By Amy Sapola, Contributing Writer, The MAHA Report
“74% of nutritional research is funded by Big Food and Big Pharma. That’s how you end up with a food pyramid claiming Lucky Charms are healthier than grass-fed steak.”
– Gary Brecka on Steve Bannon's podcast, “The War Room”
Back in 2021, Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Tufts School of Nutrition, had just completed spending three years and millions of dollars in NIH funding on designing a new food pyramid. His findings? Lucky Charms are healthier than steak. Anyone with an ounce of common sense who sees an ultra-processed fortified marshmallow cereal beating grass-fed steak, has to question what is going on behind the scenes.
Big Food and Ag profit from the production and sale of ultra-processed, calorie-dense foods grown with commodity crops (corn, soy, wheat, sugar).
Big Pharma profits from the downstream consequences—obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders—through lifelong medication markets (statins, insulin, GLP-1s, PPIs, antihypertensives).
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: Agriculture profits from commodity production. Food companies profit from processed products. Pharma profits from treating the resulting diseases. Everyone wins…except the consumer and the American people, with rising chronic disease rates despite higher spending on healthcare. Consumers become trapped in cycles of cheap, unhealthy food and costly lifelong medications.
Together, these industries influence nutrition research, dietary guidelines, agricultural policy, and healthcare frameworks, often diluting the emphasis on prevention and doing their best to discredit anyone who questions the long-term health effects of the astronomical amount of sugar, artificial ingredients, and toxins, such as pesticides.
One of the fundamental issues is the overwhelming dominance of processed foods in the modern diet. These foods, engineered for taste, shelf-life, and profit margin, often lack essential nutrients and are packed with additives, sugars, and unhealthy fats. Big Food companies invest heavily in research and marketing to promote these products, ensuring they remain staples in households worldwide.
Parallel to this, Big Pharma's role is more insidious. While ostensibly a healthcare provider, the pharmaceutical industry benefits immensely from the health crises fueled by poor nutrition—obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions.
Take GLP-1s, for example, medications used to lower blood sugar levels and for weight loss. They are not “addicting” as we now see opioids; however, they are another chronic medication (like blood pressure or cholesterol medication) that only works while you are taking it, creating another type of dependence that fuels record profits for Big Pharma..
Stopping a GLP-1 typically brings back appetite and weight—in one study, participants who stopped semaglutide regained ~⅔ of their prior weight loss within a year. So, although incredibly impactful for weight loss and quality of life, they do nothing to address the systemic problems and policies that have led us to this point.
As chronic disease, exacerbated by poor nutrition, continues, the demand for medication and ongoing treatment increases, resulting in billions of dollars in revenue for Big Pharma. This creates a perverse incentive to maintain the status quo rather than prioritize preventative care through improved nutrition.
A 2022 peer-reviewed study published in Public Health Nutrition (PHN) uncovered an alarming truth: 95% of the advisory committee members for the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAC) had conflicts of interest linked to the food and pharmaceutical industries.
That means out of the twenty experts previously appointed by HHS and the USDA entrusted to shape the country's most influential nutrition policy, at least nineteen had industry ties. Major food corporations, including Kellogg, Abbott, Kraft, Mead Johnson, General Mills, and Dannon, appeared multiple times in committee members' conflict of interest disclosures. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which produce weight loss and diabetes medications, have also been linked to multiple DGAC members.
These conflicts stem in large part—over 60%—from research funding or roles on advisory boards tied to industry. The PHN study concluded that such pervasive industry ties undermine the transparency, objectivity, and science-based integrity essential for public trust in dietary guidance.
The Dietary Guidelines impact everything from school meals and nutrition assistance programs to consumer-facing food labeling and healthcare advice. If industry interests unduly influence recommendations, the consequences skew public policy, sway consumer choice, and ultimately affect national health outcomes.
Originally designed to promote a balanced diet, the Dietary Guidelines, in their modern iterations, have been criticized for emphasizing grains and dairy, sectors in which Big Food and Pharma invest heavily. This skewed representation subtly directs consumers toward foods that support the financial interests of these industries, rather than promote optimal health.
In healthcare, there is constant pressure to practice “evidence-based medicine”; however, what happens when that evidence base is flawed and influenced by the very industries that profit from keeping us sick.
The reciprocal relationships between Big Food, Ag, and Pharma ensure a cycle where poor nutrition leads to increased health problems, which in turn benefits pharmaceutical companies through higher demand for medications.
To break this cycle, we need to advocate for a food system that centers on genuine nutrition and transparency. This includes supporting regenerative and organic farming practices, making whole and minimally processed foods affordable and widely available by strengthening local food systems and reconsidering what crops are subsidized, and reducing the influence of corporate interests in research, medical education, and ultimately the creation of dietary guidelines.
Only by restructuring the food system to prioritize health over profit can we hope to improve public health outcomes and reduce the chronic diseases linked to a poor diet. But first, the current system needs to be unraveled and a new, nutrition-based paradigm needs to replace it.
By demanding transparency, supporting whole foods, and reforming education, we can begin to reclaim our health from the grip of profit-driven industries. That’s not just desirable, it’s imperative.
Dr. Amy Sapola is a Clinical Pharmacist, an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner (IFMCP), and a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) with a B.S. in Nutrition. In her current role at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Sapola specializes in women's health, peri-menopause and menopause, and integrative oncology. Additionally, Dr. Sapola works with healthcare providers, community members, and schools, teaching yoga and mindfulness, food as medicine, and culinary medicine.
Spot on! GLP1 is more insidious than stated. 2/3 of the weight loss is due to reduction in muscle cells.Negative impact on heart muscle as well as specialized muscle cells such as eye co-ordination and more.
Thank You! On Point!