The United States has only 5% of the world’s population yet they consume 50% of all pharmaceutical drugs. This stat comes from an article Dr. Martin read, Pill Popping Nation.
When it comes to health statistics, Dr. Martin usually groups Canada into the number, as we’re often similar to the US. When someone develops a sickness, the first response is always prescribing drugs, and never lifestyle changes.
Join Dr. Martin as he explains how North America lives in a society that’s dominated by big food and big pharma.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning everyone. Hope you're having a great start to your day. Sorry I missed yesterday, but anyways, we're back and hope you're having a wonderful day. Okay? Now this is an article I was reading and if you ever wonder about how much of a pill popping nation, especially in the United States. Now look, whenever I see the United States guys, I always 99.9% include Canada because whatever happened in the States is happening here, especially when it comes to our health. But this is an American statistic. So let me stick to that for now. Pill Popping Nation was the headline. Okay?
America, by the way, makes up what percentage of the world's population. Do you know that I guess before I even read it, and I, yeah, what is it? 10%, 5%, 1%. It's 5%, okay? 5% of the population of the world is in the United States. You know how much medication they consume? Out of all the drugs, 50% of all the drugs in the world are consumed in the United States. And again, Canada, you just multiplied by 10, okay? Because that was the way to do it. We're 10 times smaller in terms of our population. So just multiplied by 10, Canada's no better when it comes to medication. It's crazy. 50% of the meds in all the world are consumed in the United States.
And guys, we've talked about this a lot, but it's worth repeating, okay? It is because here we are, we live in a world where lifestyle is put in second or third place or way down the list. And if you have any kind of condition, medicine thinks medication, okay? Meds instead of coming last come first. And I know there are some very good doctors out there who tell people, tell their patients, look, before I put you on meds, why don't we try lifestyle changes? Now, that's few and far between because it's not their training. It's too bad. We live in a dominated society, dominated, I've told you many, many a time by big pharma and big food. If you got that figured out, you are going to understand the news behind the news.
Why is it that in the United States, according to this article, they consume 50% of all medications in the world? And guys, I hate to tell you there's something coming. And we put this on our website, at least on our private Facebook group, and I'm just going to repeat it again. Something very scary is coming to Canada, and that is they're going to take away our right to supplements. Okay? Now listen, I think you know me long enough to know this. I am first lifestyle. I think you would agree with me. I talk food more than anything else, first, changes. You cannot undo a bad diet with supplements. You just can't. But in practice, for years, I used supplements to people who were unwell. And I talked to you about this so many times, and I will, and I will, I will as long as I've got a venue to talk about. From vitamin D to 12 to probiotics, DHA, I've talked to you about these things. Why? Well, we live in a different world. We live in a world that you just don't get these things. And because we're surrounded by certain things, you know, just got to take care of yourself. But you got to start in the kitchen. You got to start with good choices.
But imagine living in a society like we do where we turn to medication before we turn to lifestyle. It's upside down, folks. And this thing didn't shock me because I knew about it, but I was sort of shocked by the fact that 50% of all medications, all of is in North America, 50% of all medications consumed. It shows you how we are influenced by big food and big pharma. Big pharma, if you didn't think that, you think first of all, go back to the virus and we're just going to talk about it for a second. Go back to the virus. What was I talking to you about? Well, take care of yourself. Take care of your immune system. Why did I say that? Because we're always going to be surrounded by viruses. We're always be surrounded by bacteria. What planet do you think you can leave to that you're not going to be surrounded by viruses? And instead of people being scared, skinny, I was telling you, take care of yourself. Get your immune system going. Why did I talk about that all the time? Why did I talk about vitamin D? Because you can take care of yourself.
Now, look, I'm not against medication, but it's never should be our first choice. Never. Listen. And on the heels of this, there was a new study on metformin. Just give you an example, okay? What is metformin? Metformin is a medication that they give, okay? In diabetes, prediabetes, polycystic ovarian disease. These are the three conditions that metformin is given to. Okay? You know how many people are on this medication? Metformin. It's the ninth leading medication in terms of sales in the world. Number nine on the hit break. What's number one? Lipitor. Number one, all time statin drug gives me a headache. How could that be number one? But it is okay. And well over half the population over the certain age of 60 or 65, they take Lipitor. But a real revenue med for big pharma is Metformin.
Now, Metformin, you and I know, but the world doesn't know one thing it does. Look, metformin is for pre-diabetes, diabetes and polycystic ovarian disorder. Very common. Okay? Now you and I know the answer to insulin. It's very simple. It's not complicated. Insulin is a food hormone, okay? By and large, I mean if you have high levels of cortisol over a period of time, that can affect insulin resistance. But generally it's food, right? But instead of talking to people about changing their diet, med is the first choice in North America. It's too bad because the vast majority, and I'm not saying all, but the vast majority of people would never have to take metformin if they decided and they were told to lay off the carbohydrates. And that's what it is. And I've said this to you thousands of times. Diabetes, pre-diabetes, polycystic ovarian disorder is a problem with insulin. And when you have a problem with insulin, you have an allergy to carbohydrates. It's an allergy. You and carbs don't get along.
I know it sounds too simplistic, but that's a fact. And it just shows you the persuasion of the pharmaceutical industry. They're very persuasive and they're not stupid. Their marketing starts not with you. Their marketing starts in medical school. They sponsor medical school, they sponsor all of the courses, they sponsor all the post-graduate studies, post-graduate seminars, post-graduate, everything. But they put their money where their mouth is. They really do. Their education starts in the medical school and never ends with doctors. And again, I'm not saying they don't do good things. I'm not saying people are not sincere in that industry. They're sincere. I'm sure they are. Researchers, cancer research, heart disease research, diabetes research, you name the research, what are they looking for? They're looking for meds. They sponsor research. What do you think is going to happen with research?
And so we have a drug, let's put it out there. We have a drug called metformin. It comes by the way, like every med with a multitude of side effects. And they never seem to talk about it. Like when you need an antibiotic, you need it, you have an infection, and it's not going away. You take an antibiotic. That's all right. Someone was on our Facebook group asking the question, "well, Doc, I got H. pylori." When you get H. pylori, I generally what happens is you are going to be put on a mega dose of three. Usually this is the treatment, three antibiotic, three different ones. It's a mega dose. And the patient was asking me, well, I know it's going to kill all my good bacteria. You bet your boots, it's going to kill all your good bacteria. Am I telling people not to take that? No, I'm not saying that at all. But this person on the Facebook group was asking how much. They're not saying, should I take probiotics? They're asking how much probiotics I should take. Good question. Well, I would load up big time, especially while you are taking the cocktail of antibiotics for H. pylori, okay?
And again, I'm not telling you not to take the cocktail, but if you take the cocktail, you better replace that bacteria. And I go high dose probiotics about six a day while you're on it. And then afterwards, probably three a day for several months with that kind of antibiotic cocktail, I would go minimum of three probiotics for a year can take you that long to replace all that bacteria. But again, when you take an antibiotic, you have to get a prescription for it. And where I get upset is the lack of concern, the lack of knowledge when it comes to the side effects. Yeah, you might get a sore tummy and all. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the long-term side effects of taking an antibiotic. Well, okay, one thing for sure, you're going to kill your friendly bacteria. Man, oh man, that we've been talking about the microbiome for how many years here, and the importance of bacteria being on your side. For a pharmacist to give out an antibiotic without telling a client that they need probiotic, I don't know what to say anymore.
Two, metformin well established side effect, it strips away your B12. The importance of that is what happens when you don't have enough B12? Demyelination, you know what that means? Nerve damage. B12 is a nerve vitamin. B12 is a brain vitamin. B12 is a key vitamin, and I can't get over that when you pick up metformin at your pharmacist, they're not telling you that. And I've been telling you about B12 for how many years, the importance of B12 and the vast majority of people in North America are low in B12. And can you imagine what happens when they take metformin? It's well established. There's no exception to it, or rarely you're going to be low in B12. That's going to really damage your brain and your nerves. It bothers me.
Something simple as a vitamin, but you see, like I said in Canada, they're going to stop you from taking them. And unless you get a prescription, my word today, you can hardly get a doctor to give you B12. Unless your numbers are high enough for a mouse, they don't believe in it. The doctors in the 1950s did. It was their go-to vitamin. They don't believe in it anymore. They don't know it. It's their training. And pharmacists, they're in on this guys. They're in on it, on the stopping people from getting their supplements. And guys, look, what am I saying to you? You take care of yourself. You do it. Start with you. Why do you think we do the program? It's for you. It's gotten to the point that Health Canada now is saying, now you know what, B12 could be dangerous. The war on vitamin D, it's well established. Dangerous, boy, oh boy. Every day, every day, every day I get a new study on the effectiveness of vitamin D every day.
I'll give you another one on vitamin D and inflammation. A new study out that decreases the risk of chronic inflammation, vitamin D, the sun. What happens when you can't get the sun? You take a supplement of it. They want to stop that. They want you to be under guard of your physician. I hate to say it, folks. That is a recipe for disaster in our society. In Canada, and they snuck it in. The legislation has already passed, and we got to put a stop to it if we can, but I'm telling you, they believe it. It's crazy. The next thing you know, they're going to come after me and stop me from doing the podcast. They might. So far, I can still talk about it. Really. I just never thought I would see, the day we got a scream, blue murder. Health Canada, it's bought and paid for. Bought and paid for by Big Pharma, and they put the money in and they expect results.
So you'll see pharmaceutical companies making vitamin D and physicians giving a prescription for it. Isn't that sad? Why do you need a prescription for vitamin D? Why do you need a prescription for B12? And I've often said it because they say, well, a danger, it could be toxic. Could be toxic. And I always say this, well, the waiting rooms in the emergency departments are not filled with people with vitamin D toxicity. They're just not. They're not. And they're not filled with people with vitamin B12 toxicity. They're just not. It is so rare to get vitamin D toxicity. I've been around for 50 years almost of practice. And I'll tell you, you could count on one hand in Canada, but they're going to outlaw it, guys. I'm telling you, they're going to stop it. Now, we got to get up, now we got to scream and we got to stop it. It's too bad. But it's coming to a theater near you and how Health Canada just don't answer to anybody. A bunch of bureaucrats. It's sad. Very sad. Let's do something about it, guys.
You know who your member of parliament is, federally. Do you know that? Call them. Let them know. I think it's our only chance to turn this around. Call them and ask them what they're going to do. You want your liberty. Imagine you can't go to a health food store anymore. What a health food store is going to sell? Food? Maybe, but they won't be selling supplements. And don't wait for the conversion of medicine to your way of thinking. It's not going to happen. Remember right from day one in medical school, they're indoctrinated, okay? And it's only when a doctor thinks outside the box that they realize the importance of supplements. They're so poorly trained in food. It's unreal. And for years, I mean, you've seen that red meat is bad and cholesterol.
And imagine the number one selling medication of all time is a cholesterol lowering medication. Guys that ought to give you a headache. It gives me one. Imagine missing the mark like that. Imagine a medication that hasn't saved anybody's life. And it's number one. Imagine a medication that the whole premise is wrong. And then we look at Metformin, number nine on the list of all time medications for sales. And what does it do? They don't talk about food, they just talk about metformin. If you lower your carbohydrates and lower your sugars, you are going to lower insulin. It's just as simple as that. And Metformin, after a period of time, not only does it stop you from absorbing vitamin B12, it gives major digestive issues, major problems over a period of time, but they don't stop.
And when it comes to polycystic ovarian disease, listen, it's too much estrogen and too much insulin. And that's a big issue. Too much estrogen, too much insulin. Let's get up in arms, guys. Let's get up in arms. Let's not allow it to happen. Okay? And it's not going to happen in the States right away, but it might. I never thought it would come to this, especially when you look at Canada. Do you know that supplements, by the way, are highly, highly regulated in Canada already? They are. They're highly regulated, but it wasn't enough for them. They want to put them on the pharmacist's shelf in behind, and you need a prescription for them. Yeah, that's the law that they've passed already. We got to put a stop to it if we can.
Okay, enough for my rant today. Okay, we got a great week coming guys. Okay, we got a great week coming. What is Friday? Question and answer Friday, right? So get your questions. Hey guys, we appreciate you guys more than you know. Thank you for making Sun, Steak & Steel the number one selling book. We appreciate that. Okay? Right out of the gate, you guys did that. And we thank you for it, okay? We appreciate it. Okay. We love you guys. Talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!