Industry Influence

Big Pharma. Big Ag. Big Tobacco. Big Sugar. Big Alcohol. The list goes on, as do the efforts by industries with multimillion- and even multibillion-dollar advertising, researching funding, and lobbying budgets to hawk their wares and obfuscate and even misrepresent science to pad their own bottom lines.

For example, across the board, a series of studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a statistically significant association between lower consumption of red and processed meats and lower total mortality (meaning living a longer life), lower cardiovascular disease mortality, as well as lower risk of dying from cancer. Yet, remarkably, the authors of these studies concluded that people should ignore all the other dietary guidelines and keep eating meat to their heart’s content––or rather discontent.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that this NutriRECS meat panel was partnered with—and had multiple people on the payroll of—Texas A&M Agrilife, which receives millions of dollars of meat industry money every year.

During my medical training, I got my first experience with the influence of industry. I was offered countless steak dinners and fancy perks by Big Pharma representatives, but not once did I get a call from Big Broccoli. There is a reason you hear about the latest drugs on television: Huge corporate budgets drive their promotion. The same reason you’ll probably never see a commercial for sweet potatoes is the same reason breakthroughs on the power of foods to affect your health and longevity may never make it to the public: There’s little profit motive.

Cherry-picking researching findings, skewing outcomes, and deliberately devising misleading studies are just some of the strategies employed by industries focused on profits rather than sound science or even the health and well-being of its customers.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Image Credit: Pixabay. This image has been modified.