EP. 117 - Jon Engelson - Is Big Money Shaping What We’re Told Is Healthy?

What if the loudest voices shaping our health are not doctors or parents or lived experience but balance sheets and boardrooms?

In this episode of the ALLSMITH Podcast, Bryce sits down with Jon Engelson of Joburg Snacks for a wide ranging conversation that asks the questions most people are afraid to say out loud

We explore how money, incentives, and power quietly shape nutrition guidelines, medical narratives, cultural norms, and even how we relate to our own bodies

From micro plastics in our water and food to the confusion around vaccines and toxicity
From the breakdown of gender roles and dating culture to what has become socially acceptable when it comes to sex, pleasure, and disconnection
From food labels that lie to studies that confuse to systems that profit from keeping people dependent

This is not about fear
It is about awareness

This episode is an invitation to slow down
To zoom out
To question the river instead of blaming the fish

Jon brings decades of experience in holistic health, food systems, and brand building. Bryce brings curiosity, humility, and the willingness to sit in the gray. Together they unpack the idea that health was never meant to be outsourced and that your body might be the most honest data set you have

This conversation is poetic, uncomfortable, grounding, and empowering
Not reckless
Not dogmatic
Just real

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Show Notes

In this episode, Bryce and Jon discuss

• How big money quietly shapes what we are told is healthy
• Why anecdotes and lived experience often reveal truths controlled studies miss
• The influence of corporate agendas on nutrition science and medicine
• Micro plastics and the slow drip of environmental toxicity
• Vaccines and the importance of nuance, context, and informed consent
• Food systems that prioritize shelf life over human life
• Gender roles and how confusion creates stress and disconnection
• Dating culture in the age of abundance and distraction
• Socially accepted sexual habits and their impact on mental health
• Why people feel anxious, inflamed, and disconnected despite having more information than ever
• The difference between correlation, causation, and profit
• Learning to trust your body again
• What real health actually looks like in daily life

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Timestamps

00:00 Opening reflection and setting the tone
04:30 Jon’s background and how he entered the food and health world
10:45 Big money and the hidden incentives behind health narratives
18:20 Why controlled studies often miss real world truth
26:40 Micro plastics, environmental load, and cumulative stress
34:15 Vaccines, nuance, and asking better questions
43:10 Toxic food systems and why labels confuse consumers
51:30 Gender roles, identity, and modern pressure
01:00:40 Dating culture, sex, and emotional disconnection
01:11:20 What it actually means to find what works for you
01:20:00 Rebuilding trust with your body and intuition
01:27:30 Final reflections and how to move forward

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Quotes From the Episode

“Your body is not a problem to be fixed. It is a signal to be listened to.”

“When money enters the room, truth has to fight harder to be heard.”

“Most people are not sick because they are weak. They are sick because the environment is loud.”

“Health was never meant to be outsourced.”

“We keep asking what pill to take instead of what story we are living.”

Thank you for Listening! Learn more below.

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