Regenerative Health with Max Gulhane, MD

23. Manipulation of the Dietary Guidelines by the Seventh Day Adventist Church with Belinda Fetke

Apr 17, 2023

01:54:50

Belinda Fetke joins me for a deep exploration of the vested interests shaping the dietary guidelines in Australia and the USA. She recounts the history of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, John Harvey Kellogg’s crusade to eradicate masturbation through vegan diets, the influence of cereal & grain companies, and much more.

Belinda Fetke is a citizen journalist from Tasmania, Australia. Her investigation of financial and religious influence of the dietary guidelines was prompted by her husband Dr Gary Fetke’s brush with the Australian medical board in 2014-2018 when charged with inappropriately reversing his patients diabetes using low carbohydrate diets.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 Dr Max’s intro

00:02:19 Podcast begins

00:03:39 Belinda’s and Gary Fetke’s backstory

00:17:09 Dr Max reflects on Dr Fetke’s journey

00:20:37 Belinda's work uncovering the influence of the cereal industry in Australia

00:28:59 Food industry affiliation with Seventh Day Adventist Church

00:36:29 Dr Max’s summary of first 30 minutes

00:39:09 John Harvey Kellogg, SDAs and the founding of the American Dietetics Association

00:44:34 SDAs believed eating meat caused ‘sinful’ masturbation

00:53:33 Dr Max’s reflections on physiological effects on libido of eliminating animal foods

01:01:19 Dr Max on using vegetarianism as a tool of religious conversion

*1:02:46 I mispoke – I meant to say heart disease was rare prior to the early 1900s, not 1700s, and the rise of heart disease incidence in the US parallels the introduction of refined seed oils into the food supply

01:04:19 The longstanding financial ties of SDAs to food companies selling grain foods

01:11:06 Early 1940s synthesis of food industry & religion

01:12:18 Dr Max on the rise of heart disease leading up to the 1977 US Dietary Goals

01:25:09 The controversy over Blue Zones

01:33:21 Dr Max’s take on the adverse health effects of plant-based eating

01:36:49 How the US Dietary guidelines were imported into Australia

01:42:42 Dr Max summarizes the conversation

01:47:14 Belinda’s closing thoughts and call for grassroots change

FURTHER READING

The Global Influence of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Diet – Review paper, 2018 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/9/251

John Harvey Kellogg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg

Ellen G. White - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_G._White

FOLLOW BELINDA

I Support Gary, repository of Belinda’s blogs: https://www.isupportgary.com

Linkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/belindafettke

Facebook: http://facebook.com/Belinda.Fettke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BelindaFettke

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