sure, Courtney. Like that is where they live to get them to say, oh, yeah, cereal's great. And I will mention this
Starting point is 00:21:33 as well. It's gotten to the point too where they're trying to make it also political where they say, if you ask like, hey, is it okay for me to want to go on a diet? People are like, oh, no, no, no. Like that is body shaming. If you say that cereal is bad for you, you are food shaming and you need to instead, you know, listen to your innate desire for what you want to eat. You know what your innate desire is when you're eating sugar all day? Eat more freaking sugar. That's not what you need to be listening to. Exactly. You're addicted to it. It's crazy. It really is starting to feel insidious because you have all these people of, you know, of moral authority of, you know, they're experts in the field, quote unquote, right? Experts. But I say quote unquote because, so I actually talk about
Starting point is 00:22:23 this a lot because I was on the track to be a registered dietitian and I actually left the program because I was seeing that the program was being funded. They were getting funding from Coca-Cola, General Mills. I believe they get funding from Pepsi now. And I was like, I don't want to do this. This is a direct conflict of interest. It is. Yeah. Like, what are we doing here? And then we have them going online, like you said, and shaming people saying like, oh my gosh, it's yeah, it's not body positive to want to go on a diet. It's unhealthy. You're going to develop an eating disorder. I hear this all the time. They say that I'm going to give people eating disorders for telling them to eat real food.
Starting point is 00:23:00 Isn't that crazy? It's crazy. It's like they don't realize that. Sure, maybe you don't. Like, I never try to advocate for specific diets because I think that's it. People can decide that for themselves. But what we're advocating for is let's get this poison out of our meals every day. Like, it's not even a question of whether your diet should include this toxic stuff. Like, you can make more personalized health decisions down the line once you get the fake stuff out. Like it has to be choosing from real food initially. Because that's the problem is that we're now consuming, I can't remember the exact percentage, maybe you know, but I think it's like up to 75% of most people's diet is ultra processed foods, which is fake food.
Starting point is 00:23:44 That's not even real food. It's fake. Exactly. And what we're doing is we're hij most people's diet is ultra processed foods, which is fake food. That's not even real food. It's fake. Exactly. And what we're doing is we're hijacking people's palates. I mean, I've told this story so many times, and I think it's very resonant in this particular conversation. I was at a film festival last year, and they were handing out candy for free. They're like going down the aisles being like, you guys want this candy?
Starting point is 00:24:03 And I was like, oh my gosh, I love Reese's Pieces. I haven't had these since I was a kid. I literally had not had them since I was a kid. And I was like, give me one. I'll try one. You know, like I spit it out. It tasted so fake to me because I don't eat that kind of stuff anymore. And I'm not even being dramatic. I was like, this tastes like chemicals to me. Okay. That's so funny that you had that experience because I've had something super similar where like I'm pretty strict like you on eating processed stuff. And I was, I think I was with my niece and we were trick-or-treating for Halloween with her. And she gave me like a Kit Kat or something. I was like, oh, I used to love these when I was little. Like it's my favorite. It tastes like plastic. I'm like, what? This is nasty. Like, yeah, you literally can taste the chemicals when
Starting point is 00:24:47 you go without something like that for so long. And that's why I think the question really comes down to how do you get people, consumers to change the market by ultimately getting this stuff out of their diet, stop buying it for a prolonged period of time. Like, I really think we have the ability to do bottom-up change as much as top-down change is important, which you and I are really into all the time. We're working on it. Working on it right now, guys. Yeah, it's interesting. I was actually at a, like, a little documentary film premiere last night,
Starting point is 00:25:19 and Callie was in the documentary, and he spoke on a panel afterwards. And this was a topic of conversation because a lot of people are saying, like, this on a panel afterwards. And this was a topic of conversation because a lot of people are saying like, this is a huge debate that's happening right now in our world where a lot of people in this world lean a little bit more conservatively. They're very concerned about their freedom. They don't want to feel like everything's being controlled by the government. And I think you and I are very eye to eye in all of this. I agree. However, there is a fine line of if we know that there are things in our food supply that are harming people and making them severely addicted, and there are so many
Starting point is 00:25:51 people that are unaware of this, there's accessibility issues because a lot of this food is literally being pushed out to food deserts, and it's in all the convenience stores, and it's in the airports. It's everywhere. That at what point do we draw the line of saying, okay, we have to intervene here and protect our human population because we are literally going to extinct ourselves if we don't do something about this. Yeah. We're already, you know, the people who are trying to try out for the military, like we are seeing just less competent humans being made out of this. And that's why it's so important. Like with Gen Z, yes, we are very sick right now.
Starting point is 00:26:31 You know, like pre-diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, all these kinds of things. One in five of us being obese, this kind of stuff. But we also have a unique opportunity to be the first generation to prevent these diseases with what we know right now. It goes both ways. And so if we can really just hop on this and get all of my peers to start eating differently, then we can be known as one of the generations that lives the longest. Like it's not set in stone yet, but we have to educate and spread
Starting point is 00:27:05 awareness so that people feel like they can start making choices for themselves instead of simply just following what these big food companies ultimately want you to. Yeah. And that's why education is such a huge part of this because people need to understand that our system has been co-opted by large corporations that don't have our health in mind. No. You know, and that's how you become immune to all this marketing too, because actually I wanted to mention something earlier. So you were making that correlation between big tobacco and big food. Yeah. Now I'm old enough to remember, I remember the camel ads because I was old enough and
Starting point is 00:27:39 they were cartoon, like they would make like cartoon camels. Yeah. And it's so interesting now, because now you see, fast forward to 2024 and what we've been doing recently. So yesterday or two days ago, I went with Vani Hari, Callie Means, a bunch of people to Michigan, because we were protesting Kellogg's to stop marketing their cereal with artificial dyes in it to children. And the reason why they keep those artificial dyes in it to children. And the reason why they keep those artificial dyes in America, they have admitted this, is because they have done studies to show
Starting point is 00:28:09 that this food dye actually makes the kids want to eat more of it because they're attracted to it. And then also, it's so predatory. They're putting things like Baby Shark and their favorite Disney character on the label. And it's exactly the same as like Campbell doing the cartoons. Now we're just using the cartoons to sell the cereal and making it super bright because they're young and attracted to it. And it's. Yep. No, and it's, and you're making such a great point. And again, like it's, I don't understand why we wouldn't treat these foods any different than we would with big tobacco and getting cigarettes. I mean, that's a toxic carcinogenic thing that people were consuming. And yes, ultra processed foods,
Starting point is 00:28:50 like there's a wide variety of them. There's a lot of companies, but we have to treat it the same way. It's, yeah, it's, it's so important. And like you were saying with the ads towards the children, I mean, they, kids are just seeing this stuff. They see the bright colors and that is like that is what they love. And so they love the food. They love the character. What kid is going to say no to that? Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS. And yes, even our beloved crockpots and pressure cookers. I have actually been talking about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of
Starting point is 00:29:38 all my nonstick pans because she was concerned about me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like our place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from our place, I legit
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Starting point is 00:33:23 mouthwash, all made with essential oils and clean ingredients. Head over to wellness.com slash realfoodology and discover the power of hydroxyapatite for yourself. That is W-E-L-L-N-E-S-S-E.com slash realfoodology. Exactly. Like no kid in their right mind is going to say no to that ever. And so, yeah, it's really, really frustrating what's happening. And I think that what y'all are doing with Kellogg's is honestly like so great. And what we got to do at the Senate, because when you look at what really changed the game for Big Tobacco is when the Surgeon General came out and wrote the entire overview on tobacco and health. And if we could get something like that with
Starting point is 00:34:11 ultra-processed foods and health, where it stopped being considered pseudoscience to try to draw any kind of correlative link between these ultra-processed foods and chronic diseases, which it is, that really bothers me as well. You know, like nutrition science, yes, it's not the greatest, you know, we don't have the best quality studies, some would say, and there's a lot of contradicting studies, but you also have to realize there's contradictions because there are some studies that are consistently showing the same thing. And there are other studies that are funded by these companies that have a conclusion that is in their best interest. Exactly. And so, yes, it makes sense that there's contradictions because some people are simply observing, I mean, whether you want to call it truth or call it just the most probable outcome,
Starting point is 00:35:01 which is the effect that these foods can have. And then others are trying to counter that by creating these false and confusing conclusions that then make it so hard for even the health-informed American to figure out what you're supposed to eat. Because you're like, oh, one day red meat is good, the next day red meat is bad. Which is it? Carbs are good? Oh, no, they're bad. And so it's like, how do you make these choices? Yeah. Well, and then we have, I mean, it's essentially, I want to call it, it's not a nonprofit, but what would you call the American Cancer Society? Oh, gosh. I'm thinking about it right now where it's like, yeah, they're not a governing body. And in fact, like in order to get that American
Starting point is 00:35:45 Heart Association stamp on a box, companies just pay a licensing fee for that. Oh, yeah. There's a licensing company. And you found something really interesting. I don't know if you will remember the stats. I won't put you on the spot for that. But 1.9 million was donated to American Cancer Society from Coca-Cola. Yep. No, that one I know by heart because it's just crazy. And you can find that for other companies, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, literally all of these different places. They accept from General Mills, Kellogg's, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nestle,
Starting point is 00:36:21 all these names we've heard, they will accept funds from. And you just cannot, it does not take a lawyer to know that that means there is conflict of interest. There just is. Because if you're getting your money from them, you're going to want to make them happy because you want to keep getting money from them. It's genius, honestly. Yeah, it really is. And I don't want to come off as saying like, oh, the American Cancer Society doesn't care about cancer patients. I think they can. And I think they do maybe in some instances, but they are just completely neglecting the fact that a lot of early onset cancer cases right now,
Starting point is 00:36:57 which have risen by 79% in the past three decades, are tied to diet. And even in the articles that are weary of pointing towards ultra-processed foods, say doctors are a little concerned with the prevalent ultra-processed food consumption and think that it might have to do with the rise in cancer. That's the phrasing they use, Courtney. That's the phrasing they use. But that's the most we've gotten so far.
Starting point is 00:37:26 And so, I mean, that's like progress in my mind. And it's even, like I was talking about earlier, I mean, with cancer specifically and a lot of these diseases, it comes down to they're trying to spread the message that it's out of your control. The minute it's in your control, then that means you are suddenly outside of their control when it comes to what foods you're going to buy. And so, and really with the whole metabolic origin of these disease, when you say that your mitochondrial health is important, you're suddenly saying that sugar, seed oils, chemical additives, emulsifiers, artificial dyes are enemies to you because you're now identifying with the health of your entire body's source of energy and so you're saying i i need good energy and so you got to get rid of the stuff that's going to give you bad energy um and and with even
Starting point is 00:38:18 with cancer it blows my mind that you see these headlining articles of people winning Nobel Peace, not Nobel, sorry, Nobel Prizes for all of these different gene therapies. And then you have doctors like Dr. Thomas Seyfried working so hard to show that. And recently there was a study of 60 women who had either premenopausal or menopausal breast cancer were put on the ketogenic diet and they either were doing it in pairing with chemotherapy or without. And the group that did the ketogenic diet paired with chemotherapy had significantly reduced tumor size compared to the group on just chemotherapy. Like these studies, no one talks about. It gets no publicity.
Starting point is 00:39:13 But then when you go get a PET scan, if you have cancer, they use a radioactive form of glucose that they put inside your body to measure where the tumor is because they understand that these cells consume more sugar. So they'll acknowledge that. And they won't acknowledge the fact that the Warburg effect, which we've known forever, is really, really common in these cancer cells. And they will accept funds from Coca-Cola, which is sugar water. But they'll say, oh, no, no, no, that doesn't cause cancer. But we're just going to use an analog of sugar to try to track where this thing is because it seems to like sugar a lot. It's crazy. And then you come out
Starting point is 00:39:50 into the lobby and they offer you a basket of candy or a donut or a cookie. They give you boost or insure, 37 grams of sugar right there. It's so insane what is happening right now. And people are scared to speak out because these large corporations have a lot of money. They will lose their funding. They'll lose their research funding. These doctors won't get their money from the prescription drugs anymore. I mean, like, it's so deep. So deep. Yeah. Okay. So I want to dive into how bad is processed food? And what would you say maybe is one of the worst fake foods that somebody can consume?
Starting point is 00:40:26 Okay, that's a great question. When it comes to how bad they are, I mean, these things are pretty awful. There's a wide variety of issues with them, but I try to create more generalized overarching categories because I think most people aren't going to go and read the nutrition label. And if they do, it's really confusing because there's words that you've never even heard of. Like, you know, you can't even pronounce these things. And that's how you know how far we've fallen from real food. But I think some really bad things that we do need to avoid. One is seed oils. I think that the issue with seed oils is that it's, I mean, if you just
Starting point is 00:41:03 think of it from a chemistry point of view, you don't want to consume something that is rancid, you know, and seed oils just have a very high percentage. The only thing that differentiates them from things like extra virgin olive oil, beef tallow, or avocado oil is that they have a higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids. And these are just more reactive than a saturated fatty acid. And so what they're going to do... Exactly. They're unstable. So what they're going to do is if you heat them at really high temperatures, which whenever you make these seed oils, you can literally look up on YouTube how canola oil is made. Watch the whole process. You will
Starting point is 00:41:41 not want to eat it after. It looks like poop. Like literally, I'm not joking. And then they heat it to such a high temperature that so these fatty acids, I mean, they're getting oxidized completely and turning into rancid byproducts that are toxic. And then they have to deodorize it because it smells because they were rancid once. And that is the process of making these oils. And then they get put on our shelves. We use them. We cook them at high temperatures again. Or even worse, if you get it from a fast food restaurant, you know, I talk about this in my documentary. There's a study done in England where they measured the average amount of, I think it was aldehydes or formaldehydes within a large thing of French
Starting point is 00:42:27 fries. And it was equivalent to that of 25 cigarettes because these toxic oils, whenever they are heated at such high temperature, can produce all of these really toxic byproducts. So we shouldn't be eating that. If you see any of these eight, you know, there's a great source for this is if you go to Dr. Kate Shanahan's website, she has a list called the hateful eight. Like print it out, put it on your fridge, and just know when you go grocery shopping, like that is one thing. The next thing is there's a lot of really bad stuff with just the amount of carbohydrates and sugars in these foods. Like the amount of carbohydrates in the foods has increased over time for one. And you know, the agricultural side of it. I mean,
Starting point is 00:43:17 these are the most subsidized foods, all of these grains and corn. That is what we are choosing to monocrop and just put so many pesticides, herbicides, all that kind of bad stuff in it. And so I found that like avoiding as many carbs, you can kind of avoid inherently a lot of these bad chemicals that are used when you're growing them. And also you can make sure that you're not keeping your body in a hyperglycemic state. I think a lot of us are spiking our glucose all day and we don't even realize it. That's why it's great that we have CGMs now. Everyone should understand their data and really see just, whoa, I'm waking up in the morning and I am spiking immediately because I'm eating dessert
Starting point is 00:44:02 for breakfast. But people don't view bread and typical grains like that. They view maybe like cereal like that, even though they still eat it. But yeah, it's another, that's another very helpful change of framework. Like, oh, okay, I don't actually need to have 80% of my daily intake be from carbs, I can actually have more fat and protein, healthy fat, like saturated fat. And I can reduce that a little bit and I will probably be better off. Yeah. And you know what's so interesting? I talk about this all the time and I'm sure you know this too, but if you're just carb loading all day and you're constantly spiking your blood sugar going up and down all day, you're going to be way more hungry. You're not going to be
Starting point is 00:44:44 satisfied. You're just going to be ending up, you know, snacking and eating all day. Yeah, it's a vicious cycle. Yeah, versus when you have protein and fat, it actually helps to slow that whole process down. It also makes you satisfied and full. It keeps you satisfied and full for longer. Yes. So you can go for longer periods of time without just feeling like you're just ravenous all day, every day, and just chowing on carbs all day. Exactly. And we're not even vilifying carbohydrates here. No.
Starting point is 00:45:09 They play a very healthy role in a diet, but it's so crazy that we have a food pyramid that told us that we needed 12 servings a day of grains and bread. It's crazy. It's crazy. And then everybody's scratching their heads now wondering why we're all dealing with an obesity epidemic. It's like, hello. Hello.
Starting point is 00:45:25 Take a look here. Yeah, we haven't been eating foods that have been satisfying us. No, no. It's so wild. And I'm so glad that you brought up that study because I was going to ask you about the cigarettes comparison to French fries. Yeah. Because I heard about this. Actually, the first time I heard about this was Dave Asprey.
Starting point is 00:45:41 Yep. He's great for this. He's amazing. And I love it because now I always tell my friends, like, when people are eating French fries out, I'm like, y'all, this is worse than smokingy. Yep. He's great. He's amazing. And I love it because now I always tell my friends, like when people are eating french fries out, I'm like, y'all, this is worse than smoking cigarettes. You might as well just have a cigarette right now. You're gonna cig right now. Oh, oh my gosh, Courtney, I have to tell you, I went onto UT campus and I had a pack of camels. This didn't make the cut for the documentary, but it was really fun to do. And I went up to college students and I was like, so would you smoke this whole pack if
Starting point is 00:46:10 I gave it to you right now? And they were like, no. And they'd have their Chick-fil-A french fries in their hand. They'd have their P. Terry's. And I was like, really? Would you eat that whole thing of french fries right now? And they're like, well, yeah, I'm about to. Like, one guy was like, you want one? I was like, no, I'm good. And listen here, like well yeah i'm about to like maybe one guy was like you want one i was like no i'm good i'm good and listen here buddy because i'm
Starting point is 00:46:28 about to tell you why and i would tell them like it's this is the same thing if anything it's worse actually when you look at the half-life of the polyunsaturated fatty acids and that they're getting stored in your cells phospholipid bilayer for up so up to two years, you have these things causing chronic inflammation. That's terrifying. Versus the cigarette. I think I measured it. It was maybe like if you were to be smoking and then you quit, it lasts up to like a year or even six months. So it's crazy to me that. And I hate that I even have to say this. Obviously, all we are not advocating for smoking, okay? No, no, we're not.
Starting point is 00:47:05 Like, don't get it twisted. We're not trying to undo the whole cigarette thing. We're just trying to add to. We're trying to say, let's push aside the cigs and the french fries. And exactly. And let me be clear. I eat french fries. In fact, I was so excited. I went to this restaurant recently where I found french fries that were fried in beef tallow. Not only do they taste better, where was I? I was traveling and I think I was in, oh my God. I'll send it to you afterwards and guys, I'll add it to the show notes.
Starting point is 00:47:40 I have been traveling so much recently that I'm trying to remember where that was. I have to look at my calendar. I literally have to look at my calendar. I'm looking forward to it though. Yeah, but I've been finding a lot of places recently that have this. Oh, my gosh. Okay, remember, it was in Phoenix with Alex Clark, and it was a place called The Ends. Oh, The Ends. And it's a seed oil-free restaurant.
Starting point is 00:47:56 Okay, nice. And they had beef tallow fries on the menu, and I was like, we are getting the fries. That is amazing. That makes me so happy. So I love French fries. They're one of my favorite things to eat. They're my total kryptonite, but I will not eat them out anymore because of this. Yeah. That is amazing. crazy to me. I think that Twinkies are a great example of quintessential ultra-processed food. There's 37 ingredients in that thing, you know, all of which are mainly just chemicals. And that's the truth. Like I said, view it like chemistry. You know, there are chemicals in here that are used to maintain the shelf life of the product, trying to bind, you you know the oils and the water within it like an emulsifier
Starting point is 00:48:45 it's that much of an experiment it really is what you're eating and twinkies actually one of the ingredients within the twinkie the flower the way that it's bleached they use a similar chlorine to what is used within Clorox. And so that's like, that's the flour that you're consuming is being bleached by something that is not that different from chlorine gas. I mean, isn't that crazy to think about? You know what makes me really mad about this? And it's the same reason I'm really mad about the artificial food dyes. There is no reason whatsoever that we need this in our food. It's not like it's preserving it. It's not like it's stabilizing it. It is simply there for cosmetic value so that the Twinkie can look a little bit whiter. Why do we care? But this is what makes me so mad is the food industry
Starting point is 00:49:42 has decided that we care so much that our food needs to look perfect and shiny and the brightest white and the brightest blue. And like, and there's no value for it. And in fact, not only is there no value for it, but it's also poisoning us. It is. It's poisoning us. It's a lose-lose in every situation. It's so insane what's happening. So, okay, you and the age that you're—you being 18 and being such a voice and an advocate for this movement, I have to tell you, gives me so much hope.
Starting point is 00:50:15 Seriously, because I said earlier, I think about where I was at when I was 18. One, I didn't really know any of this stuff. Like, I ate healthy because of my mom, but I didn't know what you knew. And I could have saved myself a lot of grief, a lot of weight gain when I was younger. Yeah. And I love so much that you're speaking out about this because you're really a voice for your generation and it gives me a lot of hope. So what, it's kind of a two-part question. First of all, what are you seeing as a response right now with your peers and your age group?
Starting point is 00:50:42 And how do you think we can get more of them on board with this messaging? Yeah. I've really been thinking hard about this because it's how do you get people to care about a cause, right? That's the real question. Teens seem to care about things like climate change and other big world issues. But I think that the main problem is when you don't see change happening pretty fast, and instead, you just feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, which I think my generation has had to face with social media being, I mean, a huge part of our lives. Like we are feeling the weight of the problems of the world because we're connected to the whole world right now.
Starting point is 00:51:24 Yeah. Well, especially with TikTok, you guys have more access to information than I had at that age. Some of it, you know, we want to make sure people also know how to properly think strategically about what they believe is true or not, and not just believe everything they see. But it can be really discouraging. And I don't think the answer is to come off as, look, we're screwed basically. Like everything is set against us right now within the food industry. It's really hard to figure out what to eat. And like it takes a lot of effort because that is the case. But I think that if we can empower teens to switch from instead of just consuming content to actually creating content about this issue and feel the
Starting point is 00:52:16 anger of being lied to and want to rebel, we need some angry teens. Like, let's bring back, you know, let's bring back all of the people in the 70s that were really mad about the wars and stuff. Like, I want that kind of energy because I think that it's possible to be both angry and an activist and informed. I don't think you can, you're either Greta Thunberg or you're a scientist.
Starting point is 00:52:46 I think you can be both. And I think that right now we need both. We need people who are thinking clearly and are reacting to realizing what is truly going on. And that reaction needs to be a call to action. It needs to be change. And so I think that I'm right now currently working on this app idea I have to get target teens at the local level in schools. Because when I see school lunches, I'm like, oh, that's an easy one. We can fix that overnight. Exactly. Kids sit with their friends at school. Enough adults don't see how bad the USDA is doing with school lunches. They need to see that. Like I post one photo of a school lunch that one of my friends sends me from public school instantly goes viral on X
Starting point is 00:53:35 because people just don't realize that's how bad it is, especially when you put it next to what people are served in Europe. And so I think that if we can get teens to take photos of their school lunch, I'm creating an AI that'll analyze this. It'll tell you based on the foods included in the meal, a prediction for how many years would be taken off your life if you were to consume that once a week for two years, five years, 10 years. So trying to create more of a mindset about chronic, you know, what is going to happen chronically if you consume this a lot. Also give it a cigarette score. So like a cancer score, you know, like this is because it's one thing that's hard is it's like,
Starting point is 00:54:14 yes, you can tell a teen they're going to get cancer if they eat french fries. Do they believe they're going to live forever also? Yes. Even if you tell them that. I know. Because they're just like, YOLO, you know? And you can still be YOLO. And you can also be like, hey, I want to live forever. So let's get some of this bad stuff out of our food, you know? Yeah. Yeah, it's playing. It's toying with ideas like that to see how you can encourage teens to feel like they are making an impact on an issue that they're educated on and get upset about. Okay, this is brilliant. And I've never thought
Starting point is 00:54:52 about it like this before. But the rebellious aspect is so brilliant because it was taking me back to when I was, you know, an angsty 18-year-old. Totally. I wanted to do everything opposite of what I was told to do. Exactly. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And so it's like, yes. I'm still there. Honestly, so. Shout out to my dad. I love that. So if we can appease to that, where we can create enough like of a healthy anger where they're like, you know what? We have been lied to. We've been screwed over. Like our generation, because I will tell you, I believe my generation and your generation have been the most screwed in this. Oh, totally. Totally. We are the most screwed. All of my friends are dealing with infertility issues. Yeah. Everyone I know,
Starting point is 00:55:34 every single woman I know has an autoimmune disorder of some kind. Yeah. It's what you and Alex were talking about. Exactly. It's crazy. Insane. Yeah. So if we can create this movement behind of like, F you guys for doing this to us and setting us up with this. We're crazy. Insane. Yeah. So if we can create this movement behind of like, F you guys for doing this to us and setting us up with this. We're done. Yes, we're done. That's it. Like we are done with you unless you change. I love it. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Okay, Courtney, we're going to brainstorm after this. We need to do it. We need to start a movement of rebellious. Let's start it. Let's start. I'll get it. I'm so here for it. We're going to take the globe. Seriously, I love it. And you mentioned something else about climate change. And I want to point
Starting point is 00:56:11 this out because this is a really important part of this conversation regarding climate change. So you said a lot of your peers are concerned about climate change. Yeah. Well, something that we can talk about is the way that we are farming right now. Yes, exactly. You pull agriculture into it. Is one of the leading causes of climate change. And not only that, but the solution is probably the best solution that we have to combat climate change. Because if we're leaning into regenerative farming, which if anybody listening doesn't know about regenerative farming, we're not going to go too far into it, but you can listen to, I have a ton of podcasts about this. She's like an expert. I'm obsessed with regenerative farming. I think that it's such a beautiful process because it's bringing us back to nature the way that we were intended to farm. And then in that process,
Starting point is 00:56:53 it allows mother nature to do her thing. It does. It puts carbon out of the atmosphere, which is the biggest thing that we're dealing with right now. And it's food for the soil. Yes. So we also need to get teens on board with the fact that you don't have to go vegetarian. In fact, I would argue the vegetarian diet is not helping at all with climate change. Yes. And we need to reroute that narrative of if we stop eating these monocrop agricultural foods, not only are we saying F you to the man, we're rebelling, but we're also helping with climate change. Yes. Yes. And we're fixing our soil. It comes back to our soil. Like our soil is so unhealthy right now. It's crazy. I watched the Kiss the Ground documentary and also the Common Grounds one too. They're both
Starting point is 00:57:36 phenomenal. And I totally recommend for anyone if they just want to actually understand what regenerative agriculture really is. Because it's kind of a foreign concept if you don't really like look into the health space in general. And I do think it's the future of agriculture for us if we want to save our country. And so I think it's really important that people try to understand that more and pay attention to our farmers. You know, it's important. Yep. I completely agree. So I'm just curious on a personal level, because I want to know, what's next for you? Like, what are you working on next? Yeah. A couple of things. So working on the app that I just told you and school lunch programs,
Starting point is 00:58:21 I think there's a lot that I want to do with that right now. There's also the whole idea of trying to feed the movement of trying to get top-down change by approaching this the same way we approach tobacco. And me being the voice for my generation of, look, like we are being, our health is being sold out right now. And we want change. So there's the advocacy part that is really important. And so it's like us continuing to do the hearings and stuff like that, or going and petitioning against Kellogg's. Like I think that's all great. And then it's also developing the research side of things as well. That's really important to me. I think a lot of people get really sketched out because I'm 18 years old and I talk about a lot of science, but that's my passion. I love biochemistry. That is the only reason why I actually learned any of
Starting point is 00:59:22 this because I was reading scientific papers for fun in high school, as unbelievable as that sounds. And I just directed my attention specifically more towards, you know, epigenetics and cancer and mitochondrial health. And then I was like, whoa, this is crazy. And I just kept reading and reading. And so in college, you know, just trying to continue to feed that because I would love to perform some studies and research that I think is needed for teens. Like one idea that I've been wanting to do for a while is I think that we need to get a group of a hundred kids, you know, my age in college, have them either eat their typical college diet, which is like Hot Pockets, Cheetos,
Starting point is 01:00:06 Kraft Mac and Cheese, Coca-Cola. Yeah, it's brutal. It's brutal. And I live, I'm observing it. I'm observing it right now, you know. And that versus a group that eats no ultra processed foods and is simply just, you know, living life the exact same way, you put some CGMs on them as well. Yeah. I mean, there's no data on this for teens. It drives me crazy. Like, why do we not have any studies on what kids are eating, on how often their glucose is being spiked, the connection between glucose spikes, their quality of sleep? We have stuff to track this now. Like, I could literally get a group of my friends together and we could do something like this. And please do this. This is so cool. Like it's important. It's important to know this stuff. And it's important
Starting point is 01:00:53 also for the sake of spreading awareness and understanding like, oh, wow, that like this is this is or even like your gut microbiome, you know, doing a kind of test on that. See what people's gut health is like. IBS is like crazy right now. Oh my gosh. People don't talk about it, but. With women, especially. With women, it's really bad.
Starting point is 01:01:18 And there's a stigma around talking about all that kind of stuff because no one wants to talk about poop. But the truth is, I mean, the fact that we're not measuring like our poop is crazy. I know. It's actually so, so helpful for information on the health of really your whole body. Oh, yeah. Because especially when it comes to food, that is the byproduct of what you're eating. You're going to be able to tell a lot of what's going on in your gut and then how it's impacting, you know, the gut brain access is a thing, and then the rest of your cells. Like it's so important. So yeah, just getting more data, like we can always use more
Starting point is 01:01:50 data, I think. So I would love to be able to conduct stuff like that. And I wonder if, because I was trying to remember what, where I was at when I was your age. And I wonder if stuff like this was happening. Like, let's say if I had a friend like you and we put a CGM on me and I really saw what the food was actually doing to my body, I feel as though I would have started paying attention a lot sooner. Right? Yeah. That's what I think. Because a lot of my friends say to me, I tell them about seed oils, they try going without it. They're like, I don't feel a difference, Grace. What's the difference?
Starting point is 01:02:24 And I'm like, for some things, it's a little hard when it's a slow burn. Yeah. And teens are impatient. You know, they want to see their acne cleared instantly. They want to lose five pounds instantly or whatever or gain muscle instantly. And so you need to have ways to show them like, look at this. This is the difference. So I actually, yeah, I totally agree with you on that. And I think encouraging people to track their data is really important. It would be interesting to see for that one in particular,
Starting point is 01:02:59 what you could do is I would assume that you could do a CRP, like pull their CRP and their blood work because that's an overall inflammatory marker. And I would be very curious to see if they went off seed oils for like two weeks to see if it would affect their CRP levels. Yeah. Yeah. Any kind of inflammatory marker would work for the seed oil instance. That would be really interesting to see. Yeah. And then carbs and sugar, you got covered with the CGM, like, which are great nowadays. You just give them all a levels patch, you know? Exactly. It's, yeah. And so I really do think there's a lot of opportunity within that. So I'm excited to do that. And that's so exciting. Yeah, just keep growing and learning. It's my mission is, you know, I want to flatten the cancer curve by 2040. And that's still my
Starting point is 01:03:41 mission right now. The direction in which I go has changed so much as I continue to learn and grow. And that's ultimately the perspective I'm coming from. But I will keep working on this every day until I see the change that I want to see. I love that. And from your perspective and seeing your peers and seeing everything that's going on right now, are you hopeful that we're able to turn this ship around? Totally. I'm really hopeful. I think that ultimately it is a positive message that we have such a unique opportunity right now with the momentum of the Make America Healthy Again movement, along with the ability to have access to information. You no longer have to wait for your doctor to tell you something. You can go read and you can figure it out. Like it really can be within your hands and in your control. So as I see people starting to take back control over their health, that's what reassures me. And as I also see incredible doctors and scientists who are still continuing to push against this and like
Starting point is 01:04:46 who are working. Dr. Naysha Winters, she created. She's amazing. Yes. Cancer doctor. Exactly. She created the Metabolic Terrain Health Institute. And I actually I did their program. It was really great and super informative for learning about just like the metabolic origin of all these different kinds of cancers, how you differentiate between prostate, breast, all that kind of stuff. But she, you know, she's actively helping people heal who are diagnosed with cancer and giving them an alternative treatment. Like that warms my heart. And as much as it breaks my heart every day to be receiving DMs, I'm an 18-year-old. I'm not even a doctor. I receive DMs from people saying, I was just diagnosed with glioblastoma.
Starting point is 01:05:29 You know, I saw your podcast episode. I saw your documentary. And it made me look more into the ketogenic diet as a means of treatment or functional medicine as a whole. Like, if I can just give people an alternative, that's enough for me. That really is. Because we're dealing with real lives. We're dealing with real people. And we have to remember that. So I think it's a positive message. I think we're going to keep fighting for change at the, you know, at the government level, but also at the consumer level. And I think that there's hope for a healthy America again. Yeah, I agree. And I love it. And your message is so empowering. And you said something earlier about how these companies are so concerned because they lose
Starting point is 01:06:16 control over people and they lose, because when we tell people that you're empowered and you have control over this and you can avoid these foods, then they lose that control of the addictions to those foods essentially that these people have. And so, and you know, that's a lot of my message to people is, look, this can either, you can choose to either allow this to scare you or you can choose to allow this to empower you. Yes, yes. And allow this to empower you because you have a lot, you have a lot of power and a lot of choices in this. Yeah. I love it.
Starting point is 01:06:47 Well, I wanted to ask you a personal question that I ask all my guests at the end, which is what are your health non-negotiables? So these are things that no matter how crazy your day is that you really prioritize for your own health. Yeah. Okay. Health non-negotiables. Never really do anything sugary for breakfast. I just can't. Like I will literally crash at 3 p.m. My friends know it. My parents know it. I'm just like, no one wants to be around 3 p.m. Grace when she has had a ton of carbs for breakfast. So that's one of my non-negotiables. I typically just do like protein, fat. You literally can just do eggs. Oh, yeah. I had eggs and sausage this morning. Exactly. So simple. Perfect. Yeah. So that's one of them. Another one is I don't I'm very strict on fast food. I don't don't do fast food. I'm the same. I haven't had in 20 years. Probably.
Starting point is 01:07:38 I call it Play-Doh. It is. It's Play-Doh. Like some like kids will eat it, but you're not supposed to eat it. But you're not supposed to eat it. Literally. That's good. Thank you. I feel like that needs to be on Twitter right now. Like someone, someone tweet this, Courtney. I'll tweet it. I'll tweet it. Yeah, love it.
Starting point is 01:07:54 I can already see like ChachiBT can make an image of Play-Doh, but you have like instead all of these McDonald's McNuggets like coming out of it. That's such a good idea. You need to do that. We need to do this. Yeah, let's do it. We're doing it, guys. That's such a good idea. We need to do this. Yeah, let's do it. We're doing it, guys. That's actually my future now. Paleto for kids. No. Yeah, fast food. It's just like, and I think most people like, come on, guys, like you can. Yeah,
Starting point is 01:08:21 like you can avoid that. You can avoid that. Pack a meal if you're on a road trip. Like I do that all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's another one. And I would say the last one is like, don't do sodas. Like, there's no, there's really no reason to do sodas or really any sugary drink. Like, I feel like I say sodas, but I consider most drinks at Starbucks a soda. Oh, me too. It's just sugar. It's sugar. And you can't say, oh, well, I actually, I like the matcha at Starbucks, you know? Well, I think what you're saying is you like the sugar syrup they use in the matcha at Starbucks. Like, that doesn't say anything about what your taste preference is. You're just addicted. Yeah. And that's okay. But you have to realize that when it's in these drinks too, you're consuming sugar so fast
Starting point is 01:09:07 that it is just bound to spike your glucose. Like it is bound to. And put you in this hyperglycemic state. And you don't want to do that. I mean, puts you at risk of insulin resistance, all of this chronic inflammation that we were talking about earlier. And that these earlier metabolic implications are what lead to the
Starting point is 01:09:27 development of these chronic diseases. That's what we're seeing. You know, you have to know things like what the health of your triglycerides, all that kind of stuff. It's not just cholesterol. You need to be tracking these kinds of markers. So it's important not to do that. But I would say those are probably my three. I have other ones that are more like personal, but I am like hard no on that. You could not pay me a lot of money. You could not pay me. You could not pay me to drink or eat those. Massive amounts. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, I'm not taking a million dollars for that. For real. My health is too important. Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
Starting point is 01:10:06 Okay. So please tell everyone where they can find you and also where they can find your documentary. Yeah. Okay. So you can find me at Traveling Jeans on X and on Instagram. And then my documentary is on YouTube and on X as well. Amazing. So you can find it there.
Starting point is 01:10:21 Yay. Well, everyone go watch it. It's like 23 minutes long, I think, right? Super short. It's so well done. Share it with all your friends. Everybody needs to know this. And thank you so much for coming on today.
Starting point is 01:10:31 Thank you for having me. This is so much fun. I know. This is so fun. Thank you so much for listening to The Real Foodology Podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Mike Fry. Theme song is by Georgie. You can watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube.
Starting point is 01:10:47 As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you liked this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app. For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only.
Starting point is 01:11:00 It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.

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