Infomercial Medicine: Do you fall prey?

When a young grandson inspires his family to embrace healthier habits, it becomes clear that wellness is more than a personal journey; it's a collective awakening. This heartfelt episode peels back the layers of health-conscious behaviors and the influence our choices have on long-term vitality. We traverse the landscape of our medical system, sharing a story that paints a vivid picture of the need for cohesive care, and we reflect on the synergy between physical health and lifestyle.

The allure of trendy supplements often glitters brighter than the promise of good health, but what happens when the sparkle fades, leaving behind unforeseen risks? In a candid discussion, we reveal the stark contrast between supplements and pharmaceuticals, cautioning against the seductive but potentially misleading claims of quick fixes. Listen as we dissect the ripple effects of popular weight loss drugs and the importance of being well-informed consumers, all while navigating the murky waters of infomercial medicine.

As we wrap our session, I invite you to take the reins of your well-being. Reject the notion of cookie-cutter diets and exercise regimens; instead, tune in to the unique needs of your body. Celebrate the pleasures of crafting your own meals and the empowerment found in mindful eating. With the launch of our Awakened Wellness website, your journey towards intentional health choices begins now. Let's step forward together, embracing self-care as the cornerstone of a life rich in satisfaction and personal fulfillment.

For More Information visit awakenedwellness.life or marieknoetig.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

Good afternoon and welcome to Awakened Wellness, a show where self-discovery meets purposeful, lasting change. Marie and myself, jocelyn, want to bring to you different forms and ideas on medicine and health and social and physical, and all that stuff that goes in to our well-being. And, as always, we're going to start with some comments and recaps from previous shows. So let it rip, miss Marie, all right.

Speaker 2: 0:45

So the first one is actually from my shows, so let it rip, ms Marie, all right, so the first one is actually from my grandson oh yeah, my daughter was over recently and he's 16. We've talked about him on the show before and how he loves to be healthy and takes care of his body.

Speaker 1: 0:57

He goes to the gym with you.

Speaker 2: 0:58

Is that the one he does Not as often now, obviously because of his age and his schedule, but he's very good about what he puts in his body, he listens to his body and all those kinds of things. Well, apparently he sat his parents down and had a heart to heart with them, that he felt like their habits were very unhealthy and he wanted them for a very long time.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Yeah, that they needed to eat healthier and do some exercise once in a while. Yeah, my daughter's telling me the story and I'm going, wow, and he said it from his heart. Yeah, but he saw that they were busy running and she's like, does he not realize we're busy running with him and it was funny? It was funny, but she took it to heart as well. Yeah, so I was pretty proud of him, you know, and it reflected on my own stuff, because when I was a kid, my whole family was obese and I used to. I used to probably not be as kind about how I said it and how my eating habits I obviously wasn't earlier.

Speaker 2: 1:55

So it was kind of interesting to see how much he's evolved and stuff. Yeah, it was kind of cool. It was kind of cool Wow.

Speaker 1: 2:04

I have family that is severely obese, losing limbs and stuff. Yeah, it was kind of cool. It was kind of cool, wow. I have family that is severely obese, losing limbs and stuff like that, and I lost my tolerance and I know in my head after being a medical that there's all sorts of reasons, but it's difficult. But that's amazing for a boy to talk to his parents.

Speaker 2: 2:23

And it wasn't just about being fit, it was about the health aspect, and that's what I found that's a big piece.

Speaker 2: 2:29

Yeah, I found that was very cool. All right, Good job. Yeah, I thought so Makes me smile. All right. The second person it was about the Blue Zone show. They had that epiphany about aging that they pay no attention to how their choices really affect them, other than their blood work and their testing at the doctor. As long as that comes out clean, they're good. They only think about the short term and they're annoyed that they should have to think about it when they go out into dinner or they go here or they go there. Very annoyed that that has to be a part of their life, oh my.

Speaker 1: 3:04

Okay, but aren't we all? Yeah, I mean it's, we all are.

Speaker 2: 3:08

So it's an honest observation. Nobody wants to go out to dinner with their friends and not eat the fried food platter in the I was just thinking that that's sort of your pleasure.

Speaker 1: 3:17

Your one escape, yeah, but if you do it too often is the problem.

Speaker 2: 3:20

Which is what we do.

Speaker 1: 3:26

It problem and which is what we do it is that we let down our hair a little bit too much. I think that in growing up at least when I was growing up, maybe, when you were growing up that we assumed that you'd reach a certain age and it was just retirement and fun and you didn't have to do anything. And it's actually the opposite.

Speaker 2: 3:46

So it is yeah. And the last one's on integrative medicine. And this is my own observation OK, sixteen years ago when my grandson was born, ok, and he was in the hospital, his large and small intestines weren't attached. So there was a lot of. The surgeon said one thing, the hospital has said the other One said he was ready to go home, the other one didn't. And the confusion for the parents. They just were not on the same page. There's a friend of the family right now they're going through the same thing.

Speaker 2: 4:14

And this is 16 years later. We still haven't gotten any better. And it's a big teaching hospital. So the surgeon's done his job, so the patient's ready to go home, but the patient's ready to go home, but the patient can't get out of bed because the heart's not good or this is not good. The hospital is trying to deal with that. The family's like can my loved one go home or not? And they're so overwhelmed. So it's not even outside the medical model about bringing alternative to the more traditional model that we're accustomed to. It's even in that model. They can't figure each other out at all.

Speaker 1: 4:43

And it's kind of sad. It is sad and it's interesting with what I went on with last week and the total disconnect, the lack of communication. I mean it is a business. We don't want it to be, but it is totally a business to an extent.

Speaker 2: 5:03

I just think we've overeducated ourselves into believing our story that if I'm the heart guy, this is all that matters, and if I'm the this guy, that's all that matters, and if or I shouldn't say guy. But we've just gotten so good at it that we don't know how to bring the other pieces in, because it would. It would change how we see what we already know.

Speaker 1: 5:22

I agree. I and right down to the person that greets you and signs you in when you're already in a situation, potentially in a situation where you could be upset and there's this just absolute, and you're like this, and to the people that are helping you in the room there's not even communication. Where is that? I'd rather hear. I'm so sorry, we absolutely blew it. If you're at the doctor's office, we're an hour behind. Go get a cup of coffee Okay, let's do that. Or in the hospital I'm so sorry the doctor went to surgery or whatever it is. But communicate, and I think that would eliminate so many issues and panicking and wondering and making up some kind of story, which we do so often.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Yeah, I agree. So that was my big awakening on integrative medicine that, like I said, it's bigger than the traditional and the complementaries, the alternatives that we're trying to blend. It's still in that mainstream model. We're still not seeing any kind of integration, especially in the hospital setting, which is really really difficult for the loved ones and the patient.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Well, yeah, all right.

Speaker 2: 6:46

Today's show is on infomercial medicine. Oh, my favorite, it's my favorite way of saying it infomercial medicine, Because we all practice it, every single one of us whether we like it or not.

Speaker 2: 6:58

Yeah, so what do we fall prey to? We have to ask ourselves where are our answers coming from when we're making some kind of health and wellness choice? You know, is it the TV, the celebrities, the quick fixes, or is it really from a rooted source that explains what will happen to us, how our body will process it and what's the long-term results of it?

Speaker 1: 7:21

I'd venture to guess that it's probably 50-50 as far as celebrities and TV and personalities. It's probably higher than that way.

Speaker 2: 7:28

Okay, and I was thinking 50-50 for those that have some type of wellness or have investigated in their lives to question yeah, and do we ask ourselves before we jump into these things does it make sense with how our body works?

Speaker 1: 7:43

before we jump into these things. Does it make sense with how our body works? I'd venture to guess that most people don't.

Speaker 2: 7:51

They look for the quick fix, and that's either because you I just want to take off 10 pounds. I just want to look better in the mirror. I don't care if it destroys my liver. I don't care if I lose muscle or bone.

Speaker 1: 7:57

Or I've tried everything, so this is it. I've done everything, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:04

And are you avoiding self-reflection by trusting these sources? So, in other words, do you really not want to see what's really going on in your true self by jumping on these sources? Right yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Well, and quite frankly, some of the dancing and the songs and the costumes are really nice. I can't get past those. I'm sorry to have a Broadway show to sell you a drug so that you can write it down and go to your doctor and go. I want this. It absolutely blows my mind.

Speaker 2: 8:36

Oh well, all right. So the more we live in this created reality of not wanting to look in the mirror, to jumping and not understanding what's happening to us, the less we understand how the rest of the world works and life works, because we start fooling ourselves in believing a story.

Speaker 1: 8:54

Okay, I see where you're going, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:56

So as long as we're, because once you know that diet's the right thing for you, you're going to start changing everything you do around that to make that work. So everything else that should be rooted in facts no longer is because it's going to get in the way it all gets rooted to this idea. So then your life starts taking a different path. The energy lines go somewhere else. So you have to be careful when you start jumping on these bandwagons, because you're not just changing that one little thing.

Speaker 1: 9:19

You're changing a whole bunch of things. You're changing a whole bunch of things. That's really. I didn't think of that, but you're absolutely right.

Speaker 2: 9:28

Everything sort of follows, everything follows, because when you change that one thing, all these other things have to change alongside it.

Speaker 1: 9:38

I didn't think of that one that way, so we're going to go through a few examples of infomercial medicine.

Speaker 2: 9:44

My favorite is I think it's I don't know what it's called Nature's for Life or something like that. It's a vitamin on TV.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Oh, is that the fruit and vegetable ones?

Speaker 2: 9:52

Yeah, when they tell you straight out in the ad now you do not have to eat your fruits and vegetables if you take this pill, and people are buying it hook, line and sinker. But what they don't realize is your body, when you eat a vegetable, makes digestive enzymes and it has this whole process. So what you're doing is you're shortchanging your body of all these enzymes and nutrients that it needs to process your gut properly.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Essential for the process. So if you're not eating your fruits and vegetables.

Speaker 2: 10:20

you're breaking down that level of digestion. Your colon is going to be weaker. Your bowel structure is going to be weaker, your nutrition absorption is going to be weaker For convenience, Because? But they're telling you this because they can, because it's a supplement, not a drug.

Speaker 2: 10:38

They can tell you whatever they want. They don't have to give you that line of side effects because the FDA says you have to. People get mad at the drug companies doing that, but they don't realize the supplement companies are doubling down on the other side and not yeah, because they know you're pissed off at those side effects. We don't have to say that so we can tell you all this stuff and we're not liable.

Speaker 1: 10:59

So we can tell you all this stuff and we're not liable, so you can just take our stuff. Well, I do know in some of those drug commercials it's supposed to help your stomach and your gut, but the side effects.

Speaker 2: 11:11

But they have to tell you. That is my point. The other one doesn't have to Correct, and they could be similar. I mean, I have a client that just recently started seeing a functional medicine doctor because she doesn't want to change her diet. She's sick and tired of having to eat the healthy foods and I'm looking at her going. How does that even make sense? Because he's going to give her the supplements.

Speaker 1: 11:27

How is that a? Thing?

Speaker 2: 11:28

Because she wants the supplements, but she doesn't want the food. Okay, it's a thing.

Speaker 1: 11:37

It's a thing. It's a thing that's a little tough.

Speaker 2: 11:38

Look at the billions of dollars a year on supplements, billions. Just take this, just take that. Yeah, my biggest pet peeve right now is Ozempic. Oh, okay, we've talked about that in other shows, but why in the last, since the last taping, is because it's now going mainstream into all your healthcare clinics, clinics, all your doctor's offices and everything else.

Speaker 2: 12:00

Right, the interesting part is, after I wrote this whole thing on the couch this morning going through stuff and I had Good Morning America on and I just happened to unmute it and there was their. Their doctor was on there and she was talking about Ozempic, which I thought was kind of a hoot because I was writing about it and her take on it was. She said the obesity doctors are starting to take a look at it as a weight loss drug. For somebody who's not a diabetic, correct, okay, but it's already gone mainstream into the health clubs and everywhere else. So medicine is just starting to look at it for weight loss. Somehow it's flooded to the market and being used as a weight loss. Now they're using it for kids and everything else.

Speaker 2: 12:43

Oh yeah, it's gone off the hook. Well, I think.

Speaker 1: 12:46

I heard yesterday maybe the day before with Ozempic that there are going to be significant shortages for diabetic people and it's starting because of what you're talking about.

Speaker 2: 13:00

Everybody's on the wave Yep. So she says there's absolutely no clinical data to support it as a weight loss drug. Kelly Clark said so. I'm just saying this is the doctor on GMA. You can look up the GMA thing this morning.

Speaker 1: 13:14

But this is that celebrity part you were talking about. But this is that celebrity part you were talking about.

Speaker 2: 13:17

So then, she says that they're hoping that it will be the major change in the midlife weight game, because everybody gains weight midlife and doesn't like it and it's not healthy for them. So that's what they're hoping for in the obesity world. Okay, but we're using it. My problem with it is okay, I've known people who have done it.

Speaker 1: 13:42

It makes you forget to eat Really, so you're starving in essence.

Speaker 2: 13:45

Well, you're not because you're not hungry, but what's happening to your body? It's eating, muscle, it's eating, and I've seen two people that have done it and one of them was doing it for diabetic reasons. The other one, their doctor gave it to him for weight reasons. But they've had previous knee and ankle injuries and instability issues where they were finally stable, where the knees and the ankle collapsed because of the lack of muscle tone. So they're in major chronic pain.

Speaker 2: 14:09

But nobody's connecting it to the Ozempic. But because I'm so one-on-one with them, what's the major change? Their muscle tone got so weak, so that's why their body's not and they both forget to eat, holy moly. So is that okay? No, right. So you have to look at it. And what she said this morning was the biggest thing is because there's no data to prove anything. We don't know the long-term side effects when you're a normal person versus a diabetic. We don't know how your body and the biggest risk. You should ask yourself what are the risks. So look up the side effects and I think the number one is thyroid cancer for people that are diabetics and things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, this low down of the digestion and the bowel issues and everything else. Should you take the risk or not, and what are the benefits versus the risks?

Speaker 2: 15:05

So she was very good. I was very pleased with what she talked about, but she presented both sides. She said it from a medicinal standpoint that the obesity doctors are starting to take a look at it, but there's no proof or no evidence supporting any of it. She didn't go into that. It's in every health club and kids are doing it and it's just flooded the market so fast.

Speaker 1: 15:26

It sounds like she didn't want to somehow subtly say it's already there.

Speaker 2: 15:33

She pretty much said what people should hear, but they're not going to hear it. They're not going to hear it. They don't want to hear it. For me it's scary because we do this all the time, and for me and I'm going to be real careful how I say it Most of these people that are using it are people that would never take the vaccine because that wasn't tested.

Speaker 1: 15:53

I don't think there is a careful way to say it but it's rationalizing based on what you feel.

Speaker 2: 15:59

We're selective depending on what we want out of it, so we're not making good decisions based on what's right for us.

Speaker 1: 16:08

That's very interesting Wow.

Speaker 2: 16:11

Well, that's what we do, yeah, right, if?

Speaker 1: 16:13

it benefits us, we're going to spin it, but that's a fabulous comparison though.

Speaker 2: 16:17

Yeah, well, that's what's been kind of floating in my face and I'm like, well, you wouldn't do that, but you'll do that. You wouldn't do that, but you'll do that. But they're both equally as bad. But you won't see it that way because of your agenda that's coming from your rooted you're talking about yes, yeah, so it's kind of fascinating.

Speaker 1: 16:34

Look, I made a connection. There you go, wow, yeah, yeah, that's big.

Speaker 2: 16:40

So for me, I really want people to think about it. If you're not a diabetic, where are you going with this? Where are you going with this? And are you really willing to use yourself as a test subject so we find out five years from now that your metabolism is screwed? You can't maintain your weight anymore, your liver's fried, whatever it is, because they're using it in higher doses than the actual diabetics are using it. Yeah, so that's not tested either, because they want the rapid weight loss where they go slow with the diabetics.

Speaker 1: 17:10

Yeah, and it's an injection, right, it's an injection. Yeah, and I think that was something I had heard again, that, oh, you don't have to take the pills, you don't have to do supplements, it's just, it's just, you know, a shot here or there.

Speaker 2: 17:22

That's why they're doing it, and I sat with it and I kept looking at all the information, and what I intuitively got out of it is because the obesity is so out of whack in the United States right now. It's giving them an option that they never had before, because people don't want to change, right? So the doctors that are helpless finally found a way, even with the side effects, to help people because they couldn't help them before. So I don't think it's being done maliciously. I just think that, as a consumer, you need to realize what you're exposing yourself to and what you're choosing, because everything's done in a herd way for a better, good outcome, and obesity far outweighs the health care risks at this point, right, right. Then a little weight loss, that's correct, but that doesn't mean it's not going to double down on another side for us.

Speaker 1: 18:10

Well, it's interesting because I've gone on a journey of really looking at every single label, which I didn't. I just kind of would look at the labels and cursory oh it doesn't, that's too much sugar in there. And I've really been doing a little bit more research following a couple of people on TikTok. I like TikTok. I get lots of good information from there that I can research. It brings up things that I can look at and I've really started going through the different labels. Good information from there that I can research. It brings up things that I can look at and I've really started going through the different labels, whether it's at Walmart or Costco or Sam's Club. And if you just take an extra minute or two and look at the label, you'll it's going to jump out at you like there's no tomorrow and you can improve what you're putting into your body for relatively little energy.

Speaker 2: 19:04

Yes, yes, all right. Detox diets are kind of in the same line. You know the muscle loss, the bone loss, the metabolic shutdowns, all of that stuff. That's another one that we fall prey to. The keto diet is another one, and it's not just the keto diet, it's these diets that change the way your body works. So the keto diet stops you from using carbohydrates as energy and has you use fat as energy. Is that okay to change the innate way your body processes? I wouldn't think so. It's made that way for a reason. It depends on who's promoting it. Again, there's no long-term studies, or there's even cancer doctors now telling you to eat the keto diet because the cancer feeds off your carbohydrates, but you're changing the exact dynamics. I don't know if it's okay or not.

Speaker 1: 19:49

I'm not telling you whether it is or not I'm asking you, correct, but we need to.

Speaker 2: 19:52

If you're doing it. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about that? Have you thought about?

Speaker 1: 19:56

that? Or are you simply looking at don't do this, so you get that do do this.

Speaker 2: 20:06

so you get that. I heard this radio show one time and an orthopedic surgeon was talking to somebody who did natural medicine and stuff and he was talking about how you should only do like the vegan protein powders and everything else. And the guy was being totally honest the orthopedic surgeon, because he eats a lot of vegetarian foods and everything else. He said I picked up a can of protein powder that was all pea. He goes yeah, that's really good for you, he goes. And it had 25 grams of protein in it. And he goes yeah, that's a lot of protein, that's really good for you. He goes. But how many peas does it take to make 25 grams of protein? And is it okay to eat that many peas in a sitting? I know it's okay to eat a handful of peas because that's the way they're designed to do, but is it okay to eat 700 peas in one sitting?

Speaker 1: 20:43

That makes your one tablespoon or teaspoon or whatever.

Speaker 2: 20:45

Right, right, and I just sat with that and I went whoa, that's a deep question. Right, because things are designed in a portion size, but when we munch them down, we're eating 20 times that amount. Is that okay? So place that into the keto diet, anything, anything that we're doing because food is the most natural thing we have and we're avoiding it at all costs and the proper portions, yeah.

Speaker 1: 21:15

So portion control on your food actually plays into this as well, because you're thinking, oh, it's just a little gummy, but how many of those blueberries went into that gummy? Right, right.

Speaker 2: 21:30

So all these infomercial things, you know they're stopping us from getting to know us how our body works, what we need, how our body breaks things down. So I challenge everybody to just be a little bit more critical thinking with the things that they're doing and that they're choosing. Think about peer pressure as infomercial medicine too. You know how many times are you pushed into doing things or friends and family are doing it and you hear it and it's a better option than what you have. How many times are you using that as infomercial medicine? So just be aware and just kind of become more present and just really prioritize yourself first, asking to see what you need to see, before you jump into these quick fixes because you're allowing a fad somebody making money to dictate your future health and how you're aging and that's a big deal, right?

Speaker 1: 22:21

So taking, you're allowing.

Speaker 2: 22:25

You are allowing.

Speaker 1: 22:25

You're allowing because you're participating in this Thank you To someone else to make a decision that you think is for your convenience, you believe is for this, this and this, and you're allowing them to make that decision instead of standing back and saying what is my body telling me, what? What do I know at 24 years old, 16 years old, 66 years old? What do I really know about my body that I've spent all this time learning? That I either buried, ignored and now I'm just tossing to the wind Right. Take responsibility for yourself before you make a decision, or give your power away and allow someone else to tell you what's best for you.

Speaker 2: 23:11

Well, we do it all the time. Yeah, we do For everything Industry right, yeah, all the weight loss programs out there, all the exercise programs out there. Some of them are dangerous. You know, I see people doing like insanity workouts but their body's not equipped to it. But it says if you do this, you will achieve this.

Speaker 1: 23:26

But you might not be the right person to do that.

Speaker 2: 23:30

You know, some of the supplements that come with some of these programs have like 75 ingredients. Is it okay to put 75 ingredients in your body at one time and what are the hormonal aspects of that? Yeah, you know. So I always say whole foods first, whole foods first. Then see what your body likes and doesn't like and then from there start making changes. But if you're not doing whole foods first and most people are very limited in their whole foods just do a whole food diet and then do supplements as supporting casts. I call it Things that your body can take and heal your body with, not change your body. You should never try to change Like a, b, a, c, a, d all those your body takes and does the workings of what it needs from it.

Speaker 1: 24:18

if you're short on those and understand environmentally as well, because that plays a part in it Right and socially, the peer pressure, and if you're going to do something that changes your body, use a qualified practitioner, somebody who studies that stuff, because you're taking something for your thyroid.

Speaker 2: 24:34

You don't know that your thyroid is really off. Let them help you. Don't take a gamble with your body, because this infomercial medicine is killing us and it's stopping us from aging gracefully.

Speaker 1: 24:48

It's also stopping us from thinking.

Speaker 2: 24:51

Well, we want somebody to do it for us. We just don't want to food prep, we don't want to cook, we don't want to clean, we don't want to do any of that. But that's part of what makes us us and you're so, I don't know makes me happy when I've made a beautiful meal and I feel so good after I don't know, you know the prep work.

Speaker 1: 25:15

I might, you know, get the chicken already done and then I do it all myself. But it feels good to say I made that, I prepared it, I presented it and I cleaned it all up. And here we go Again. It's a process. Why are we so afraid of a process?

Speaker 2: 25:31

Because there's other things we want to do with our time, other than those things. But we have to ask ourselves how important is that in comparison to doing these things?

Speaker 1: 25:39

for ourselves. And if you don't take care of the process, if you don't learn the process, if you don't follow the process, your process, you're not going to be able to do those things that you're not doing it for Right, that short-term pleasure.

Speaker 2: 26:01

Right. So I challenge everybody to go within, sit and ask to see what you need to see and really try to figure out if you're falling prey for any to the infomercial stuff out there. And I can. Honestly, I am happy to say that I have created an awakened wellness website. Yay, it should be up and running in the next day or two, and I also have an email info dot awakened wellness at gmailcom. So we're officially going all awake in wellness Nice.

Speaker 1: 26:22

Very, very good. So we'll find you all on that. Good yeah. So I'm very excited about that. I'm super excited and I love the logo. Thank you, I do. I love it. It's well, well done. It's very calm. I love the colors. I feel it encompasses everything you wanted to do, that you wanted to present, right, yay, congratulations, ms Marie.

Speaker 2: 26:45

All right.

Speaker 1: 26:46

All right. Well, everybody, that ends the show for today, and I hope you listen and think about this and take it with you everywhere that you go, and each time you want to put something in your mouth, just think for a minute pause. Do I really need it? Do I, you know? Do I want to buy it, or should I do something else? There's nothing wrong, except not thinking for yourself and not asking yes, have a fabulous day, everybody, and we'll see you next time.

Speaker 2: 27:38

Thank you.