We know all too well the visible forms of racism in our society. Less visible, however, is how our food system acts as the deadliest weapon used against the poor and minorities— keeping them poor, sick and fat, hijacking their brains and biology.
The science is clear—our processed, sugary, starchy diet is the single biggest cause of disease and death—type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, and even dementia. And your zip code is more important than your genetic code in determining your risk of disease and death. If you are African American you are 80% more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, over 4 times as likely to have kidney failure, and 3.5 times as likely to suffer amputations as whites. I’ve explored these topics with a number of my guests on this podcast.
This mini-episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy includes portions of my past conversations on this podcast with president of Black Lives Matter for the area of Greater New York, Hawk Newsome, Columbia University and Teachers College researcher Pam Koch and award winning NIH funded investigator and practicing family physician, Dr. Sean Lucan.
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Dr. Hyman is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author, family physician and international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. His podcast, The Doctor's Farmacy, is a place for deep conversations about the critical issues of our time in the space of health, wellness, food and politics. New episodes are released every Wednesday here on YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Thanks for addressing this Dr Hyman. So much of health and wellness accessibility increasingly depends on being affluent, and people without wealth come in for a lot of blame for ‘causing their own problems’. Those of us able to keep ourselves well enough and with the privilege of knowledge need to ensure we create a food system that makes healthy food and safe recreation spaces available to all. Because we ALL benefit from a population of people whose needs are met and can contribute their best.
Yes I had Polio in the early 50s 1950s why has certain diseases faded because back then we didn’t they didn’t many people did not have fresh running water no electricity transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables
No forced vaccinations in some states
All the food and drinks we consume by law has to have the ingredients on it a vaccination why don’t we have the right do you know what the ingredients is printed in paper on paper
Wow it people with different skin color killing others with food
The black in south Africa are killing their farmers wow
Cultural Marxism destroys the message
No no no its not race specific . Its poor food for poor people…. wow. I was poor and am white and ate the same..
TRUTH!!!! Everyone should have seen the backlash he got from the first video.
Why does everything have to be a race thing? This is a problem for poor people, no matter what color they are. Why not talk about the conditions in Appalachia? As a card-carrying native (Creek Indian) American mixed with a Heinz 57 blend of the rest of the world, I’m disappointed. I clicked on this video because I thought it would talk about the disparity between people who can afford grass-fed, organic food and those who can’t. I thought you would be discussing the fact that the US government supplements corn, wheat, and soy so that cereal companies can offer froot loops free (with WIC) or extremely cheap to poor Americans. Again, this is a problem for poor people of every color.
Exactly, I agree with everything in this video except for the racism. Like he said and it’s pretty simple “Vote with your fork.”
I agree.
The other thing that sort of bothered me is calling fast food to be a cheaper alternative. Sure, it is cheaper than grass fed beef but not cheaper than the produce that can be had in any supermarket or Asian grossery store. I lived in the Bronx for 15 years and there’s simply no shortages with vegetables or meat. Problem is, feeding yourself and your family is a big job. It requires research and legwork. Nobody oppresses anyone to buy anything. It’s the knowledge base and desire to improve. Racial identity politics have no business here.
Having said that, poverty and poor education are serious issues and result in troublesome choices than it comes to diets.
+Impulse response Yes! I 100% completely agree with you. 🙂
if you poor you dont eat out! Sick of these people not taking self responsibility. We were poor growing up, we ate beans, rice,potatoes, corn tortillas, lotts of cheap fruit and veggies. Maybe once a month go to mcds. Chicken and pork in USA is not expensive, who are these people?
What’s it cost to go to mcds now days? I haven’t been in many years and not missing it at all.
Thanks for this. Very eye-opening.