EP. 1916

04/17/26

Michael Pollan

โ€œWe shouldnโ€™t lie to our bodies. We shouldnโ€™t let our food lie to our bodies.โ€

Why Your "Healthy" Foods Are Making You Sick | Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan cuts through nutrition confusion and exposes the uncomfortable truth: ultra processed foods now make up more than 60% of the American diet, and they’re engineered to manipulate your body and brain.

Most foods you think are healthy, like plant-based burgers with 21 synthetic ingredients and diet sodas that trick your metabolism, are actually sabotaging your health and creating cravings that trap you in a cycle of poor eating. Your gut microbiome holds the key to everything from your weight to your mental health, and it’s starving without the 30 different plants per week it needs to thrive.

By understanding how food companies exploit your evolutionary instincts for sweetness and fat, you can reclaim control and use Pollan’s seven-word mantra to make choices that honor both pleasure and nutrition. The transformation begins when you stop lying to your body about what you’re eating and start thinking of food as medicine rather than entertainment.

Michaelโ€™s books:

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โ€œMost of the serotonin in your body is produced in your gut. There are 10 trillion organisms you share your body with, and that microbiome turns out to be critical to our health and our mental health.โ€ โ€” Michael Pollan
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And now let’s jump into episode 1916 of The School of Greatness!

Some Questions I Ask:

  • So what it, you know, what’s worse, the diet soda or the regular soda?
  • If you take out alcohol and smoking, how much is related to food?
  • But how much is of chronic disease is related to food and nutrition?
  • What do you think is the root cause of depression?
  • Have you ever felt extreme depression in your life?
  • How did you start using psychedelics for this research?
  • Can you explain the relationship between the gut microbiome and mental health?

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Identify the hidden ingredients in “healthy” foods that are actually toxic to your body
  • Learn why diet sodas sabotage weight loss faster than regular soda
  • Discover the 10 trillion organisms in your gut that control your mood and metabolism
  • Master Michael Pollan’s seven-word mantra for eating real food
  • Understand how to retrain your appetite signals to stop overeating at every meal
  • Plus much more…
The School of Greatness Podcast
The School of Greatness Podcast

The School of Greatness Show

The School of Greatness shares inspiring interviews from the most successful people on the planetโ€”world-renowned leaders in business, entertainment, sports, science, health, and literatureโ€”to inspire YOU to unlock your inner greatness and live your best life.