Grace Price: Why Gen Z Faces the Biggest Health Crisis Yet| DSH #1485

And it's hard to grasp because you do have to be thinking a little bit further ahead than just the moment.

And most people, when you're hungry, are like, I'm hungry, I want to eat.

You shove food in your mouth and you move on.

But it's like, no, are you going to restrict what actual food you're going to eat, which is really fake food, or are you going to just restrict your lifespan because of the chronic diseases that these foods raise the risk for?

Okay, guys, we got Grace here from the Maha Girls Movement.

Thanks for what you're doing.

And I can't wait to see you grow in this space.

You've been chilling it, though.

So congrats.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I'm so excited to be here.

Yeah.

Have you always been really health conscious, health aware growing up?

Yeah, I was.

So I was lucky enough to have a mom who was like super fit when I was growing up and was always kind of pushing these things at me.

And then my dad's really into science.

And one summer, he just pushed this book towards me called Deep Nutrition by Dr.

Kate Shanahan.

And it completely blew my mind because I was super into biology.

Like that was my passion in high school.

But this book basically said that our DNA is actually not the key determinant of all of these chronic diseases we get in life, which I thought was to be true.

And it's an ideology that we all kind of believe, and it's almost become a dogma at this point.

When in reality, what I found when I read this book and other research papers, literally accessible online on PubMed, 90 to 95% of cancers, for example, are caused by environmental or lifestyle factors.

Wow.

That only leaves 5% to 10% 10%

for genetics.

So, why are we spending billions of dollars on gene therapies that are already very ineffective when we could actually be looking at these quote-unquote alternative therapies that I really think we should just call data-driven therapies because they're personalized?

They look at your whole body and they say, How are we going to treat your terrain to best kill this beef?

Yeah, that's profound data because I remember growing up, like really fearful over inheriting cancer genes, Alzheimer's gene.

I was the exact same thing.

Like, I took the 23 amend test and I had some of those gene breaks and I was like, damn.

Exactly.

No.

And you're just told, okay, I guess like sucks to suck.

And it's like, no, that's not true at all.

You have so much more power than you realize.

Wow.

So 90%.

That is,

that is really insane.

Right.

I mean, that shows the importance of diet on.

Yeah.

No, totally.

And food actually, I mean, is a huge portion of it.

And that's why I decided to make my documentary, Cancer, a foodborne illness, because a lot of people are like, well, obviously there's exercise.

And yes, that's true.

There are so many other factors.

But when you have such an important factor continually being missed, whenever, I mean, you see that cancer patients, when they're in the hospital, they're given these high protein shakes that contain like 30 grams of sugar.

Wow.

And we know that cancer is actually largely a metabolic disease.

So sugar feeds cancer growth.

And that means that the cells are rapidly dividing.

And you're giving these cancer patients sugar because you're just willfully denying the connection between food and this disease.

There's soda vending machines in a lot of hospitals.

Yeah, just right there.

Candy.

Oh, yeah.

It's just so frustrating because these patients, we should be giving the highest quality food because they deserve that.

Yeah.

What was the most shocking thing when you were making that cancer film that you discovered?

I think the most shocking was how we've absolutely ostracized people who have dedicated their lives to trying to figure out what's actually the root cause of these diseases.

Because look, I'm not trying to be anti-doctor or anti-holistic health.

I feel like I'm really just trying to hear what's going to work because diseases are problems.

We need to find a solution.

And that means we should look at all the data.

We shouldn't just listen to what's mainstream or what the most money goes behind.

So Professor Thomas Sefried, who's researched the metabolic origin of cancer versus it's not the somatic mutation theory, which is what most people believe.

So you just randomly get cancer because of a mutation or a genetic predisposition, and then your cells rapidly divide.

It doesn't account for why, though, or how we can impact it.

But if cancer is a metabolic disease, that basically just means it's energy dysfunction.

We're abusing our body's ability to convert food to energy.

So every time we have, I think it's 77 grams of added sugar is what the average American has per day.

Per day?

Yeah, we're recommended like less than 24 or 30 grams if you're a male, which is just terrifying.

So we're abusing our mitochondria's ability to break down sugar.

And then we wonder why we're so sick.

And we're literally causing our cells to have all these little fires around them that they can't put out on their own.

And it's our own doing.

So it.

It takes a lot to look at that and then see these people who have just been fighting for this message to come out.

Because even though it's hard to take ownership over that, it's freeing as well because it means that we actually might have a chance at fighting these diseases that most people can do nothing but just feel hopeless about.

Right.

Is gen z the sickest generation of all time yes they are but we also have an opportunity to be the healthiest if we can turn things around now

i do believe that if we continue on our current trajectory with all of us being pre-diabetic or having some sort of form of metabolic dysfunction whether it be insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome i also think that we're going to struggle a lot with these cancers that we're seeing.

I mean, early onset cancer rose by 80% in the past three decades.

And a lot of that is colorectal cancer, actually, which has to do with our gut microbiome or breast cancer, which is strongly tied to sugar, if you look at the papers as well.

And so, if those are the cancers that are rising, and we have these other metabolic diseases rising, it's all pointing towards what we're eating.

And we have to pay attention to that.

But I mean, college students don't care about that.

Even I'm talking to people here, and it's like hard to find people who really see that we're being poisoned.

And it's not our fault that big food companies realize we're super profitable and have basically created an entire environment where we are targeted by their food constantly that is made to be classifiably addictive because big tobacco company scientists literally transferred over to some of the biggest food conglomerates back in the early 2000s and then they exited before anyone could see.

So it is actually addiction that we're dealing with here.

And these chemical additives don't add any nutritional value.

They are nutrient void.

Yet when I go and testify in like the Texas state capitol, I get opposition from people who say that I'm actually taking away food from people in low-income families who need this food.

When in reality, this food is actually the reason why they have to struggle with chronic diseases or obesity rates that are off the charts right now.

But it's this broken idea.

All right, guys, Sean Kelly here, host of the Digital Social Hour podcast.

Just filmed 33 amazing episodes at Student Action Summit.

Shout out to Code Health, you know, sponsor these episodes, but also I took them before filming each day.

Felt amazing.

Just filmed 20 episodes straight and I'm not even tired, honestly.

Much like this, where it's just based off, you know, the code, the codes that are in the saline solution.

Code Health has been awesome.

Feel the drop and then go code yourself.

Idea of no, you're helping them by letting them go and spend their money on these foods that they're addicted to and I understand because I was addicted to them too we all are but that doesn't mean we should subsidize it through a program that has nutrition in the name yeah I grew up eating those pop-tarts like everyone else yes all those cereals that are now like filled with glyphosate and eggos that was like one of the legos yes yes lego my eggo like that was my brother's favorite thing and I was obsessed with that as a kid but as I was so happy, I mean, like, I always like to think about it this way.

My friend Nick Norwitz, he's amazing.

He's starting.

Oh, nice.

He's been starting this metabolic health revolution that I like to think I'm a bit of a part of.

But he said this in one YouTube video that really stuck with me, which is that we are restraining ourselves whenever we eat, no matter what.

You're either restricting calories, you're restricting a certain type of food, or maybe it's ultra-processed foods, or you're restricting your lifespan.

And I just think that's such a powerful image.

And it's hard to grasp because you do have to be thinking a little bit further ahead than just the moment.

And most people, when you're hungry, you're like, I'm hungry.

I want to eat.

You shove food in your mouth and you move on.

But it's like, no, are you going to restrict what actual food you're going to eat, which is really fake food?

Or are you going to just restrict your lifespan because of the chronic diseases that these foods raise the risk for?

They'll end up paying more in the long run.

Totally.

With all the health issues.

Way more.

And what's crazy too is like, I mean, even my friend Lexi Noel, she's right over here.

She's shown that the foods in Costco, your local grocery store that most people go to, or even if you go to a gas station, if you get whole foods there, it can be less expensive than the ultra-processed foods.

So even the whole dialogue of, oh, well, you know, eating whole foods and real foods isn't realistic because that's only for people who have a ton of money.

That's not true.

The hard part that we don't want to accept is that we truly are addicted and we don't want to stop eating Cheetos.

We don't want to stop eating donuts.

We love these things so much.

They give us dopamine rises in our brain.

And so we mistake that for energy when, in reality, we're causing our body's ability to create good energy to collapse in on itself.

And over time, it's going to break down.

And that's when you get these chronic

when you see overweight kids, how much of the blame should be put on parents in that situation?

I always put 100% of the blame on parents.

100%.

Yes.

Because, and the reason is, I think that when you are under someone else's roof, you are entirely impacted by what those people are letting you put in your mouth.

So I actually, one of my most viral threads on X, I wrote that it was child abuse to give your kid fruit juice.

That was super controversial.

And what I really meant by that is a lot of these fruit juices, like take your typical tropicana orange juice, they have like 36 grams of sugar in just like a cup.

Add two, right?

Yes, added sugar.

It's not natural sugar.

And on top top of that, there's natural sugar as well.

So it's, it's actually, it's terrifying how much sugar is in this.

And there's research that shows the first meal you have of the day, if you spike your glucose then, so just high amount of sugar in your bloodstream, it actually impacts your energy the rest of the day.

So you're setting up these kids to have zero focus and energy in school.

So I'm like, why would you do that to your kids?

And it's fine because there's not enough information out there for parents.

So I feel for them, but at the same time, parents have to take ownership of what goes into their kids' bodies.

But then once the kids are in college, it's up to them.

And that's where like I come in and I'm so excited about Maha girls because there's this in-between age where, you know, you see all the maha mom influencers and that's great.

I'm like, yes, we need moms to take ownership.

Like I was just talking about.

But what about when you're that age where you're no longer under your parents' roof?

but you also want to be a mom in the future.

So you're hoping you're fertile.

You're hoping that you know what to eat so that you can be fit and healthy and you can hopefully find someone who you want to date and like.

Like you actually need to feel your best then and you need to be at your optimal health then because you're preparing for this future that you're going to have.

And it's the focus is longevity.

So it's like the best time possible to really get ahead in your health.

And so that's why we created Maha Girls to reach out to all these college girls so that we can be like, hey, like, here's what's real.

Here's what's not.

Because I mean, you can't even trust our health organization to tell you that.

You're like the counter movement to freshman 15.

Yeah.

Yes.

No, it's so true.

I love that you said that because I'm like, I want to have a shirt about that because we've normalized that or we've normalized girls having acne all the time.

I have acne and I have a lot of people.

It's terrible acne growing up.

Yeah.

No, it's terrible.

I have it.

And every time, like, I would go to a dermatologist, they're like, go get on Accutane.

I was on that.

I regret it.

Yeah.

No.

And I'm like, I mean, okay, I could do that, but is it going to change?

And I have friends who have done Accutane three times and it still isn't working.

But then if you read studies, studies, it's like sugar is actually really closely tied to overproduction of sebum in your skin.

And you're like, oh, well, there you go.

Like, so it's just when we're getting such broken feedback from the people who we're supposed to trust, it means we really do have to take that next step of ownership over our health and come together because Gen Z isn't one person.

Like, we're a huge group.

And if we actually like boycott some of these things, they would change.

Like, I don't think my generation realizes the power that we have over these big food companies, but instead, we've just kind of let them determine this stuff because we're so passive.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I regret accusation.

It worked on my acne, but I still have side effects to this day.

Yeah.

My fingers go numb.

Yeah.

Like I got nerve damage.

It's, it's real what these medications do, or like SSRIs, every time someone's depressed.

So then you just are numb to everything in your life.

Yeah.

It's not a good way to live.

Not at all.

No.

No, they never asked you about

what's causing the issue also.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What's what's the deal with that?

Why do they never say, like, hey, what you have for breakfast this morning?

Hey, did you stay up till one in the morning on

me if they are?

Yes, exactly.

It's like, these are this is reality.

We're not living in this make-believe world.

Yeah, yeah, that freshman 15 stuff needs to go.

That's it.

That shouldn't be a cool thing to do.

No, it's not cool at all.

That pizza at 12 a.m.

when you're studying should not be cool at all.

But it is.

It's like that's what we normalize, you know?

Yeah.

What's next for you?

What's the big mission this year?

I think the biggest mission is getting Maha Girls off the ground.

It's launching my app, Nori, which I have in test flight right now, actually.

I'm going to announce it whenever I'm on Alex Clark's panel.

But I basically created Nori just because I wanted to have a way that could help people

figure out what to actually remove and add to their plate in a stepwise process.

Because what I can't stand is on social media, it's so easy to think everyone's perfect.

And we know that's not true in reality like everyone i struggle with my health still all my friends who are on mahogany we all still struggle but the difference is trying and trying to understand what's good and stuff and so nori actually has a process that meets you where you're at so say you're like 80

ultra process that's what you eat and that's what most people are at like i think 76 of our daily caloric intake comes from ultra processed foods wow yeah so if we have that much of our food intake coming from all I hope you guys are enjoying the show.

Please don't forget to like and subscribe.

It helps the show a lot with the algorithm.

Thank you.

Then we actually need a process that's going to meet us there and give us easy steps so we can feel good, but slowly adjust.

You can't just suddenly go on a diet and hope that like that's going to work because it doesn't.

And you end up binge eating after.

But if it's like, hey, next time you go to P.

Terry's with your friends, which how many times have you like been on your your health spree and then you go, your friends like, hey, let's go to McDonald's or hey, let's like hit up one of our favorite fast food restaurants.

And you're like, well, I'm not going to say no because that's just weird.

You don't want to be the weird person.

But what you could do is instead of ordering your burger with the bun, just remove the bun.

That's it.

You've removed like a majority of the chemical additives.

That's what I do.

I ate a burger.

Yeah, no bun.

No bun.

But then you're still getting, I mean, getting meat.

And then hopefully if they just do salt and pepper, like you can literally do that at McDonald's and it's just just meat, salt, pepper, if you just ask for it that way.

So that's what Nori does.

And eventually the goal is to take you from fake foods to real foods because I believe that we are supposed to eat food the way that God intended for us to, the way that it occurs in the planet.

It's not supposed to be the way that we see it in the story.

I'm not a fan of the lab grown meat.

Me neither.

Spooks me out.

No, no.

Why?

Why on earth would we do that?

It's like,

it's just one of those things where at a certain point too, and people get really mad at me because they're like, Grace, you're not an expert.

You're 19 years old.

And I'm like, I agree.

I get so wrong all the time.

I'm not an expert.

I never claim to be.

Am I a 19-year-old who likes to read though, who spends a lot of time on her computer trying to understand any other cause for these diseases than just what we're told by our doctors?

Yes, because I don't believe in half-assed answers.

I think there are reasons for why we feel this way.

And I'm not going to stop at anything until I figure that out.

And a lot of it does come down to common sense, which most people have access to.

You don't need to be a certified dietician to look at a lab-grown meat or to look at a bag of Cheetos and compare that to chicken and say, which one is real and naturally occurring?

And it sounds stupid and silly, but that's seriously how far gone we are.

And someone has to say it.

I'll continue to preach about sugar because people are like, everyone knows sugar is bad for you.

Do you still eat it every day?

Yes.

So clearly it hasn't hit you how bad it is for you.

Do you think high fructose corn syrup should be banned?

I totally think it should.

I think that there's been really riveting research on how high fructose corn syrup and fructose in general is actually an analog to things like alcohol.

So when we look at non-alcoholic fatty liver disease rates, which have actually risen a ton and compare that to just fatty liver disease.

When it's being broken down metabolically, it's actually essentially the same in our liver and increases the risk.

So that's why, without alcohol, we're like, why are all these kids now at risk at non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is a terrible disease to get diagnosed with?

I mean, it's really hard to actually figure out whether you have it as well.

And it kind of creeps up on you because you don't realize it.

But if you have that, I mean, that's just so brutal.

And hyperdose corn syrup is in everything.

Everything.

This is what it shouldn't be in.

Ketchup.

Yep.

Even the buns and jelly.

Buns.

Yes.

No, it's, it's insane.

Chips, like literally everything.

Like, I love going to the grocery stores and pulling out the yuka app.

Yes.

And just scanning stuff.

Yuka is awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Everything's super low, even at Whole Foods, like, which is like one of the healthier grocery stores, I guess.

But like, if you go down some of those aisles, you'll just see five out of 100, eight out of 100.

Crazy, right?

Dude, Whole Foods drives me insane because I'm like, they make you pay so much.

And And then you check it and you're like, this is not more clean.

Why am I paying premium for this?

Good marketing.

Good branding.

It's good branding.

Yeah.

But if you go to like central market, H-E-B, even Costco sometimes has more wide variety of brands that actually score higher.

Yeah, Costco's stepping up lately with the health stuff.

Yes.

No, they really are.

And that I get really excited about that because I do feel.

very concerned about food deserts right now.

Yeah.

And just making sure that people do have access to real food because we can continue to say stop drinking soda as much as you want, but if they don't even have access to real food, you don't even know like what it is like to feel good.

And I mean, everyone deserves access to food that nourishes them.

And I mean, whether that means we start like mini grocery stores that are basically next to every single 7-Eleven, I'm like, that would hopefully make it more accessible.

It'd be cool if it was almost like an automated process where like people go in.

It's just farmers bring their stuff.

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Yep, but instead, it's in a local store right next to the gas station.

I'm like, why do we not have that?

There needs to be, so I'm in Vegas, which isn't a food desert, but like, if I want to order from the Amish people, the shipping is like $200.

Wow.

So it kind of sucks.

But yeah, the food desert stuff is no joke.

Yeah.

No, it's, it's real.

And it's definitely something that I hope to work on in the future after doing my app and all of this awareness stuff with college students and getting college students involved.

Yeah.

I love it.

Well, where can people support you, find you, and join the mission?

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram and TikTok and X as Grace Price.

I also highly recommend following the Maha Girls account on Instagram if you are just in your 20s or even if you're a high school student and you want to learn more about how you can take ownership over your health.

And I would also recommend checking out my documentary on X, which is cancer, a foodborne illness.

I made that in high school, and I think it's pretty informative on how we are being lied to as Americans about

what truly

these big food conglomerates and our most trusted health organizations want for us and our health.

I love it.

Check her out, guys.

Thanks for coming on.

Thank you, Sean.

Yeah.