The Unhealthy Truth

By Robyn O'Brien
The Unhealthy Truth is a shocking investigation into the many ways we've been tricked into eating not just unhealthy, but downright dangerous, food. In this book, you'll learn how genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can create allergic reactions. You'll also learn how governmental agencies that we believe are protecting us have cozy relationships with the industries from which they are designed to protect us.

I, too, used to trust the FDA and USDA, thinking that if it’s sold in a store, it must be safe.  Those were carefree days. These days, I’ve had to become a food vigilante to protect the health of myself and my children.

Throughout her book, Robyn, with the thoroughness of the Wall Street analyst that she used to be, details her investigations of how she discovered that the foxes are guarding the hen house and how Big Ag and Big Pharma are in bed with the government that we thought was protecting us so that people become long-term profit centers.

There’s a (somewhat) famous saying, at least in my world these days, from Wendell Berry that says, “People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.” I would say this quote captures the essence of Robyn’s book.

In any case, the reason Robyn was led to her investigations is the same reason I was led to mine: something was wrong with the health of her children. One day after eating breakfast, her daughter’s face grew so red and puffy that her eyes couldn’t open. It led Robyn down a path that many of us these days have had to go down: questioning authority, including our pediatricians, FDA and USDA, people and agencies that we were taught to trust.

If you want the health of your children and yourself to improve, you’ll need to question these authorities, too, listen to that small voice inside of you that “something’s wrong” and become an advocate for yourself and your children.

Our trust is now broken after discovering that, as Robyn compellingly shows us in this book, many of these authorities can’t be trusted. She exposes Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) for the fraud that they are and points out how their genetically modified (GMO) foods – soy and corn – as well as their bovine-growth formula (rBGH) that’s in non-organic dairy these days are linked to the staggering increases in allergies, asthma, ADHD and cancer. I would add a whole host of other chronic diseases and conditions to that list, as would Jeffrey Smith of The Institute for Responsible Technology.

Not only that, but the very organization that many of us thought was out there to help us with our children’s food allergies, FAAN (Food Allergy & Anapyhlaxis Network) – now calling itself FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) – is nothing but a shill, a fake non-profit front solely owned by Kraft.

Robyn discovered this sickening fact after doing her due diligence and after being told to “cease and desist” by them – you’ll have to read the book for the whole story. Yes, Kraft, the very company that places food dyes like tartrazine in their macaroni and cheese that I used to willingly give to my kids. Tartrazine, for those of you who don’t know, is a petroleum-derived artificial color that is linked to hyperactivity in children.

The telling and sad point is that the macaroni (and other foods) that Kraft sells in Europe doesn’t contain tartrazine because of the prudence of the European Union. It’s a telling point because it tells you deep the corruption runs over here in the States.

Also sickening are Robyn’s discoveries that many of the peer-reviewed research studies about allergies (and I’m sure other health issues) are funded by industry, especially Monsanto. So all of this blind faith that we’ve had in “science” is shattered after we realize that the “science” can be made to say whatever industry wants it to.

As Robyn advises, “Whenever you read or hear an ‘expert opinion’, consider the funding source.  Google the name of the doctor, organization or medical institution and add one or more of the following terms:  ‘disclosure’, ‘speakers bureau’, ‘grant’, ‘consulting fee’, or ‘funding’.”

She also writes that, “When considering these experts and their opinions, weight the influence that patents, royalty fees, speaking arrangements, television appearances, and the like might have on their reputation and financial success… Start to picture them like those race car drivers who have their sponsorships and endorsements blazoned across their uniforms.”

You’ve got to learn to think for yourself and do your own research. If you don’t have time to do that, I highly recommend finding someone that does, and a great place to start is with this book.

You can also start by watching this informative video of a talk that Robyn gave at TEDx in Austin, TX in 2011.  Unfortunately, TED may not be such a great source of information anymore, as they are now aligned with Monsanto and have stopped any talks about GMOs, “food as medicine” or natural healing.