The Dire Political and Spiritual Consequences of our Health Crisis

Mr Sammons has some interesting thoughts on diet. 'The lethargy and addiction caused by our modern diet can destroy the spiritual life.'

From Crisis

By Eric Sammons

The modern American diet makes us listless and addicted, which is a recipe for disaster in both the political and spiritual realms.

The presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been unique in modern American history in a number of ways. For one, he has campaigned on issues that most politicians don’t touch, including our nation’s health and nutrition, his primary focus.

While many pundits highlight his controversial stance on vaccines, his own emphasis has been the rise of chronic illness among Americans, particularly the young. When identifying causes, he points a finger at what our nation eats. He argues that our dependence on processed foods and sugar and other harmful foods like seed oils has led to a health crisis of catastrophic proportions.

I think RFK is right to highlight our poor nutrition and its impact on our physical health, but I would go further. I would argue that our modern American diet also has dire consequences in both the political and spiritual realms.

Political Consequences

First, let’s consider the political world. To maintain the common good our modern American system of government requires a constant “pushback” by the people toward the government. A too-compliant people will inevitably give rise to a more authoritarian government—exactly what our founding fathers wanted to avoid.

This is the reason for the first two amendments in the Bill of Rights. The first—freedom of speech—gives citizens the freedom to voice their discontent, and even contempt, for their government leaders without fear of political persecution. The second—the right to bear arms—gives the first amendment some teeth, acknowledging that citizens have a concrete way to resist government tyranny.

So what does this have to do with our modern diet? Our overdependence on processed foods and sugar impacts our bodies—and our brains—in a myriad of negative ways, making us more prone to brain fog, listlessness, and sloth which result from the insulin spikes and drops as well as from the excess weight these substances promote. 

The typical processed-food-eating American is in a continual flux of sugar-high and sugar-crash throughout the day. His diet is a leash that leads him from sugary drink to nutrient poor meal to junk food snack on a perpetual cycle. Barely able to think beyond what tasks he has right in front of him, little energy remains at the end of the work day for anything but watching a mindless show or scrolling through his social media. No settling in with Dante or exploring Aquinas in an evening, or debating the merits of voluntarism with his wife, let alone tackling a rigorous hike in order to be rewarded with a beautiful sunset. And he does what would have been unthinkable to our ancestors: he consumes calories from the moment of rising to the moment his head hits the pillow at night. He’s on a leash after all. 

Most people know high-sugar and ultra-processed foods are unhealthy. Why not just quit eating them? The fact is that these types of foods are also highly addictive, making us dependent on our dealer: Big Food—the companies who produce this slop and are heavily subsidized by the government to do so.

What a recipe (pardon the pun) for totalitarianism. The more we become docile and dependent, the more we will simply go along with what our government leaders—backed by Big Food-sponsored “experts,” of course—tell us. Who’s got the will to resist government encroachments on freedom? We just want to know when we can grab our next can of Coke and bag of Doritos.

Of course, our poor nutrition is not the only factor causing the rise of totalitarianism in our country, but it greases the wheels. It makes it more possible for actual violations of our rights to occur without protest. A fat and lazy populace is an easily controlled populace.

In short: if I were a dictator, surely I’d work to set up the food supply exactly like America’s current food supply.

Spiritual Consequences

Our pitiful diet not only impacts our politics; it also has dire consequences for our spiritual health. We know that, as creatures that are a body-soul unity, our physical health is directly connected to our spiritual health.

When I talk here about poor physical health – let me be clear – I am not talking about physical suffering that comes about due to disabilities, or broken bones, or health issues of that nature. And of course, suffering is the primary means by which we draw closer to Christ. The Saints all suffered. So one does not need to be perfectly healthy in order to be holy.

Our bad nutrition, however, impacts us in a different way than the historic modes of infirmity. The lethargy and addiction caused by our modern diet can destroy the spiritual life. If we don’t have the energy to get through the day beyond the minimum duties of our state of life, we aren’t going to advance in holiness. We’ll spend all our free time on activities (or, more precisely, inactivities) that don’t use up much physical or mental energy, instead of spending time in prayer or reading spiritual books or performing acts of charity.

Our food is designed to encourage gluttony and to undermine the virtue of temperance. You know the slogan, “You can’t eat just one?” That’s an admission by the food companies that they craft their products with the goal of making you addicted and overindulgent.

In short: if I were Satan, surely I’d work to set up the food supply exactly like America’s current food supply.

What We Can Do

Fortunately, the war for our health is not over; we can still resist the powerful forces making us docile toward totalitarian forces and lazy toward our spiritual health. We can eat healthily.

First, we need to educate ourselves. There is a wealth of information available on YouTube and other sites that address our terrible nutrition. One source is brother and sister Calley and Casey Means, who are advisors to RFK’s campaign. Start with their interview with Tucker Carlson. When educating yourself, I would just recommend avoiding the “official” channels—the government sources and those backed by Big Food (but I repeat myself). Remember: they are incentivized to keep you unhealthy and addicted.

Don’t just be educated, however. Take concrete steps in your own diet. Reduce added sugar from your diet. Avoid processed foods as much as possible. Begin intermittent fasting. Just doing these three things will radically change your health (physical, mental, and spiritual).

Be realistic, though. If you currently eat the typical American diet, you likely eat a lot of sugar and processed foods. Changing your diet will be hard. Don’t go cold turkey, as you will likely relapse. Instead, gradually reduce the bad foods and increase the good foods in your diet. Slowly build up your fasting time each day, until you are on an 18-6 schedule (18 hours not eating, 6 hours eating window).

We need to take back control of our physical, political, and spiritual lives. We cannot continue to allow our corrupt leaders (who are surely influenced by the demonic) to poison us into submission. Improve your diet starting today: it will be good for your physical health, yes, but it will also make you a better citizen and a better Christian.