Calley Means, healthcare policy expert and co-founder of TrueMed, reveals how big pharma and big food companies have systematically corrupted medical education and nutrition guidelines to profit from chronic disease. He discusses the connection between metabolic dysfunction and fertility issues, sharing evidence-based strategies for addressing root causes through food and lifestyle interventions.
Healthcare policy and metabolic dysfunction
Key Insights
Actionable Advice
Calley Means exposes how pharmaceutical companies fund 80% of medical schools while ensuring nutrition education is excluded from the curriculum. This creates doctors who only know pharmacological interventions, not root cause approaches that could actually prevent or reverse fertility issues like PCOS through metabolic health.
PCOS and many fertility issues stem from insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction caused by the modern American diet. The three primary culprits - highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils - didn't exist 120 years ago but now comprise 75% of our food supply, systematically damaging reproductive health.
Fertility clinics are financially structured to grow, with loans and hiring plans underwritten assuming continued increases in fertility procedures. Patients who address root causes through food and lifestyle become unprofitable, creating perverse incentives against prevention and cure.
Women must become their own advocates and think critically about medical recommendations, especially when facing fertility challenges. The systematic exclusion of nutrition and lifestyle factors from treatment plans isn't scientifically justified - it's financially motivated by an industry that profits from chronic disease.
“Eighty percent of medical schools in the United States today, that includes Stanford Med School, Harvard Med School, on down, do not require a single nutrition class for doctors to graduate today.”
— Calley Means▶ 12:01
Most fertility doctors receive no nutrition education in medical school, with 80% of medical schools not requiring a single nutrition class. The medical system is financially incentivized to focus on procedures and medications rather than root cause interventions that could prevent or reverse fertility issues.
“PCOS is highly tied to insulin resistance, which is highly tied to food.”
— Calley Means▶ 22:07
Yes, PCOS is highly connected to insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction. Research shows that 12-week dietary interventions focusing on reducing grains and sugar can significantly improve PCOS symptoms. The condition is fundamentally a metabolic issue that responds to food and lifestyle changes.
“Ninety five percent of the experts that created the twenty twenty guidelines had a direct payment from either pharma or food companies, many both.”
— Calley Means▶ 25:05
Yes, 95% of experts who created the 2020 USDA nutrition guidelines had direct payments from pharma or food companies. Food companies fund nutrition research 11 times more than the NIH, leading to guidelines that recommend processed cereals over whole foods like meat and eggs.
“Our foundational diet is three products, is three ingredients that did not exist one hundred and twenty years ago. Highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils.”
— Calley Means▶ 17:39
Avoid the three ingredients that make up 75% of ultra-processed American food: highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils (like canola and soybean oil). These didn't exist 120 years ago and are the primary drivers of metabolic dysfunction affecting fertility.
“Our reproductive abilities, which is such the most important evolutionary function we have, are degrading at a staggering rate.”
— Calley Means▶ 16:36
Fertility issues have increased from 1 in 8 to 1 in 6 couples due to widespread metabolic dysfunction caused by processed food, sedentary lifestyles, poor sleep, and chronic stress. Americans are experiencing systematic degradation of reproductive abilities alongside obesity and chronic disease epidemics.
“If a doctor writes a note explaining how food, exercise, supplements can actually help prevent or reverse a condition, and PCOS is a big one that we work on, then we provide that note, and then you can purchase healthy food.”
— Calley Means▶ 54:44
Yes, if a doctor writes a note explaining how food, exercise, or supplements can help prevent or reverse a condition like PCOS, you can use HSA/FSA funds to purchase these items. This saves 30-40% on healthy interventions that address root causes rather than just treating symptoms.
Evidence-based steps to improve fertility by addressing metabolic dysfunction through diet and lifestyle changes
Eliminate the Big Three
Remove highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils from your diet - these three ingredients make up 75% of ultra-processed food and drive metabolic dysfunction affecting fertility
Optimize Sleep
Prioritize getting adequate sleep, as the average American sleep has decreased by 3 hours over 100 years, significantly impacting metabolic health and reproductive function
Increase Daily Movement
Incorporate natural movement throughout the day rather than relying only on structured exercise, as sedentary behavior has systematically replaced the daily movement our bodies evolved with
Manage Chronic Stress
Address chronic stress and constant fight-or-flight responses triggered by modern technology and lifestyle, which elevate cortisol and impact reproductive health
Use Financial Tools
Leverage HSA/FSA funds for healthy food, supplements, and lifestyle interventions by getting physician documentation connecting these to your specific conditions
Ninety percent of medical school curriculum focuses on pharmacology, while 80% of medical schools don't require a single nutrition class for doctors to graduate
Calley Means, former pharma lobbyist, reveals that Stanford Medical School and Harvard Medical School are among the institutions that don't require nutrition education, despite food being the primary driver of metabolic dysfunction affecting fertility.
PCOS and fertility issues are fundamentally connected to insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction, which can be reversed through dietary interventions
Calley's sister Casey, a Stanford-trained surgeon, discovered that patients with fertility issues, depression, diabetes, and high cholesterol all shared root metabolic dysfunction that could be addressed through food and exercise interventions rather than separate medications for each condition.
More than 50% of major medical school funding touches pharma, and food companies fund nutrition research 11 times more than the NIH
Calley Means documents that 95% of experts who created the 2020 USDA nutrition guidelines had direct payments from pharma or food companies, including the American Diabetes Association accepting millions from Coca-Cola while setting diabetes treatment standards.
The foundation of the American diet consists of three ingredients that didn't exist 120 years ago: highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils
Calley Means explains that these ingredients make up 75% of ultra-processed food in America, with added sugar consumption increasing 100-fold in 100 years and seed oils being industrial byproducts originally created by John Rockefeller as oil industry waste.
Americans are the only animals, along with domesticated pets we feed, that have systematic rates of metabolic dysfunction, depression, and fertility issues
Calley Means points out that wild animals have close to zero percent obesity and cancer rates, while dogs fed human food have 50% cancer rates and 40% depression rates, demonstrating that our lifestyle and food choices are the root cause of chronic disease.
Fertility clinics are financially incentivized for growth and would have to lay people off if fertility issues were actually prevented or reversed
Calley Means spoke with a leading fertility specialist who admitted that while he would cure infertility instantly if possible, the institutional loans and hiring plans are all underwritten assuming continued growth in fertility procedures, creating a perverse incentive against prevention.
The healthcare industry is the largest and fastest-growing industry in the United States, but the more we spend, the worse health outcomes become
Calley Means explains that unlike other industries where innovation leads to lower costs and better outcomes, healthcare profits from people getting sicker for longer periods, with 85% of costs now driven by chronic conditions that continue increasing.
Even basic lifestyle interventions like vitamin D supplementation and exercise were called 'misinformation' during COVID despite strong scientific evidence
Calley Means documents how podcast hosts like Joe Rogan were violently attacked by the medical establishment for discussing the clear statistical connections between metabolic dysfunction, vitamin D deficiency, and COVID outcomes, while Dr. Ryan Cole was crucified for recommending sunshine and vitamin D.
Ninety percent of medical school curriculum focuses on pharmacology, while 80% of medical schools don't require a single nutrition class for doctors to graduate
▶ 7:01PCOS and fertility issues are fundamentally connected to insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction, which can be reversed through dietary interventions
▶ 7:33More than 50% of major medical school funding touches pharma, and food companies fund nutrition research 11 times more than the NIH
▶ 12:32The foundation of the American diet consists of three ingredients that didn't exist 120 years ago: highly processed grains, added sugar, and seed oils
▶ 17:39Americans are the only animals, along with domesticated pets we feed, that have systematic rates of metabolic dysfunction, depression, and fertility issues
▶ 27:59Fertility clinics are financially incentivized for growth and would have to lay people off if fertility issues were actually prevented or reversed
▶ 14:11The healthcare industry is the largest and fastest-growing industry in the United States, but the more we spend, the worse health outcomes become
▶ 31:35Even basic lifestyle interventions like vitamin D supplementation and exercise were called 'misinformation' during COVID despite strong scientific evidence
▶ 40:26“Fertility issues require expensive medical interventions and procedures”
CONSIDER: Root cause metabolic dysfunction underlying fertility issues can often be addressed through food and lifestyle interventions
“Nutrition isn't important enough to be part of medical education”
CONSIDER: The exclusion of nutrition from medical training is financially motivated, not scientifically justified
“Government nutrition guidelines are based on unbiased scientific research”
CONSIDER: Nutrition guidelines are created by panels with massive financial conflicts of interest
“You are being lied to by your doctor, and it is completely medically inaccurate for them not to be putting these issues front and center.”
“Somebody that's on a journey of food and lifestyle, they're not a profitable patient.”
“We are becoming systematically more overweight, sicker, more depressed. Our reproductive abilities are degrading at a staggering rate.”
“It's kind of a scam, ladies. We're all waking up to this scam of so much of what we've been told about our own empowerment.”
“Does this make sense that a bowl of cornflakes or frosted flakes somehow, truly, through your own assessment as a thinking sentient human being, is that really more healthy than a piece of red meat and butter and eggs?”
“We should not be trying to build larger and larger fertility centers. That's not a victory for women's health. It's a disaster that everyone's getting so infertile.”
EP95 Heal Your Mind, Heal Your Body with Dr. Jessie Wei, MD
A burned-out OB-GYN discovers why conventional medicine wasn't helping her patients get pregnant—and how healing your mind literally changes your body's ability to conceive.
EP 353: A NOT Hella Boring Conversation About Functional Nutrition with Katie Keen
What happens when an expert dismisses your symptoms as 'all in your head' — and how functional nutrition can transform your fertility journey in ways traditional medicine never could.
A Fearlessly Fertile Special: Unexplained Infertility Isn’t A Diagnosis: Getting to the Root Cause of Fertility Issues and Recurrent Miscarriage, A Conversation with Caryn Johnson, CEO of BOND
A former CMO turned fertility entrepreneur reveals how she cracked the code on 'unexplained infertility' through autoimmune protocols and now helps other women do the same.
Frameworks & Methods
Common Beliefs
Thoughts and beliefs create physiological changes in the body that can manifest as illness and infertility through cascading chemical and hormonal signals
Dr. Wei observed in her functional medicine practice that women who addressed diet and supplements but not toxic relationships or work stress would initially improve but then return to similar issues, demonstrating the mind-body connection's power.
The mind-body connection is not 'woo woo' but actual sensory input converted into chemical signals and hormonal cascades that affect physiology
Dr. Wei explains that when patients achieve relaxation states and surrender, their nervous system automatically aligns with their chemical signaling system, creating measurable physiological changes.
Traditional medicine often dismisses women's health symptoms as psychological, even when serious conditions are present
Katie Keen went to her OBGYN multiple times with weight gain, fatigue, and menstrual problems. After blood tests showed 'normal' results, the doctor told her 'it's all in your head' and gave her a therapist's card, despite Katie having undiagnosed PCOS, insulin resistance, hypothyroidism, leaky gut, and severe inflammation.
Functional nutrition goes beyond general dietary advice to address root causes through personalized protocols based on individual health history and testing
Katie Keen explains functional nutrition as 'deep diving into the root causes behind what's causing the imbalances in somebody's body and then fixing those imbalances by different protocols or tailored nutritional plans and lifestyle strategies' - not just telling someone to 'go paleo' or 'eat healthy.'
