Medicine in a Changing World - Part 1

Our environment, in its current state, is a breeding ground for chronic diseases, and we are on the brink of an epidemic. The surge in chronic diseases is a looming reality, with a predicted explosion within the next decade (Ansah, 2023). The question that begs to be answered is: why are we witnessing this surge? Surprisingly, in medical education, we are often shielded from the wealth of research that delves into the root causes of health issues, particularly the role of our diet and environmental factors.

Toxic Overload

Pollution is not just a threat to our environment; it's a direct assault on our health. Our essential resources, from agriculture to air and water, have been contaminated. The chemicals we use in various industries are seeping into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. A stark example is California, which dumps billions of gallons of wastewater into the Pacific Ocean daily (SeaWeb, 2008). The production of eight billion tons of plastic in the last 100 years has led to it finding its way into our bodies, including our brains. We spray millions of pounds of synthetic pesticides on our food every year, with regenerative farms like Joel Salatin’s Polyface farm being the exception. Shockingly, much of these harmful practices are imported from Europe, where they are banned.

Joel Salatin and myself at his Polyface farm in Virginia.

Our drinking water is polluted and laden with chemicals; more than 80,000 toxins have entered our food, water, air, and homes by industry. Coal, oil, and diesel are burned into the atmosphere, and we breathe toxic levels of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, affecting every cell in our bodies; technology has introduced electromagnetic radiation everywhere; all this has affected our bodies in ways never imagined. Our robust immune systems usually keep us safe from microbes and certain foods. Still, with thousands of artificial chemicals in our food and air, our immune systems remain in a continually heightened state of emergency that depletes our energy and life force (Kau, 2011).

The Hidden Bias in Our Nutrition Guidelines: Medical Education Ignores Industry Influence

It's a bitter truth that medical schools do not prioritize nutrition education. Shockingly, 95% of the individuals who shape USDA guidelines have significant conflicts of interest with the food industry, a fact that is conveniently omitted from our curriculum. We are not taught about nutrition, or the fact that the majority of independently funded studies show harm from processed foods. In stark contrast, over 90% of industry-sponsored studies from places like Boston College reflect no such harm. The professional organizations that provide us with our practice guidelines, such as the American Diabetes Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, have accepted tens of millions of dollars from Coke, PepsiCo, Cadbury, processed food companies, and vaccine manufacturers like Moderna. Many doctors argue that nutrition should not be part of the medical school curriculum and should be left to registered dieticians, who ironically, are often the most unhealthy.

How “Hidden Hunger” Fuels Chronic Disease

Over the last 60 years, intensive farming practices have leeched out many trace minerals we require to be healthy. Our digestive tracts are perfectly designed to extract minerals and nutrients from our diets and release these nutrients into our bloodstream, which then find their way into the specific cells that require them. However, millions of people are now deficient in essential minerals, giving rise to obesity and chronic diseases through a phenomenon known as “hidden hunger.” This, combined with the overuse of refined salts, contributes to our chronic diseases (Ibeanu, 2020).

Boosting Profits at the Cost of Human Health

Antibiotics are routinely given to farm animals to increase their weight, not to treat an illness. This practice has been widespread since the 1950s, when it was discovered that antibiotics could increase weight gain in farm animals, thereby increasing farmers’ profitability. Animals raised on antibiotics produce meat that promotes antibiotic resistance and lowers immune defenses by disrupting intestinal microbiota. The EU banned this practice in 2006.

How Modified Wheat, Dairy, and Processed Pasta Undermine Gut Health

Modern wheat has been significantly altered from its ancient forms through selective breeding and negatively affects our intestines. The mass production of pasta, which made it more accessible to the general public, began only in the 19th century with the invention of pasta-making machines. The pasta we eat today is a highly processed food and has no resemblance to homemade pasta from centuries ago. The high gluten content in modern wheat used for pasta manufacturing might also contribute to digestive discomfort in sensitive individuals, resulting in an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) epidemic.

Water Fluoridation: Unintended Health and Environmental Consequences

An evolutionary example of reductionist thinking is the addition of fluoride to our drinking water. While the intention behind adding fluoride to drinking water was to reduce dental disease, one must ask why we must systemically expose our brains, hearts, liver, and kidneys to this toxic chemical. It’s essential to consider the unintended consequences. The fluoride added to drinking water isn’t identical to the natural fluoride. If fluoride is intended for our dental health, why do we need it everywhere? Fluoride is toxic to the nervous system of a developing child by competing with iodine, harming our brains and thyroid glands. In the case of fish, exposure to fluoride in rivers causes salmon to lose their ability to navigate to native streams and, therefore, hinders reproduction (SeaWeb, 2008).

Sick Medicine, New Drugs, and Unending Side Effects

Modern medicine has been masking the symptoms of diseases with pharmaceuticals rather than treating the cause; even worse, the response to medication side effects is to take more medicines to counteract the side effects of those other medicines. Pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of this situation by creating numerous drugs used in our daily lives. Pharmaceutical companies focus on new drug production; they allocate vast sums of money to research with the hope of beneficial financial returns. Pharmaceutical companies excel in creating voluminous documents that adapt perfectly to the requests of government health authorities. These expensive studies always find their way into the ultimate cost of FDA-approved drugs. Market forces push for profits, leading to less time for interaction between the patient and the healthcare provider.

Meanwhile, we’re always teetering on the edge of the fight-or-flight response. Indeed, this heightened state is among nature’s most brilliant achievements. Still, it was never intended to cope with the current stressors: work-related stress, financial pressures, relationship challenges, technology overload, health concerns, time management, social pressures, environmental factors, and personal expectations. Our biological systems are ill-equipped to navigate these unfamiliar and constant stressors; our systems aren’t adapted to biologically unfamiliar environments. Consequently, the costs associated with our healthcare system have become unnecessarily excessive, and in the end, it’s the patient who pays.

This was adapted from my book Stopping Pain