During the first half of the show, George Knapp was joined by Mike Adams, editor of NaturalNews.com, for a discussion on the negative effects of processed foods. In the latter half, James Colquhoun, director of the film Food Matters, talked about how big pharma suppresses natural remedies in favor of drugs which merely eradicate symptoms rather than cure diseases.
Adams contended that the "main effect" of food consumed today is to "promote nutritional deficiencies and cause degenerative disease." While he conceded that "by and large" this is not done intentionally by the food industry, it is the end result of the over-processed nature of today's food supply. Adams used white sugar as an example of this trend, noting that raw cane is rich in minerals and nutrients, but these are taken out when the sugar is processed to make it white. Ironically, the byproduct of this process sees the positive elements of the cane end up in black molasses which goes into food for farm animals. "They feed the deficient white sugar to human beings while the farm animals get the nutrition that's missing," he lamented.
"If you're suffering from a food addiction," Adams said, "that's actually by design." To that end, he revealed that while food companies appear to have stopped using MSG, they've merely switched to a "new, hidden form" of the chemical called yeast extract. The additive is so prevalent, he said, that it can be found in "literally thousands of different products that are sold today." Ultimately, Adams encouraged people to shop locally from farmer's markets and food co-ops in order to get the most natural goods. While the cost may be higher, he stressed that, from a nutritional perspective, "organic produce is actually less expensive per gram of nutrient your getting," compared to cheaper processed foods.
Discussing the role big pharma plays in controlling people's health, Colquhoun asserted that, from the industry's perspective, the "perfect drug" is one that will "mask some symptoms and you're going to need to take it until the day you die." Rather than cure a person's ailment, he said, the industry aims to "keep you sick, listless, and disinterested for as long as possible so you can consume their drugs for as long as possible." Citing the alarming statistic that over 25% of all TV commercials are for drugs, he observed that these advertised medicines are primarily aimed at lifestyle issues such as cholesterol and depression. However, Colquhoun emphasized that the best approach to actually treating these issues is through nutrition and natural remedies.
Colquhoun also detailed the remarkable lengths to which the pharmaceutical industry will go to in order to suppress holistic treatments. He recalled how, in the 1990's, anti-depressant drugs had became extremely popular and then studies on the herb St. John's wort showed that it could alleviate depression better than these drugs. In turn, Colquhoun said, the pharmaceutical industry "developed a campaign to squash this information," by paying doctors to go on TV and call the studies a hoax as well as using scare tactics like warning of potential dangers associated with the herb. Since big pharma cannot patent these holistic medicines, Colquhoun advised people to use this as a clue and seek out the least marketed remedies if they are looking to improve their health.