Between Justin "Castreau" and the insane bureaucrats in that country, I am liking Canada less and less every day. But the United States is not that far behind.

Mark my words: They want us dead, too, or at least too sick to care what they do to you. The United States government has been monkeying around with health guidelines since the 1950s, but they seem to have ramped up the process in recent years. From celebrity diet doctors like Dean Ornish peddling a high carbohydrate, vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, to the World Economic Forum pushing bugs as a solution to meat, to pushing out private and small farmers and growers so that the government can take over the land, the multi-billion dollar healthcare industry is neither "care" nor "health;" it is a strategically managed procession toward death, while using you as a guinea pig on the way to the grave. This is also true: The less money you have, the more likely you are to be grist for their mills.

A commenter asked for a bit more of my personal story, so I will delve into that and the ways our government wants to destroy our health — and, in turn, destroy our autonomy and freedoms.

I went in for a routine gynecological exam about 30 years ago, and this was my first inkling that doctors were not really interested in my health concerns but their own agenda. I had just changed insurance providers and had the unmitigated joy (pure sarcasm warning) of finding a new OB/GYN. Sorry male readers, I'm going to get a bit in the weeds, so hold onto your butts.

After the female gynecologist went over my history, out of the blue, she started pushing Weight Watchers. If this was my general practitioner or internist, maybe I’d have felt a little less creeped out. I was not in a romantic relationship, was not looking to get pregnant, and not having any pressing health issues — I just wanted to get a pap smear. In fact, at that time, in my 20s, I ran regularly and was in pretty good shape. So, why did this doctor need to insert weight loss into the conversation? It's almost like there was a corporate agenda afoot. Years later I discovered a partnership between the insurance carrier and the diet-industry giant, so my suspicions were confirmed. It had little to do with the good of my health.

For decades, along with the dreaded BMI, I have pushed back on government standards of health, and I’ve been the better for it. But in 2022, I shoved with a vengeance, making drastic shifts in my diet in order to improve and preserve my health. The COVID hysteria and lockdowns in 2020, coupled with some other life crises and menopause, contributed to a nose dive in my health. I began 2022 not feeling so great, even with regular exercise and proper eating, and after about six months of feeling terrible, I decided to get some blood tests done. The results showed my blood sugar was in the stratosphere: 360. Additional tests showed an A.1c of 14.5, which is Type 2 diabetic. While I consulted with a general practitioner, I basically listened to him blather on while dismissing most of what he said because I had heard it all before. It was like he was reading off WebMD. Your glucose issues cannot be resolved through diet and exercise. Follow a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet (for diabetes?!). And, of course, the latest fad among the medical intelligentsia: He recommended the Mediterranean Diet. 

It was so damned predictable. Before getting off the call, I asked the doctor for a prescription for a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). Once that was done, I asked my Yoga and holistic community for the names of naturopaths. I received two good recommendations: One was a naturopath, the other was a functional nutritionist.

I made an appointment with the naturopath first, and it seemed to go well for a couple of visits until I asked about actual solutions to things like not feeling nauseous and not being hungry after two hours. The naturopath’s solution to my perpetual hunger: Carry around cans of sardines with me.

Are you kidding me?! With my schedule, I was already having problems eating every two to three hours, as the naturopath recommended, but aside from sardines not being a favorite thing, they are extremely messy to eat. There are times when I am sitting still for my work, but other times (like a week ago), I am on the go, conducting interviews, or in a press scrum. The naturopath also wigged out about my consumption of pears, which, despite being on the high end of the glycemic index of foods, are also high in fiber and full of pectin, which help create fullness in your belly. In other words, I WASN’T HUNGRY. I was also kickboxing as a workout at that time on top of heated Yoga, so I needed my diet to match my lifestyle. The fact that this supposed expert didn’t understand this was disheartening. On the third visit, the naturopath started pushing Metformin when I clearly stated I wanted to do this through diet alone. Bye, Felicia. I put in a call that day to the functional nutritionist.

The functional nutritionist was a breath of fresh air, and life-changing. Using homeopathic methods, she assessed my levels and then prescribed supplements to address the deficits. Not just a multivitamin, but supplements specifically geared toward addressing my particular needs. Before the appointment, I had filled out a long assessment, and from that and the homeopathic readings, she basically gave me a list of foods to eat lots of and a list of foods to avoid. Nothing rocket science, no, eat these foods at these times, don’t eat these foods at other times. She treated me like an adult: Here’s what’s going to help you; here’s what’s harming you. Act accordingly. As a cook and a foodie, this was a game changer, and I went to work on how to figure it all out. Some of it wasn’t hard at all because I already loved most of the foods on the list (hello, cabbage and brussels sprouts!) Others took some work (nice to meet you, chickpeas), but I found my mind changed the more I incorporated them into dishes. Then there’s been the discovery of foods I had heard about but never tried. I now adore yuca root, fennel, daikon radishes, and radicchio, and they are regularly in my refrigerator.

I also did not have to give up or restrict my meat consumption. The only requirement was that it be free of hormones and grass or vegetarian-fed. Not hard to do, especially if you get it direct from the source, which in this age of the internet was now easier than not. My favorite discovery on this journey: Japanese and purple sweet potatoes. They are a complex carbohydrate that have the same mouth feel of white potatoes, but are more nutrient dense. In later visits to the functional nutritionist, she recommended incorporating intermittent fasting. I started out fasting 16 hours and eating within an 8-hour window six days a week. Within three months of seeing the functional nutritionist, my blood sugar stayed below 150. By May of 2023, it was mostly below 100, and was even dropping below 50 from time to time, which required a re-incorporation of some carbohydrates. While I still have yet to get my A.1c tested again, I feel a thousand times better, have energy all day instead of slumps, and I’m not weak or nauseous anymore. 

The functional nutritionist was a great jump start to re-routing my journey toward a healthier me, and also feeling confident about the choices I was making for my life and longevity. It also confirmed many things I already knew and debunked the decades of lies and deception our government has embedded.

1. Meat is necessary. I would say for everyone, but especially for me. Red Meat, in particular. There is a huge difference in my satiation and energy levels when I eat a grass-fed burger a few times a week versus just chicken and fish. In my journey toward better health, I've done some pretty deep YouTube dives with people like Dr. Ken Berry and journalists like Gary Taubes and Nina Teicholz. In their fields, they have documented how the government loves to bury studies that counter their health guidelines. One study showed that children and women over 50 (that would be me) need a greater percentage of meat protein and saturated fats. The children need it for their development; old gals like me need it to mitigate the results of hormone loss and other shifts that happen after the childbearing years. Teicholz, who, after her in-depth research, actually converted from being a vegan to a meat eater, started an organization called the Nutrition Coalition. She is all over the government providing dietary recommendations that are science-based, that make sense, and that actually work. If you look at the rate of diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic illness, it is clear they currently do not. It’s very scary that the American Heart Association and all these other organizations follow the government science blindly. Teicholz recommends tossing out the whole “Whole Plate” concept pushed by Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, and advocates a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Many of the doctors who follow this method have helped their patients not only get rid of chronic illness, but the end result has been weight loss and renewed health. In listening to the many documentaries and talks by the scientists and medical experts involved in the organization, these things that I have been doing to improve my health were confirmed through their own studies, research, and patients/test subjects.

2. Vegetables are also. I love the carnivore folks, and even incorporate some of their recommendations, because I agree with them and it works well for my health — to reiterate, meat is necessary. However, so are vegetables. My digestion, physical fluidity and clarity, and my gut health are connected to not only the type of fruits and vegetables I consume, but the variety. I’ve also discovered the prettier the veggie or fruit is, and the more interesting in leafiness and shape, the healthier they tend to be. I’ve become a huge fan of purple cabbage, colorful berries, herbs, and peppers. Lots of rainbow foods out there to choose from, and really, I don’t have to eat that much. A little goes a long way.

3. I don’t eschew the carbs — especially the complex ones. I have tried to eliminate all processed grains and seed oils. I haven’t necessarily succeeded because there are too many products with that stuff hidden in them — like gluten-free crackers. I won’t lie and say I do not partake of some foods that use them. I live in the South now, for God’s sake, so I’m not going to turn down a homemade biscuit! However, I make choices to limit the times when I do, and focus on consuming the complex ones that offer a wealth of other nutrients. I look to eat in a way that allows my body to work optimally and that makes me feel equipped to handle my day and schedule. That trumps any recommendations that encourage severe reduction or elimination.

Here are some other government and food industry health lies that have been debunked: 

• Saturated Fats are now good for you. Actually, they were never bad, but a multi-generational campaign has been waged (worldwide) to demonize butter, lard, coconut oil— basically animal fats or fruit fats — in order to promote vegetable and seed oils. Before I got sick, I would use seed oils from time to time, but I never bought into the B.S. that saturated fats were evil and caused heart disease. My stance: You can take my butter and lard out of my cold, dead hands. Something I had discovered over my years of learning to eat for my health and wellness is that my body does very well with fats. I think better, my joints feel better, and my skin looks great. I have come to discover that my body knew best, and the “experts” didn’t.

Over the past five years, after decades of entrenchment, the American Heart Association guidelines have dropped the insistence that saturated fats cause heart disease. This after decades of people following their advice blindly and suffering (and dying) as a result.

• One-size-fits-all diets don’t work. I instinctively knew this, so it was a “No, duh” moment. While I had always liked aspects of some diets (Atkins, Carnivore, Ayurveda), I found most of them were either too restrictive or totally FUBAR. A diet should change for particular times and seasons in one’s life, and at particular ages. But as humans, we hate change, and dietary changes require shifting and adjusting, sometimes on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Most would rather take a pill or have their physician tell them what to do — even if the pharmaceuticals are harmful or the advice does nothing to help them feel better and get healthier.
  
  
• Red Meat Has Tremendous benefits, especially for women over 50. I mentioned this above. I love fish and poultry too, but like the saturated fats, my body does so much better when I have a burger or a steak a few times a week than not. After discovering how many nutrients I was receiving from eating a 6 oz. steak alone, I was sold. And particularly after 50, menopausal and post-menopausal women have certain nutrient deficiencies (less progesterone being produced) that can be corrected if you eat the proper amount of meat. You didn’t have to tell me twice.

When I told a nurse friend about my diabetes diagnosis, she was brutally honest about what to expect from the medical industrial complex. She said, “They really don’t know what the best diet is or how to treat diabetes, because it is individual to every person.” Spot on — and definitive of most people's health journey. This one-size-fits-all approach to so-called health care has only resulted in lots of deaths — many of them in members of my family. So, I was committed to not being a part of that number before my time and to discover the health plan and diet that worked for me and my life. It’s a journey, and it takes time. 

Now that I live in a different region of the country, I’m having to recalibrate not only physiologically (Oh, humidity!) but also what new things to incorporate into my diet and what might need to be eliminated. Thankfully, I’ve been given tools and resources to do this. The sad reality is that so many people don’t have the time, confidence, or the money to seek help outside of the traditional medical professions, and many of the medical professionals are part of the knee-jerk AMA/AHA train of recommending diets and drugs that do not work. But with what is being done to our food supply and this hamster wheel of death care as opposed to healthcare, I think it would benefit us greatly to seek out ways to maintain, improve, and take charge of our health. Best not to leave it to chance — or an adversarial government.