The Vicious Cycle of Big Food, Big Med, and Big Pharma
What we call “healthcare” is really a system built around sickness. Rather than preventing illness, it waits for disease—then treats the symptoms, most often with pills. Meanwhile, our food supply is engineered for profit and addiction, not nourishment.
The result?
A nation overfed, undernourished, overmedicated, and misinformed—with no clear path back to health.
The system is broken at every level:
- Big Food drives addiction over nutrition—and fuels rising rates of obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and chronic inflammation. Ultra-processed products dominate the shelves, designed to hijack taste buds and override fullness cues—so we overeat but stay undernourished.
- Big Med follows insurance protocols over personalized care. Even when labs are clearly alarming, it’s not uncommon for patients to be told, “Eat better, exercise, and come back in six months.” Visits are rushed. Root causes are overlooked. Early warning signs get dismissed—especially in women.
- Big Pharma profits from managing conditions, not curing them. Medications are marketed to providers as solutions, while patients remain stuck in a cycle of symptom control rather than true recovery.
I saw this cycle firsthand—with both of my parents.
They didn’t overeat, but their diets were full of processed convenience—TV dinners, frozen meals, sugary snacks.
Over time, one prescription led to another.
Some were for the condition. Others were for the side effects.
No one ever asked about nutrition.
No one mentioned lifestyle.
Once the meds started, they only multiplied.
What’s Really Going On: Metabolic Dysfunction
Most modern diseases—diabetes, heart disease, cancer, neurodegeneration—stem from metabolic dysfunction, not just excess calories or weight gain. And this dysfunction is largely fueled by diets high in ultra-processed foods, sugar, industrial oils, and nutrient-depleted meals.
Ultra-processed foods—especially those high in added sugars and refined carbs—drive insulin resistance (when the body’s cells stop responding effectively to insulin), inflammation, and chronic illness.
Fructose overload—from high-fructose corn syrup in sodas, candies, and processed snacks—is metabolized almost entirely by the liver. In excess, it leads to fat buildup, inflammation, and insulin resistance—much like alcohol.
It also disrupts your ability to regulate appetite and energy. Alarmingly, we’re now seeing children develop fatty liver disease—something that was nearly unheard of a generation ago.
And these foods are engineered to be addictive. Big Food designs hyper-palatable products that hijack our brain’s reward system and keep us craving more.
Meanwhile, the medical system waits for symptoms, then medicates. Prescriptions can mask the warning signs—but rarely get to the root. Pharmaceutical companies profit from chronic illness and long-term dependency—not from cures.
It’s not a healthcare model. It’s a disease care model.
What’s Hiding in Our Food
Processed foods are altered from their natural state for convenience, taste, or shelf life. Think: boxed meals, sugary cereals, packaged snacks, soda, fast food, frozen entrées—even “health” bars loaded with sweeteners.
These foods often include:
- Added sugars (like high-fructose corn syrup or cane sugar)
- Refined carbs (white flour, white rice)
- Artificial additives and preservatives
- Industrial seed oils like soybean, corn, canola, safflower, and sunflower oil
These omega-6-rich seed oils are cheap, inflammatory, and found in nearly every processed food. They contribute to oxidative stress, damage the gut lining, and have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions.
I’ll never forget seeing a truck in NYC unloading massive quantities of soybean oil for nearby restaurants. It’s one of the many reasons I prefer to cook at home.
The Gut: Your Body’s Second Brain
Your gut microbiome is a diverse ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, and microbes that impact digestion, immunity, mood, and metabolism. A diet high in sugar, processed food, and bad fats disrupts this balance—causing dysbiosis (an imbalance of good and bad bacteria).
When your gut is out of balance:
- Nutrient absorption is impaired
- Inflammation increases
- Toxins can leak into the bloodstream (“leaky gut”)
- Metabolism slows
- Mental health suffers
It was the norm in my parents’ generation—and in what I grew up eating. Our diets were quick and convenient. No one talked about gut health—but the fallout was obvious: chronic GI issues, endless medications, and systemic inflammation.
It explains some of the stomach upset I always seemed to have back then.
Despite numerous doctor visits, there was no connection.
I remember the obsession was to be thin.
Fat was the enemy. We were told to drink skim milk, eat margarine instead of butter, and avoid red meat at all costs. Low-fat and diet everything—packaged, processed, and promoted as “healthy.” Looking back it was poor nutrition by design —sold through savvy marketing.
Why Your Liver Is Doing Overtime
Your liver is your body’s central filter—key to metabolism, detox, and hormone balance. It processes everything you eat, drink, breathe, and absorb through your skin. Fructose, alcohol, medications, and processed foods all place a heavy burden on this vital organ.
Over time, that burden can lead to fatty liver disease, even in people who don’t drink alcohol.
My Wake-Up Call: Gut & Heart Health
After losing my mom, grief showed up in my body. I developed chronic GI issues—IBS, GERD, bloating, constipation—and often woke up with sharp stomach pain.
When I saw a GI doctor, I was immediately prescribed medication that made my symptoms worse. When I mentioned having nausea, I was given Zofran to mask the symptoms.
How insane is that?
No one asked about my diet.
No one asked about stress, lifestyle, or how much wine I was drinking.
No one connected the dots.
Coping through grief led to habits that weren’t serving me—slowly contributing to weight gain, and eventually, my health started to suffer.
For the first time in my life, my blood pressure spiked. I had three abnormal EKGs. The cardiologist was so concerned, he ordered an immediate echocardiogram.
More prescriptions. No real conversation. It felt like a conveyor belt of meds.
At one point, my lab results showed elevated liver enzymes and lipids—but no one called. I followed up through the portal, but the doctor never responded. A few months later, she left the practice.
I was left with confusing results, worsening symptoms, and nowhere to turn. I was scared. I’d never faced serious health issues or taken regular medication before—but deep down, I knew this wasn’t the way.
I became my own advocate—listening to my body, asking better questions, and slowly rebuilding my health on my own terms. My labs returned to normal without medication.
The system may be designed to keep us sick.
But your body is designed to heal—if you give it the chance.
We can choose real food.
We can ask better questions.
We can listen to our bodies—and take our power back.
“Protect your liver and feed your gut.” — Dr. Robert Lustig
Ready to start? Here’s your blueprint:
📍How to Eat to Feel Good Again
📍 Feel to Heal
📍 The 30-Day Reset
