Calley Means, Co-Founder of TrueMed, once spent time in the same room as Coca Cola’s top executives and lobbyists. It was there, he tells Glenn, he discovered Americans’ health was being ‘rigged.’ Now, this whistleblower is exposed exactly how Coke — and other corporations like it — fool the world by hiding its immense health risks. The shocking, three-pronged approach, Means tells Glenn, involves bribery, phony studies, and promises made to top organizations. And because of it, Americans — and especially our kids — are suffering.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't think we understand why these companies do what they do. And I think the first -- the first time that we saw -- or, we should look to seeing where companies change, was Occupy Wall Street.

Those banks were -- were being protested. And they sat in front of the streets.

And most people think, oh, it just died out. No. I believe that there were deals made. Look, leave us alone. And we'll help you do X, Y, or Z.

There are very few giant corporations, I think, that are true to, you know, even their advising. You know, I want to teach the world to sing. Do you, Coke?

We have Calley Means on the phone with us now. He is the cofounder of True Med. And he is a whistle-blower on Coca-Cola.

Hello, Calley.

CALLEY: How are you doing, Glenn?

GLENN: I'm good. I'm good so tell me your story from the beginning.

Before we get into the Coca-Cola, tell me who you are, where you came from, and how you got here.
CALLEY: You know, I was born and raised in the swamp. I was born and raised in Georgetown. Very ideological. Worked in politics early in my career. Worked for John McCain. Got into -- road people out to the campaigns, got into consulting.

Then I found myself in the rooms with Pharma executives, soda executives, and seeing some very alarming things. So slowly -- slowly got out of that. Got more into entrepreneurship. And it just kind of grounded in that public policy standpoint, had become very passionate.

I think when you look at what's happening with kids, twenty-five percent of them having pre-diabetes. What's happening to the health of Americans. There's something being rigged, and it's a first order issue.

Because, you know, depression and disease is just skyrocketing. Life expectancy is declining.

And I really turned it back to my early experience, and have a new company that's trying to change those incentives. But with a new son and looking at the world he's going into, I felt the need to speak out.

GLENN: Okay. So you were -- and were you on the side of Coca-Cola, at the time when they were talking about the sugary drinks?

And Snap?

GLENN: Yeah. Unfortunately, there's not a big lobby for diabetic children. But since Coke has thrown a lot of money around in DC.

And the consultants are almost, you know, universally on the side of the soda companies. The American Beverage Associations, various fun groups, and Pharma.

GLENN: And so what happened? You were -- you were there. And you were fighting for Coca-Cola. Or big soda.

And you were in the room. And -- and what did you witness?

CALLEY: Yeah. I think this is really instructive. And it's from 2012. And instruct it now. Because it's up for debate again. This is around food stamps. Food stamps is a program that 15 percent of the American people within depend on for nutrition. We can debate on whether it's a good program or not, but it's there. Shockingly, 10 percent of that has been spent on sugar drinks. Ten percent of 110 billion dollar government intrusion program. It's a material part of Coke and Pepsi's revenue.

And logically, people were questioning that, and Coke wanted to keep the status quo.

So the playbook they used is the playbook, as old as time. And it's used today.

It's a three-part story. The first was identifying civil rights organizations. In this case, the NAACP.

And what was shocking, being in the room, as -- as, you know, kind of -- kind of a bad scene. I mean, these old Coke executives, basically dictating what the NAACP should say. It's very transactional. Coke gave the NAACP millions of dollars, and they explicitly agreed to call opponents. In this case, parents who are concerned their children are ingesting 100 times more sugar than they did 100 years ago, racist.

It's that simple. But it's bipartisan. The second leg of the stool was, you know, we paid off -- pay to play. Insert think tanks on the left hand and the right.

It's a big player in the pay-to-play scheme. And it's basically corporate-owned entity, ordering a study from the Heritage Foundations like going to McDonald's and ordering a Big Mac. You get whatever you want.

GLENN: Wait. Wait. Wait.

I want to make sure I understand this.

You're saying that part of -- you know, big corporation's planning. Which I absolutely believe. Is to order studies.

And -- but they go to the Heritage Foundation? One of them, you say, they're on both left and right. One of them is the Heritage Foundation?

CALLEY: Oh, absolutely. And, yeah. I think it's important to call out. The elites on both sides are getting called off. The way it works at the Heritage Foundation, you get a fundraising point. The fundraising point scorched the Coke executives or the Pharma executives, under the Heritage Foundation. Meet with the scholar.

You talk high-level concepts. And then the fundraising point basically guarantees that a study will say what they want to say. And there's an exchange of funds. Interestingly, and I think importantly, I also see, you know, oil companies. And, you know, other special interests, Heritage Foundation, and other think tanks, to not call something a tax. I mean, Grover Norquist. Heritage Foundation's whole DC influence, you know, network.

Actually has redefined often what a tax is. So you can actually buy publicity to rail against a tax. Of course.

But you can also pay these organizations to redefine something as not a tax that benefits them.

GLENN: There was something that I saw, that I talked about in the first hour of today's podcast of -- of there's this new study out, by the -- you know, greening of the world foundation. Or whatever it is.

A global warming foundation. New study that shows that gas stoves and all natural gas should be taken out of homes. Because it's too dangerous for kids with asthma. And the first thing I thought was, oh, really?

The global warming study came back with that. What a -- what a surprise.

CALLEY: Exactly.

GLENN: And everything that we do now, in politics, is based on some study. And you're saying, you can't trust the study from either side.

CALLEY: Well, you know, I think -- I think that's very important. And I think it warrants a great example, when there's trillions of dollars at play.

You have -- you can guarantee that financial rating institutions that trust.

And I think -- I think the third place, we went on this stop, that's the playbook. Is I think actually the most important. And I think the least understood.

Large, you know, prominent elite research universities, in my opinion, are nothing more than public relations entities of corporate interests.

GLENN: Yes. They're exactly what Eisenhower warned about, in his farewell address. Exact.

I mean, he said, billing military industrial. Corporations. And educations will just start selling out, and producing the studies that corporations or the government wants.

CHRIS: Yeah. There's nothing more prominent or unimpeachable within still today, on the media. On the left and the right. As a peer-reviewed study, from an elite research institution.

But you've got to ask who is funding these studies. You can have a peer-reviewed study say whatever you want. You can ask whatever question you want.

You can structure the study however you want. So it's really irrelevant for this issue I really care about, which is the nutrition. The hijacking of American nutrition. As you know, the disastrous 1990s food pyramid, that was on foundational research from Harvard University from the head of nutrition at Harvard University, directly paid for by sugar.

You know, leads up to today, NIH funded it's called the food compass. They hailed it as the most -- most complex and important nutrition study, you know, in modern times.

It says Froot Loops are more nutritious than eggs. And it's by processed food companies. It says Honey Nut Cheerios is more nutritious than organic ground beef.

So that's still looking at -- and you look at it, Coca-Cola and processed food companies spend 11 times more money on basic nutritional research, funding basic nutritional research at universities than the NIAH. And even the NIAH is just a grant-making organization.

And in the case of this food compass, I just mentioned is actually often -- more often than not, funding professors who have other financial incentives to talk of their study.

So really, we need to absolutely, like, again, I'm looking at like PR consultants at Washington. You know, dictate to prominent professors. What they should be finding in their research.

It's pretty unsettling.

GLENN: So how do we fix this? Or what do we trust, as a -- I mean, personally, I think there is some common sense in some people alive today. That say, hey. How about moderation in all things would be a good place to start?

But what do you trust, if there's -- if all of these institutions are blown?

CALLEY: Yeah. So I'll talk -- I think health is a specific area that is impactful to everyone and gives a framework. Let's talk about what happened with health in the past 40 years.

I think the patient has been systematically disempowered and in fear. And, really, by extension the American people. Right?

It's like, don't self-diagnose. Don't trust -- don't question the science. Trust the science.

You know, the American patient has been battered into like not questioning anything, and basically in total fear.

So, you know, the first step, and this is why it's important to get this out there. Is to wake up a little bit. Is to ask -- look around your children's classrooms, look at the fact that most children are obese. You know, as I said, 25 percent have pre-diabetes which used to be called adult onset diabetes.

Look at what's happening to the health of adults.

And just start questioning things a little bit. And question when you see that news article, with the new peer-reviewed study.

And question whether it makes sense that Froot Loops are more healthier than eggs, or beef.

So that is the first part, and I think that is happening. I think we have a lot of people speaking out.

I am encouraged that a lot of folks, nutrition has been an issue on the left. But the right is really waking up, looking at male sperm count plummeting 50 percent in the past 50 years.

GLENN: Do you know what that is caused by? Do you have any idea?

CALLEY: See, I don't think it's very complicated, Glenn. The foundation of the American diet, right now. The foundation is processed grains, which is basically weaponizing whole grains to take the fiber out, which basically makes an immediate sugar impact in the blood. You know, 70 percent of food is processed food, which is the foundation is processed grains.

Seed oils, which is very refined, cheap oil, and added sugar.

Seed oil as a processed grain, didn't exist 100 years ago.

These are new inventions. These are process inventions. And then added sugar really didn't exist until 100 years ago. It's gone up 100X in 100 years.

So really, the foundation of the American diet, has been weaponized to be highly attractive. Highly inflammatory.

And it's just evolutionarily we're not made to -- and we're being gaslit. Right?

Just yesterday, the American Association of Pediatrics, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of pharma that's still a trusted institution.

Said that to combat this obesity that preteens are experiencing, they should get a weekly or monthly injection for the rest of their lives.

This new Big Pharma obesity cure. So it's like, I really think, there's this axis, where food companies have basically weaponized food. Everyone is getting sick.

Everyone is getting overweight. But our trusted medical institutions turn a blind eye. Because there's a trillion dollars spent on stats now, Metformin. You know, all these drugs.

Interestingly, all these things, these drugs are treating, have gone up. Diabetes has gone up. Heart disease. So there's this -- there's this blind eye from the medical system.

So to answer ark question. There's some education. Also public policies. We have some crony capitalist systems.

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(music)
I mean, it is -- it is so clear to me, at least. We're talking to Calley Means. He's the cofounder of True Med.

You can follow him at Calley Means, spelled with a C. CalleyMeans.com as well.

It's so clear to me, when you look at us, compared to the rest of the world, something is up with our diet. It is clear. And even common sense tells you, we didn't grow up with peanut allergies. We didn't have gluten-free everything. We've done something really bad to our food and our diet.

CALLEY: Right. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Glenn, and to me, you know -- you know, growing up, as a conservative, you know, considering -- considering not my philosophy. I think -- I think it's good people are waking up on this. Because to me, it's a first order issue. If we care about individual liberty, right?

The most important thing, is the -- is the ability of our brains. And I'm not going to try to get too deep here. But our brain -- diabetes is cellular dysfunction. Literally the cells are advertise functioning. We are basically -- that is the first order issue of like, our human capital. And it's -- it's not just people being overweight. Depression is skyrocketing. Infertility is off the charts.

As I mentioned, the male sperm count. PCOS, leading cause of female fertility is off the charts.

We -- we really are facing, you know, and getting exponentially sicker, fatter, more depressed, and more infertile. And that's a first order issue.

And then you get to the market. And people say, well, we don't want Coke. It's free choice. I'm all for it. I'm a Libertarian.

Let's have people drink Coke. It shouldn't be paid for with tens of billions of dollars of a government program. That's not a free market. That's a rigged system.

GLENN: Correct.

CALLEY: So right now, we have rigged the system. And you do not have a free market. And I think conservatives. Even some very, you know, well-meaning smart conservatives, that I know.

You know, if you even mention taking Coke away from food stamps.

That's patriarchal. No. What's hamming right now. The system is rigged right now. The system is rigged to give a 12-year-old an injection. A Pharma drug. Instead of talking with them. And working with the parents, to get them healthier.

GLENN: You are preaching to the choir. Especially with ESG and everything else.

They are planning on redesigning our food. What food is good for us. What's not.

And it is all fixed. I mean, I can't get conservatives, who are in power, to understand and maybe it's because they're on the take.

That this is not messing with the free market. ESG is messing with the free market.

You've got the government and corporations within designing where they want the world to go. And we're not really offered the choice.

We're being told lies. Fake studies or paid for studies.

And then we're -- then we just find ourselves in this situation. And I think it's getting extraordinarily dangerous.

CALLEY: Absolutely. Absolutely. And you look at Bill Gates being the largest farmer in the country, making processed food. You kind of start going through the -- and it's -- you don't want to be too conspiratorial. But, you know, what is happening to the American people?

And, you know, just to your question of what people do. I think hopefully, people listening to this. And it's been a big awakening for me the last couple of years. In waking up and asking questions. I think there's one actual public policy. And you have to ask with your public policy, what helps people stay healthy?

And I actually think it's a good policy. The FSHSA, which is very underlooked, these tax-free accountants. What these companies are doing. You can actually buy food and exercise, tax-free. Food and exercise is often the best medicine. And most people don't understand it.

You can actually literally qualify food and exercise and other lifestyle, as medicine saves 30, 40 percent with your FSHSA.

GLENN: Holy cow. I didn't -- I'm not aware of that. I'm out of time.

Can I have you back? I would like to do a podcast with you, Calley. Because I think this is vital information. Calley, thank you so much for being on the program.

Cofounder of True Med. Calley Means.