MAHA & The Health Revolution: What This Means for Women’s Bodies

Dr. Brighten: We are facing a reproductive crisis. One in six are facing infertility, and there is people in the research industry who are blowing the whistle saying, this could be the end of our species. There's a lot of areas of women's health that's been neglected. What's maha's plans for women's health? Because there's definitely concerns about cutting NIH funding.

Are there plans to further women's health studies? 

Alex Clark: It's such a good question. I just haven't heard anything specifically like 

Narrator: Alex Clark 

Alex Clark: is the host and creator of Cultural Apothecary, 

Narrator: a top 10 global health and wellness podcast, where she explores discussions on physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

Narrator 2: Known for posing direct questions and featuring guests with a range of counter-cultural perspectives. She has built a platform that sparks debate and conversation. 

Narrator: Her work has been featured in the Washington Post, NBC News, the Atlantic, page six, the New York Post Fox News, and more 

Dr. Brighten: recently, Trump is pushing through to make [00:01:00] IVF expanded.

And I know this is something you're not a fan of, but I am curious. Is there any point in terms of the reproductive crisis that we're facing where you would be open to IVF being technology that's being leveraged? 

Alex Clark: Everything I talk about and believe in when it comes to MAHA stuff and, and health, I mean, that's all non-bias.

I will say. This is where my bias, I mean openly. I'm gonna tell you I'm biased on this. Um, and that comes from. 

Dr. Brighten: Welcome to the Dr. Brighton Show. I'm your host, Dr. Jolene Brighton, and today's episode is a unique one. Today's guest is one that some of you are gonna be upset with me because I didn't ask her harder questions.

Others will say I asked her too hard of questions and some people are probably gonna be downright disappointed that I would even have this conversation at all. Today's guest is Alex Clark, a prominent leader in the Maha Movement, and you may be asking yourself, what is a doctor? Who's going through IVF doing, sitting down with someone who's part of Maha?

And the answer [00:02:00] is, well, that I wanted answers. So there's a lot of information going around online. And social media in the news and among influencers, and I really wanted to sit down with somebody who could answer my questions and help wade through the truth. Now, what I loved about this conversation is that Alex and I could come together as humans having a mutual respect for our humanity, and that she didn't shy away from any of my questions.

I certainly had more, but unfortunately we didn't have the time to get into all of those. Now I'd like to remind you that I am not a journalist, and you may be disappointed that I didn't drag her or hate on her in the same way. You might be disappointed that I did ask her some difficult questions that were a bit uncomfortable for her to answer.

But in reality, I believe that no problems have ever been solved by division or yelling at each other from across [00:03:00] the aisle. So I wanted to sit down and get my questions answered, and I hope this episode helps you also find the answers you are looking for. I hope you'll stay for the entire interview because two things I wanna highlight.

One is I asked a hard hitting question about women's health and it really highlighted some glaring issues in the Maha movement, and Alex met me wholeheartedly for that discussion. And number two is at the end of the podcast, I'm going to provide you an update about what happened when we turned the cameras off.

Alex Clark, welcome to the Dr. 

Alex Clark: Brighton Show. Thank you. I am such a fan of yours and have loved your books. I have your first book Beyond the Pill. That is your first one, right? That's my second. First is a postpartum book all about healing your body naturally. Okay, well, God willing, in a couple years maybe I'll be seeking that out then.

Uh, I should have brought it for you then. I know. So that's exciting. But yes, I love Beyond the Pill and, um, just going on my entire birth control journey. I mean, you [00:04:00] were one of the people that I first sought out and was just trying to learn as much as possible from 

Dr. Brighten: Aw. Well, thank you. I mean, that's like, I didn't think that's where we're gonna start, but I really appreciate that.

I'm working on receiving compliments, you know, I feel like. You know, so often it's like, okay, yeah, okay, I'm uncomfortable. But I really appreciate that and I love hearing that because as we were saying before we started the recording, like you do all this work and then you just sometimes forget there's all these other people on the other side whose lives you've touched.

So it's not lost on me like that. I got to have an impact on your life. Yes. And I love that. Yes. So I want to start this conversation talking about your health journey a little bit. 'cause you went from like a junk foodie to like a Whole Foods foodie. And I'm just wondering, was there like a pivotal moment in your life that inspired that change?

Oh, for 

Alex Clark: sure. So for me personally, I grew up, uh, we thought that, you know, concern around organic and GMOs and all of this was just kind of woo woo hippie. Yeah. My life growing up, I mean, we lived off [00:05:00] of ultra processed food. Now that being said, my mom love, loves for me to point out that, you know, every meal was homemade.

Yeah. Which is true. But snacking constantly, you know, the types of ingredients that were going into those foods, all of that. We didn't know anything about seed oils or any of that. So, um, it was very ultra process. I have vivid memories of being in high school, going through the lunch line. I was very, very picky eater my entire life.

Mm-hmm. And my lunch was a red fruit punch and like six rice Krispy treats, and that's all we, and you're like, 

Dr. Brighten: but it was red. Listen, I ate crumb donuts for lunch through high school. Yeah. And I. Thought that was lunch. So no judgment exactly here, 

Alex Clark: but I mean, it was just awful, awful food. I, I just wasn't fueling my body at all.

Mm-hmm. Um, and then of course I was put on birth control at 14 or 15 years old and was on that for about a decade. And what happened was the pandemic ended up rolling around. Okay. And during the pandemic for me, I had never thought anything, I don't even think I had ever heard the phrase big pharma, big food.

And I mean, I've been in politics now for quite a [00:06:00] while. Uh, and so, and I've grown up conservative and all this, but just in conservative circles politically, we never talked about pharma or food. That was very, very much a liberal thing. Why do you think that is? It's, they're, they were just, they were, first, they understood this, um, you know, health wellness.

Mm-hmm. I think that. I think that conservatives were kind of taken for a wild ride by big food. Okay. Uh, when these conversations would come up and people would raise concern, the food lobbyists would say things like, oh, it's an anti-free thing to tell people like what they should or shouldn't eat or crack down on certain green smart play.

Exactly. And so to conservatives, we eat that up. Like we're very, very vulnerable to that type of rhetoric. So then we're like, oh yeah, like no anti-free, like, we want choice, so don't do anything about the chemicals in our food. Yeah. That being said, during the pandemic, then when they rolled out the vaccine mandates, I just felt deeply in my core, that's extremely unsettling.

Mm-hmm. Like I didn't understand telling a group of [00:07:00] people, you have to get this in order to keep your job. You have to inject this, or you can't participate in public life. Uh, you know, having to prove on a fake vaccine passport or whatever. Like, oh, I took the shot. You know, I, I just thought that just doesn't seem American to me.

Mm-hmm. Um, and so that first triggered me to start like. Kind of thinking about it, but it was listening to a podcast actually, uh, where this woman was talking about how she was addicted to Adderall and it was like legal meth is how she described it. And she was kind of going through all of this and, and I just thought, wow, that's like really strong language to say that a legal prescription could be kind of almost like methamphetamine for people.

Um, and I started googling more on that, um, and I thought, wow, that's interesting. At the same time, Hulu came out with their show Dope Sick, which was all about how Purdue Pharma had known that Oxycontin was addictive killing people, and they didn't care because billions were coming in. And I [00:08:00] was so that I was like, this is an American true crime story.

Mm-hmm. And so I started Googling, well, has the FDA ever kind of hid other side effects from drugs? Or are there other prescription drugs on the market where we're not told the full truth about side effects or, or potential harms? Yeah. And that led me to information. I mean, I think a lot of it was from you on hormonal birth control.

Mm-hmm. And I had never heard this. And I had been on the pill for, um, nine or 10 years at that point, and just was shook to my core that no one had ever told me this, that at every single, uh, you know, appointment at my GY gynecologist office or whatever, it was just automatic. Like, okay, we're re-upping this prescription.

No. How are you feeling on this? How are you doing? Um, and I was so disturbed, I thought, how are women not being told this? This is. This is an egregious crime that women are not fully given consent on what we're taking. Mm-hmm. Um, and so [00:09:00] luckily a couple years right before this, I'd gotten off the pill, but I didn't un, I just, it was a gut feeling of like, I don't think I need to be taking this.

Yeah. And so I just didn't, but I didn't even know any of the side effects or anything till that moment. And so from then on, I just kept talking about this with my audience, my followers on social media, and they're all conservative young women who very similar to me, grew up in, in circles like that, where they just weren't talking about health and things.

Yeah. Uh, and so I started posting about the pill first, and I just saw the numbers, the shares on my Instagram stories, everything exploded. And I was like, whoa, I've hit a nerve here. Mm-hmm. These women have never heard this, 

Dr. Brighten: that, and when they bring up their concerns, they're told it's just them. Yes. It's just you.

It's not a pill problem. You are the one who's broken. And I think. A lot of times when you share that it's this moment of connection, not only are they feeling like I'm validated, I'm heard, I'm understood, but for the first time I'm not being gaslit. And I think that's so powerful in women sharing their own stories.

I mean, that's so much of [00:10:00] it, of what you're, you're sharing your experience. Yeah. And I think a 

Alex Clark: lot of people just were like, they were like, where are you getting these sources? Where are you hearing this from? I mean, it was just like, we had never turned this stone over Yeah. When it comes to women's health.

Um, and so from then on, I started sprinkling in my, in my podcast before I rebranded to Culture Apothecary. I started sprinkling in health and wellness, uh, episodes. I did an episode with Dr. Leah Gordon on, uh, birth control and, and hormones. And it was just like, it was crazy. I just saw the data in my numbers of, of podcast downloads of like, they want this information.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: So I just kept pressing in and, uh, led me down from there into all of food and everything. And I just was like, health and wellness. This is going to be the most pivotal talking point for women when it comes to conservative politics. Like I saw the writing on the wall. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. You know what's really interesting?

So I was actually talking with your assistant about this. So like I have been in the health space for almost [00:11:00] 30 years. I have been in nutrition for two decades, and back when I was eating organic, trying to get six to nine servings of vegetables, like all of these things, I was called a hippie. I was called woowoo.

What I saw is that it was very much, and, and here's the thing, some people listening, there's just gonna be like, why are we political? Because food is political, because pharmaceuticals are political, because all of this is political. Thank you lobbyists. Yeah, exactly. For making that happen. But it was always women who would consider themselves liberal, who wanted to get off birth control, who were questioning birth control, uh, who were wanting to eat more quality Whole Foods.

And it was only in this last year. So. I love having an urban homestead. I love canning. I love, uh, I had chickens for 12 years, like growing my own food. I, you know, I was always called this crunchy liberal for that. Then in this last year, suddenly everyone called me conservative and they're like, your [00:12:00] right wing conservative because of all of this.

And I'm like, what changed? 'cause it wasn't me, right? I didn't change. And I, I felt very sad by the gatekeeping, but also the, the, the fact that that became a dirty term, like a word you didn't wanna be called, and a way to manipulate people, to stop questioning their food, to start turning away from all of that.

And it's just so interesting because what we have seen is that now we're seeing both sides of the spectrum, both liberal, liberal, and conservative, are coming together on the same issue. And yet the way media tried to make it divisive and tried to flip it because who funds the media? 

Alex Clark: Yeah. Well if people, it's the pharma companies.

Yeah. And so, and so, this is part of, I mean, one of the, the most important initiatives that RFK Junior is working on with the Maha Movement and Coalition, the Make America Healthy Again coalition is you have to. Make it so [00:13:00] the pharma companies cannot add, spend and give this much revenue to the news companies.

Mm-hmm. Because that controls the information that they report and it controls the way they report. Yeah. So during the pandemic, they're shilling this, this medical product that they want everybody to be taking. So of course they're, they're like, Hey, we gotta put this narrative, if you don't get this, you're this, you're an extremist, you know, you want people to die.

Uh, like all of this extremists, like bias, grandma Taylor, that was the big one, right? Yeah. Yeah. And it, it's just so sad because you're exactly right. It was, it was definitely the left. And, and I think it's funny, like, so when I started talking about this NBC news and Rolling Stone, uh, and, and all these different, very mainstream media outlets started saying that I was a right-wing extremist and that, you know, talking about things like raw milk and birth control, that I was like, some kind of like Christian nationalist and all this.

And I just said, hold on a second. In the seventies, it was a group of liberal feminists [00:14:00] mm-hmm. Who attended the Nelson Pi pill hearings and were saying, Hey, you need to give us information on an insert with this pill. Because something is happening to us. We are not obviously being told about the side effects women deserve to know.

The reason we have that insert is because of these liberal feminists, they were not Christian right wing extremists who were saying like, you know, we're antibi birth control. Mm-hmm. It was the left. So for me then to come out and I'm saying, these women were right, and listen, I'm not gonna say that about most talking points on the left, but as a lifelong conservative, I'm willing to say conservatives were wrong on this issue.

The left had it right. Give them credit where credit was due, and I just thought it was so weird. I'm like, why am I being made the enemy? This is unfair reporting. To this point. Also, when I started learning all about birth control, you know who I gave tons of credit to and started talking about, I started telling everyone to watch the business of birth control.

Mm-hmm. Ricky Lakes documentary. I 

Dr. Brighten: was in 

Alex Clark: it. Okay. Yes. And we got a lot of hate for it. Ricky, [00:15:00] her, or whoever is running her socials, responded and said, like, um, we, when I was talking about birth control, they, and I was telling people in the middle of this to go watch this documentary that explained this whole story when I was talking about birth control, they were messaging me on Instagram being like, you know, we talked about this first.

I'm like, 'cause they're very, they're not right wing. Yeah. And they were upset that I was talking about it. And I was like, Hey, I just need you to know that I'm telling my audience, I'm directing them to your documentary. Yeah. I have been totally, I'm not acting like I'm the first person to be talking about this.

I'm the last Yeah, that's the point. My audience has never heard this, so I was hurt and confused why I was being made the v the the villain when I am just now. I'm like, don't we want this? If women's health is truly your issue, which is what the left has been saying this whole time, we care about women's health.

And for the right to finally come to the table and say, okay, we are humbly with our tail between our legs coming to you saying we were wrong. You were right. Let's work together. Now they're, they're turning their back on us. [00:16:00] And then the question you have to ask is why, what is motivating that, why was it that during the 2024 presidential election, only one candidate was willing to talk about these issues?

Mm-hmm. Why? What? Why is that? I mean, as a voter, if you are a lifelong, you know, health and wellness junkie person, that it's like, these are, this has always been your issue. You've always cared about this. You have to be like, why is my party the only one ignoring 

Dr. Brighten: this? Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. And you know, it's funny 'cause I'm like, I know Abby and Ricky very well.

I'm like, that doesn't sound like them, um, to do that. So I'm like, I wonder like, because they were very much like, let's bring everybody, uh, to the table about that. But it is something that I find it very confusing. I find everything about the birth control conversation very confusing. I have been labeled anti pill.

I have had hit pieces written on me about everywhere where, you know, one minute they're just like, oh, the same thing. She's, you know, [00:17:00] this Christian nationalist. And then they're like, wait a minute, we don't think she is, but like she's something devious. Like, what name can we call her? And I'm like, I must be really confusing to you because I'm just interested in women getting informed consent and supporting them in that.

But I do find it very confusing why, and I think a lot of my listeners can understand that if. We come together as women, as ovary owners, we say no more. We want better from medicine. We're much more powerful. And if we can leave behind the politics, we're not going to agree on all these things, but actually come together.

I mean, we would be unstoppable in creating change in women's medicine because we are the customers. We can demand that change. And you know, to your point, when it comes to birth control, so often, you know, people have so, so this is what's interesting. You brought up the feminists we're rallying. Yes.

That's why we got the package insert. Pharma was like, we see [00:18:00] you feminists. We know what you want. Now we're gonna market this differently. Instead of, oh you, you know, this is a way for you to delay pregnancy. We're gonna market it as this is a way for you to achieve your aspirations to grow equal to men and to grow the corporate ladder.

I mean, you will hear. And there are very, I mean, they're not even that old school 'cause they're still around gynecologists who will say, when you take the pill, you match your hormones. You're, you're more like men. That gives you the ability when you don't have to menstruate, then you can be just like men.

And I'm like, but like our hormones give us superpowers. Yeah. And like we, you know, and this is like somehow controversial to say, but like, it, it's, when we're cycling naturally, it's not politically 

Alex Clark: expedient to admit that your side, who you thought was a champion for women's rights has been preying on you and manipulating you to sell a product that is all women are.

Um, and, and by the way, the right is in this too, and I'm gonna say which your audience may disagree with, but I'm gonna say [00:19:00] until President Trump, both the left and the right were completely compromised by pharma. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and also I would say President Trump first term, I think he's now with, with joining with RFK, I think he's opening his eyes to some things he had never considered before.

Um, but historically, I mean. The, everything, our entire government has been captured by these institutions, which is what we're trying to fix now. Um, but it's, that's, yeah, it's very non-partisan. Um, and so if that is our issue is helping women, women's health, all those different things, then it's like, okay, looking at every single administration separately, who is willing, each election cycle, who's willing to get this done, who's willing to, you know, to get to the bottom of it, to get to the truth, to not just use women as a commodity.

Mm-hmm. Um, that's what I'm interested in. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well, we're one of two countries in the entire world that allows pharma ads on our television to our children, to everybody. And they're telling them how medicine should [00:20:00] go and what to ask your doctor for. And that I find appalling. I wanna bring up though, you, you brought up Trump and you brought up, uh, his interest in health.

The big criticism. A lot of people are like, all of these health and wellness influences are getting played, uh, that Trump is just using this as a way to get votes to get people to rally behind him. What are your thoughts about that? Uh, well, first 

Alex Clark: of all, if you hate President Trump, I would guess as a woman, one of the first things you're gonna say is like, he just has such a big ego.

He has a big ego. I would agree he does. I think that's undeniable. Now, how can we use that to our advantage? We have an issue that we deeply care about, that he's campaigning on. President Trump hates being wrong, and he hates the media being able to say anything negative about him. He has one goal this term.

It is to leave an unremarkable positive legacy on the United States. He wants every positive headline that he could [00:21:00] possibly get. So his ego is motivating him to make sure that he follows through on this MAHA thing. Because we gained eight points in women voters. Uh, and he knows that this is non-partisan.

He knows that nobody can be upset if he truly proves that. By Instating RFK Junior to Health and Human Services, we were able to show trends in reversing chronic disease within the first two years. Mm-hmm. He is desperate to have his ego stroked and get those positive headlines. So what I am saying is that if you think that this is all a big sham, how come within 24 hours of winning the election, actually less than 24 hours, he had the entire Maha Coalition at Mar-a-Lago.

That was one of the first things he wanted to talk about and have meetings on, is how are we gonna do this? Mm-hmm. It was very important to him. Um, it's been very important to him. I mean, since now we've got, we've got RFK Junior, uh, as Health and Human Services Secretary, he was confirmed. They are full steam ahead.

Um. He's asking [00:22:00] those questions. He, he's saying like, look, go wild, go crazy. Get to the bottom of, I want to know why we're seeing, you know, rates of autism skyrocket. Is it vaccines? Is it the food, is it plastics? You know, what is it like they're, they're not like, it's going to be this, we're going to say like, they're like, let's investigate and turn over every stone.

Get to the bottom of this because Trump wants the glory. And so you can be like, well, that's why I hate him, but also like. That being said, if he's able to accomplish it, even if that's the real underlying motive, who cares if Children's Health benefits? Who cares? Mm-hmm. So, um, I would say, uh, he is demonstrated already that he's focusing on this.

I mean, he's got RFK in there. He could have shook RF K's hand on stage in Glendale, Arizona. Um, when RFK came out and said, look, we're gonna work together, and then been like, Baba Peace, you know, I'm not really working with you. But he has been consistently with him. I mean, I know everybody in the Maha Coalition, like they're having meetings, they're there in DC I [00:23:00] mean weekly.

Mm-hmm. Getting this done and starting because President Trump said like, you got two years to prove that you can make a difference in this, and then we're gonna have to have conversations. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: So RFK is a lot of pressure to do this. What happened in that meeting at Mar-a-Lago? Just strategizing. Yeah.

Like what should be the first things that we are going to focus on once RFK is confirmed? Like, should that be pharma ads off television? Should it be school lunches? So what I'm hearing is that we are tackling school, public school lunch. Okay. Is gonna be one of the first things. Um, because it's, it's, it's so bad, it's so atrocious and it's affecting so many, it, it, it, it's affecting basically every metric of children's health.

Like, I mean the mental health, uh, you know, the ability to concentrate, learn information in school, uh, the obesity epidemic, uh, you know, pre-diabetes, all those different things. So we have to get that under control. Um, and everybody's, that's gonna be something everyone's excited about. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I would also put my vote in for educating on nutrition.

Starting at a very young age. Yeah. So 

Alex Clark: that's another thing. Yeah. So what I'm hearing is you're one, so I asked [00:24:00] specifics. I was like, I wanna know, like, you know, we have four years. Yeah. Which honestly is nothing in like, in political life, I guess it's long in the scheme of things. It's not, four years is 

Dr. Brighten: not, you know, so it's like to change 

Alex Clark: it, the 

Dr. Brighten: Titanic, right?

Yeah. So 

Alex Clark: that's the thing. We're on a sinking ships, so like, who gets lifeboats first is kind of what we're dealing with right now. Um, and so that was the other thing is that they said we're going to create a, a true, uh, true nutrition guidelines mm-hmm. For the United States. Um, which I'm very excited to see what that's gonna look like.

Yeah. 'cause I think it's gonna be amazing. I think my plate was compromised. Obviously we know the food pyramid was a sham. So like, this is, I think gonna be the first time we actually get real, not bought and paid for information on like, okay, what would ideal nutrition look like in health guidelines look like in the United States?

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. So one of the big. Criticisms of Maha is that there has been almost like a hyper fixation, but the focus has gone towards seed oils and food dyes. Mm-hmm. And that what hasn't been addressed are concepts like food deserts, health [00:25:00] disparities, access to healthcare. And so a lot of people are like, y'all are focusing on the wrong thing.

You're not taking the whole picture, but you're behind the scenes. You've got the intel, so I wanna hear it 

Alex Clark: from you first. Yeah. Well, we're focusing on all of that. I mean mm-hmm. Food deserts, um, subsidizing the wrong food, you know, putting junk food on food stamps and all of that. I mean, that's all being addressed.

Mm-hmm. Uh, states are having hearings on that issue. I mean, every, I think last week we just did an Arizona, um, soda on, on, um, you know, food stamps or whatever. Yeah. So we are covering all of these different things, but, uh, the reason why you saw a lot of news in the media from people like me, VNI Hari. Uh, Jason Karp talking about Kellogg's, for example.

Um, this past fall we protested at the Kellogg's headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, which is a very interesting experience. The reason we were focusing on that is because it's an easy, simple concept on, I. Understanding how pervasive the chemicals are in our food and, and [00:26:00] dangerous for like the average American parent to understand.

Mm-hmm. You, I, I could sit here and Yeah. We could go into like food deserts and all. It is like very like, complicated. Like it's too much, 

Dr. Brighten: but you are focusing. 

Alex Clark: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean that's part of the whole, like if you are looking at the breakdown of like the entire, like what all does, you know, what would we like to touch on mm-hmm.

With the Make America Healthy again coalition, I mean, that's all in there. Mm-hmm. Um, but there are different people focusing on different things. I mean, like Dr. Mark Hyman, I mean he's very liberal. Dr. Mark Hyman, staunch, lifelong Democrat working with RFK and then, I mean the food subsidies and what's on food stamps and all that.

I mean, that's something that they're hyper focusing on. Cory Booker, also Senator Cory Booker, a democrat from New Jersey, he also like, cares a lot about that. Um, but with us protesting Kellogg's. It was just something simple to, uh, to, to teach them. So, you know, every American family has had bought Fruit Loops for their kids being like, okay, here's the science, here's the evidence.

Like BHT, artificial dyes. We know this causes cancer. We know that this causes behavioral problems. Mm-hmm. You have an American [00:27:00] company who is making the same cereal without those chemicals for every other country in the world, but they're poisoning your kids. So it's just a gateway introductory. Mm-hmm.

Into. A vast majority of issues that we want to tackle with Maha. But it is just like a simple thing for Americans to grasp. Okay, Kellogg's big evil corporation, they're willing to do this for everybody else, but not American kids. Why? That's it. And so it's just a first thing like, okay, we can get behind this.

And I mean, there's, stocks have been tanking since October. Uh, it's so bad. I mean, there's rumors that they're gonna get bought out. Like it's, it's, and they refuse to change. They held up a sign when we were protesting that said, get off our lawn. 

Dr. Brighten: I saw that. Like, and they're literally crazy. Bad 

Alex Clark: move. I don't know who your PR person is.

Horrible. Move. So, so it's it and here. And are we protesting Kellogg's Fruit Loops and wanting 'em to take out these ingredients because then we're all of a sudden we're gonna be telling everyone to feed their kids Fruit Loops? No, but the reality is, is that Fruit Loops and. Cereals like that, and food like that is what's number one being served in all of our public schools.

That is part of a [00:28:00] healthy breakfast is that fruit loops and things like that are op uh, offered to children, but also your average and especially low income American families who don't have access and aren't, you know, uh, uh, listening to talks like this all day, every day. They've never heard this. This is the basics.

You gotta start with the basics. You know, seed oils, uh, focusing on one ingredient. So whether that's artificial dyes or seed oils, teaching the American how to read an ingredient, average American, how to read the ingredient label, what to look for, whether that's starting with seed oils or starting with artificial dye.

Okay, now I understand how to recognize this on a food label. I can avoid it for my kids. I know the harms. Now let's move on to the next thing. Now let's move on to the next thing. Yeah. Now I wanna learn about what are food deserts, what are, you know, blah, blah, blah, like, so it's. Y Americans, we, they've never heard it.

Mm-hmm. They've never heard it. So, um, people that are more advanced, especially like people that listen to you and everything, they probably are like, well, this is old news. I've known this for 40 years, GMOs, whatever. But again, remember, uh, average Americans never heard it, and definitely the conservative movement [00:29:00] has never heard it.

Mm-hmm. So all of these like Boomer Trump supporter parents of my friends, they are going to me like, oh my gosh. I just heard the most fascinating interview with Callie Meanses and Casey Meanses on Tucker Carlson. That Tucker Carlson interview that Casey and Kelly did was the number one most listened to podcast episode of the entire year last year worldwide.

That changed lives on a level that we can't even comprehend when it comes to all of these things that we have been fighting for in this movement because these, this is like generations of people who have ignored it, thought it was crazy because of the messenger, because they just like, oh, I'm not gonna listen to the, you know, whatever.

So, um, because it was Tucker pla platforming that generation, so many people heard it for the first time. Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Brighten: There's a lot of people too that are like, trust the FDA, they will say things like, you know, using the word toxin, use it. You know, they, they have a way of, of just dismissing any criticism or concern.

And to that, I also want people to understand that for generations, trans fats [00:30:00] was considered safe by the FDA people criticized it. People said, you know, I'm questioning this. I don't know if it's good. This is like this better living through chemistry. Is it better living? And as it turned out, it is highly associated, if not a cause of coronary 

Alex Clark: artery disease.

Well, trans fats is a great example of that. Mm-hmm. Of FDA proofing something. Another one would be red, red number three. So we just now banned, you know, a couple weeks ago, red number three from food we knew decades ago that red number three caused cancer. And we said, we can't even have it on our skin in cosmetics.

It cannot be in cosmetics, but you can ingest it. Mm-hmm. So the FDA said, you can't put it on your skin and it'll cause cancer, but you should eat it now. Explain that to me. Um, that is the type of like sludge that we're gonna fix. And I mean, we've got Dr. Marty, uh, McCarey, who's now gonna be in charge of the FDA, who's just gonna be gutting.

Mm-hmm. Nobody should disagree with saying, let's turn over every stone. Let's see what is compromised, and let's get [00:31:00] unbiased gold standard science and health information to the American people. Why would anybody deny that? Why would anybody not want that? 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. I will say that it does seem like a contradiction to put Kalee Bueller in charge of the U sda.

I would agree. Who was a lobbyist for seed oils and 

Alex Clark: junk food. 

Dr. Brighten: Talk to, to us about 

Alex Clark: that. Don't like that. I, I disagree with that choice. I would say I have not talked to one person in the Maha Coalition who agreed with that choice. Mm-hmm. But are you gonna agree with every, even as a conservative, I've voted for Trump three times.

Even with that, there's gonna be decisions that President Trump makes that I disagree with. He made a decision yesterday in an executive order I disagreed with, happens all the time. I'm not gonna agree with every single thing. Um, you know, we got Marty and FDA, we got, uh, RFK Junior. I'm like, all right. I mean, that's still amazing.

A lot can be done with that. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, we were disappointed in that choice. I, I would've loved to have seen Congressman Thomas Massey in that, in that position. Mm-hmm. So that's who I was [00:32:00] rooting for. Um, but yeah, I mean, RFK Junior and Marty are better than nothing. So I really like this. And, and other choices that have nothing to do with health.

I mean, I, I like Cash Patel, I like Tulsi Gabbard. I mean, there's other people I'm excited about too. Um, so if that's, you know, a pick I don't like then. You know, it sucks and, and change. Maybe there will be changes in the next couple years, but, um, I think it's okay if you voted for Trump to say, Hey, I don't like this, and I think it's okay to post about it.

He watches what we post on social media. He loves having a pulse on the American people. Like what are they saying? What do they think about this choice? What, what were people's reaction to this decision? He asks his team that he's very interested because he wants to have people like him. So if everybody's like, president Trump, we hate this, we hate this, we hate this.

He's gonna be like, why are they hating it? What's going on here? Do you think she's gonna get in the way of what Maha's trying to accomplish? I don't know. I. I am hopeful that maybe just like so me, two years ago, I would've said the same thing. I would've believed all those, you know, I would've been like, who cares about seed oils?

Who cares about organic food? So, mm-hmm. In a [00:33:00] very short amount of time, I have changed my mind on all of this. I used to live off Chick-fil-A and McDonald's chicken nuggets. So for me to be now who I am, I'm like, okay, well I can't say somebody can never change maybe, and President Trump himself now, he's still eating that way, but he at least recognizes like, okay, there's obviously something going on with American children.

I really care about that. I want Americans to have unbiased information and then they can make their own choice of what they wanna do. He knows the information. He's still choosing to eat like crap. I mean, that's on him, but at least he's saying that Americans deserve more information to make better choices if we want to.

Um, so maybe, maybe she's had her own come to Jesus moment in the last year. I don't know her. So, you know, I'm gonna say I hope that's the case and I'm gonna continue speaking out and say, these are my concerns. I think all of Maha is speaking out, saying, these are our concerns. Like, hopefully she sees and she's like, you know, maybe.

Maybe I have made bad career decisions in the past, like how can I now, um, leave a better legacy mm-hmm. With my name, now that I'm in this position that I'm at, I'm in. I love the hope 

Dr. Brighten: and that's, I feel like, you know, it's all we can do, we can do right now. [00:34:00] So I, you know, you're in the inner circle. You, you've got like the behind the scenes intel people are very afraid that SSRIs are gonna be taken away, vaccines are gonna be taken away that a DHD medication is gonna be pulled from the market.

Is there truth in that concern? No. 

Alex Clark: Okay. I mean, RFK Junior has been from day one saying, I'm not taking anything away. Mm-hmm. What I want Americans to have is thorough testing, thorough evidence. What works, what doesn't? I don't want marketing BS influencing, you know, for example, this whole thing about SSRIs.

You have depression because you have a chemical imbalance. Well, it's entirely made up. There's, there's no sign. How, how do you test for a chemical imbalance in the brain when you're in your 10 minute wellness checkup? I mean, it's just bogus. The questionnaire that they give you in the doctor's office to, to find out if you have depression is the, in the very tiny print under the questions it says, you know, funded by, uh, the makers of Prozac or whatever.

So, uh, all of this is compromised information [00:35:00] that Americans deserve better. Mm-hmm. And then he's saying like, I just want people to know the truth so that they can make informed consent for any medical product, any medical decision. Parents asking questions about what ingredients, for example, or what side effects could happen with different vaccines, should not be.

Threatened to be kicked out as a patient from their pediatrician's office. This is the kind of stuff that's nuts. Um, and, and, and so, and, and cutting out, uh, I can't think of what the, the name is of that middleman for health insurance companies. The biller? Uh, yeah. They have a certain special name. Um, I can't think of it, but, uh, that entire career like that, I think they wanna get rid of that because it's just allowing corruption and insurance.

Um, but otherwise, as far as taking drugs away, taking vaccines away, I mean, that's just. That's not the case. He's just saying like, Hey, have we really thoroughly tested each vaccine on this schedule? Like, why does this schedule keep growing? We're not asking questions like, you know, does, uh, does a child need all 72 of these vaccines?

Um, you [00:36:00] know, are, are some of them, like, do they need to be on the child schedule? Uh, and just getting parents that info, it's just impossible to find. I mean, it's censored on social media. Mm-hmm. Uh, and, and so that's a huge issue that he wants to, to change, but nobody's taking anything away. That would be number one, uh, political, uh, nail in the coffin, but also it's just, we just want Americans to be able to make their own decisions.

Mm-hmm. I think it's true freedom. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. I mean, certainly people, there's gonna be people listening to this who have said, you know, are gonna say, Sri SSRIs got me my life back. They saved me from committing suicide. Like, it's been very impactful. There are certainly not, you know, a DH ADHD meds don't work for everybody.

There are contraindication for some people or they just plain don't work. And in women. We know that they can have a very different effect depending on where we're at in our menstrual cycle. And so I do agree we need a lot more research. I think people get really afraid though when they are like, this is helping me, and this has been the thing that's helped me, that they get panicked of like, I could have this [00:37:00] patient.

Well, if it helps you, 

Alex Clark: then take it. But I would also challenge you for, you're bringing up SSRIs, for example, if that's, you know, the drug for you that you're like, well, this changed my life, this saved my life. Look at the research about the placebo effect. It is basically neck and neck placebo, and it improved, like genuinely did something.

So like, maybe you think it did, but maybe you have more tools in your belt to help yourself than you think. Um, I'm gonna link 

Dr. Brighten: for everybody listening, I will link to those studies on the placebo effect and SSRIs. Perfect. Yeah. So, 

Alex Clark: so, so I'm not, I believe you when you're saying, this saved my life. I believe you think that, but I also think that.

You may not have been told about the, uh. Post SSRI, sexual dysfunction, risk of taking, you know, Lexapro for a short time as a week, uh, that you might have for the rest of your life. Genital numbness, you know, not, no ability to experience climax anything. Um, I also believe that [00:38:00] maybe you weren't given full consent about the withdrawal, um, and the way your body gets addicted to this drug.

And so a lot of times when you think, oh, I'm trying to get off, and the depression is coming back, that actually might be your withdrawal symptoms. Um, that you're, you're, you know, it's weird. We're, we're taking this pill to help with anxiety and depression, but why is one of the biggest side effects and risks has increased?

Anxiety and depression with this pill. Um, you know, looking at the, the school shooters and SSRI prescriptions that, I think those are all the questions that I think need to be asked. So not that because we wanna take them away because we want you to know the truth to then say, okay, I've heard all it. Now I can decide I still wanna take it, or I don't.

Same with birth control. I mean, you and I like, were accused of like, we wanna ban birth control. I've never, I've never said that once everybody is like, you must be antibi control and you, you hate women. No, I literally have never, ever once said that. And that's, you know what NBC news will say that I believe.

I've never said that. But what I'm saying is I think if majority of women heard the truth about. Side effects of birth control and the [00:39:00] risk, I think they would choose to not take it. Just like I think if the majority of of Americans were given, uh, information, unbiased information about SSRIs, they would choose to not take it.

So I don't think we need to ban it. I think the market will do its job and we will just decide to opt out on our own once we understand the, the true science behind these medications. 

Dr. Brighten: So how is Maha RFK Trump going to keep pharma from influencing studies? So many people will look at a study, they look at the conflict of interest, and they'll be like, oh, it doesn't say the pharmaceutical company not realizing that there will be.

A middleman, a shell company sometimes, or another way in which pharma is influencing research. 

Alex Clark: Well, I believe they're just going to be preventing that from being able to happen in the first place. Saying, you know, to the pharmaceutical companies, you guys can't conduct your own studies on the efficacy of a drug.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: Um, or safety. It has to be like a third party extra person. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well that's gonna be interesting because generally, so research studies are [00:40:00] very, very expensive to conduct and generally. They're doing it because they've got a proven ROI for their company. So, uh, for people who dunno, it is return on investment.

So if they're gonna develop a drug, they wanna make sure that they're gonna be able to make money on it, get it through the FDA, I mean, it's very convoluted process, I think for the average person to understand. So I am just like, was that, has that been part of Maha meetings that you guys have discussed?

Like how are we going to make sure that research moves forward? Unadulterated. 

Alex Clark: Yeah, just talking about how like, uh, we need to have different people, you know, conducting these studies that are not, you can't be somebody who's, who's currently working for pharma, conducting a study or, or has ties, um, you know, a lot of these people that are like freaking out, uh.

Well, we're removing all of these people from these different positions that have been here forever. Like, you know, with Do Scary, for example. It's scary. 

Dr. Brighten: It's a lot of change and not a lot of transparency. I'll say that, that I'm like, what's happening? What's going on? I don't know. Oh, I feel like it's fully transparent that I feel like it's, that's the, 

Alex Clark: the beauty of it.

I [00:41:00] think Christmas, every day chat, you know, it's going on. I'm like, what's happening? Why is this happening? What's, it's just people that have been, I mean, like sitting in these positions for decades, just raking in six figure salaries. Like doing what? Like what is this job? Mm-hmm. Like, it's just bizarre.

Like, like made up positions and, and still making all this money, um, you know, making gay comic books for other countries. I mean, this is seriously some of the stuff we were spending money on, like nuts. So stuff, it didn't even make sense. Um, so I, I think just getting rid of that government sludge, that's creating a lot of taxpayer waste.

But as far as pharma goes, um, yeah, I mean. I don't know off the top of my head exactly like what that, when that rollout is going to happen or anything. But they know that the science is biased and that the study, you can't have, you know, uh, a big food company legislating off a study that they paid for saying that ground, that, uh, lucky charms are healthier than ground beef.

Mm-hmm. Like, we can't have that. Like, so that is what is [00:42:00] impacting like our ability to get true information on nutrition and, and drugs, et cetera. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Who is making these decisions? So this is, this is what we're seeing. Okay. 'cause I'm not inner circle. What we're seeing is basically like Elon Musk, doge, they're calling the shots and Elon.

Really, uh, kind of shot himself in the foot in his tweet that he put out about the studies, like the, the one about quails on cocaine having sex. I'm like, well, we're using an animal model to discern the, the type of learning. How do you actually treat addicts? Like if you go into the study, it's actually a legitimate study we could never do this on.

You can't be like, Hey, human, let me give you cocaine and force you to have sex. That's a bad, that's unethical. Right? Um, and so that like brought a lot of criticism where people were like, he's not a scientist. He doesn't understand the science. Like who is making these decisions? 

Alex Clark: Well, that anything that has to do with pharma and food is gonna be, is gonna be RFK and, and Dr.

Marty. Mm-hmm. Uh, Elon is. I don't think he's [00:43:00] gonna really have anything to do with that. I mean, that's not his department. He's supposed to be focusing on all the Doge stuff. Yeah. So I think that would be just RFK and, and making those decisions with the president. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. And when he put that out, I think that made a lot of, a lot of people be like, and especially in the scientific community of like, why are not scientists leading this?

Yeah. And so I guess that is the question I've heard. 

Alex Clark: I mean, nothing, Elon is, as far as I know, has nothing to do with Maha. Mm-hmm. He's just, he's just giving his opinion on stuff. He's out tweet. Yeah. He's just, he's just tweeting. Yeah. You know, he's posting on X. 

Dr. Brighten: Okay. Yeah. That's the, that's the thing that I think, you know, you're like, I feel like it's fully transparent and I think a big part of where people start to started to lose a lot of trust at, at least from the patient physician perspective, is the don't ask questions, trust the science and.

Lack of transparency and what was going on during the pandemic. And I think telling people like, you can't question this, you can't talk about this was problematic. And I do [00:44:00] have the fear that right now we're, we're kind of seeing the same thing starting to take place. Not in the like don't ask about it, but that it's very confusing, right?

So much is moving so fast, so much is changing and not enough transparency. That you know, and I wonder from you, do you think that could breed the same type of distrust 

Alex Clark: that we've seen before? Oh, well, sure. I mean, no matter who's the president, no matter which party you voted for and who's in office, you should always ask questions.

The government is never here to help. I. Uh, I mean, we're doing the best that we can. Like we, we need to have some government, but like, I mean, obviously I want as little of it as possible. So that's what I like about like cutting out some of this like stupid waste is that like, let's just have the bare minimum that we need to run this country as efficiently as we can for us to keep as much money in our pockets as we can and to be as healthy as we can.

That's what I care about. Um, but no matter who's in charge, you should always be, uh, asking questions and, uh, you know, [00:45:00] looking into things and, and looking into what the other side beliefs. Okay. People, people are against this decision. Why, why are, why are people for it? Um, and, and I think that's healthy to do and I think the best way to be able to do that is to make sure that your brain is fully functioning on all cylinders and you're not, uh, you know, under the brain fog of a hundred, uh, drugs and, and crap food.

And that we're able to think critically so that we can, uh. We can vote accordingly and make great decisions for ourselves and our families and feel good about it and understand what we're reading and hearing and seeing. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. Um, 

Alex Clark: and I think we have kind of gotten to a place in America where we have made people so sick and unable to think critically.

I mean, it's like this, nobody asks questions because they really can't. I, I mean, I'm, I'm looking at now Gen Z for example. I mean, some of these kids have been on, on different medications and stuff and in and in therapy since they were like six or seven years old. I mean, we just approved Lexapro now for like six or seven years old.

Mm-hmm. Uh, they're wanting, you know, they're testing ozempic on kids that young. Like what is that [00:46:00] gonna look like A couple decades from now, a future of adults who have been on mind altering personality altering medication since children. That's gonna be a totally new America. Um, we might have a, have a a a way to kind of curb that a little bit, hopefully with this administration, but that's scary.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. What's maha's plans for women's health? Because there's definitely concerns about cutting NIH funding about the word, you know, whether this is true or not, the media was putting out there that the word, uh, if you have women in your study, that could trigger the grant being denied. So are there plans to further women's health studies?

Alex Clark: I, to be completely honest with you, I haven't been in any conversations about that. Yeah. So you, you telling me those rumors or whatever, I've never heard it. Mm-hmm. So I couldn't tell you. I don't think so. That sounds, to me, that sounds like, uh, extreme, like, just like fear from another political side. Uh, but I've [00:47:00] heard nothing like that at all.

Dr. Brighten: And are there plans to like, for further women's medicine with research or like, what, what is the, what does it look like for women under Maha? That's 

Alex Clark: such a good question. Um, I just haven't heard anything specifically, like, I've just heard, you know, the basics. Like let's get pharma corruption mm-hmm. Off, uh, TV in the studies, fixing public school food, fixing, you know, chemicals in our food, um, chemical sprayed on crops in air.

I've heard a lot of that, but I just haven't heard anything like, and then we have this arm that's gonna spoke focus specifically on women. I'm, I'm, I feel like everything's just been kind of like this benefits everybody is what I've heard when I've heard these things discussed. Yeah, yeah. Well, if there's updates, but this is, but tell me, but what, what would, I'd love to know so I can go back and say, because now this is a great question.

So I'd love to send a text and be like, okay, I got asked a really good question today. Like. Do we have plans for this? And then I can, I can text you and tell you, uh, what they say, but [00:48:00] like, so what specifically would you like to see? I have a huge wishlist. Yes. Tell me, 

Dr. Brighten: tell me, tell me. So, uh, we need to improve maternal fetal outcomes in the United States for being a developed nation.

Our, our outcomes are. They're horrific. Yeah. To see the mortality outcomes and the fear women have of being pregnant. So you think, well, you know what? 

Alex Clark: We did have at the Maha Ball at the inauguration, tons of midwives. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: There were a lot there. I will say that, that were invited. 

Dr. Brighten: Well, that's, that's good.

No, that is a good thing. Uh, for people who are not aware, a lot of countries that have really positive about birth outcomes, less obstetric violence and better, uh, neonatal outcomes. So newborn babies, they have midwives attending births, whether they are full in the lead or they are also just part of the birth team.

They have that option. They have better postpartum care. So the United States, we, you know, women get a six week checkup. They're like, have sex, exercise. You're good to go. We need to be doing more for moms. I know a big part of the [00:49:00] conservative movement is wanting there to be more mothers, to be more children.

And I think we have to care for them. You know, we've got the other aspect, PCOS, endometriosis Endometriosis funding pre this administration is about $2 per person with endometriosis. So each woman gets $2 annually allocated to her. Like this is a condition affecting a minimum of 200 million women worldwide, PCOS and endometriosis leading causes of infertility in women.

One of the number one conditions they are up there in why you would be prescribed hormonal birth control. So, but do 

Alex Clark: you think that fixing. Some of the chemicals in food and environment, et cetera, could help with the PCOS and endometriosis. It can 

Dr. Brighten: certainly help with that. But we have to revamp how medicine is being practiced so that we are, you know, two to three specialists for the average PCOS woman to see before she gets a diagnosis, a decade before you get an endometriosis diagnosis.

We see that women are [00:50:00] suffering longer because we are not studying these conditions. We can't tell you what causes endometriosis or what causes PCOS, like how is this? Mm-hmm. How is this 2025? Yeah. And we, because we've never allocated the funding to these conditions. So I think also as we see the rise of infertility.

We need to be investigating that a lot further. Well, I, I know that's been brought up a lot. 

Alex Clark: Yeah. I mean, when we're talking about like, just the different illnesses that's plaguing Americans, I mean, infertility is coming up there. So to me, when I look like when they're going through the list and they're saying like, pre-diabetes, au autism, um, allergies, severe food allergies, uh, you know, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, all these different things that are plaguing us, like mm-hmm.

Infertility rates going up 1% every year is always coming up. Yeah. Like when I'm hearing these conversations and, and, and what I'm reading. So I feel like it's like a catchall, like I'm saying, I just haven't heard them go into the weeds of like, specifically endometriosis, whatever, get me on the phone.

They are saying, yeah, we'll get on the phone, we'll get Dr. Brighton on the phone because, because that's great. So I like these specifics for me to go and be like. [00:51:00] Has anyone talked about this? Like, just so I know, but um, that's a good, 

Dr. Brighten: good 

Alex Clark: question. 

Dr. Brighten: And we just like, so the perimenopause, menopause women are not left out.

We also need research in that arena to know, because as you talk about SSRIs, when you enter into perimenopause, you now become within a, you know, this is the highest group that's gonna be prescribed anxiety or depression medications. Roughly 40% are going to have mood changes due to the hormonal changes.

And so we certainly need a lot more research because, uh, if some of my listeners are familiar with the Women's Health Initiative come out, poorly designed study harm was done, we stopped it and then they try to take away hormones. I have been prescribing bioidentical hormones for over 12 years. I've been called a quack.

Crazy. I'm gonna murder people by doing this. And only now people are like, actually you're talking about like HRT and stuff? Yes. Yeah, yeah. We need these hormones. So I think. There's a lot of areas of women's health that's been neglected, and I think this is absolutely essential given that these are not only the, the [00:52:00] bodies that are going to gest state and feed the future of our human race, but they are the primary caregivers.

I do know, I do know they talked a 

Alex Clark: lot about, you know, what's what we're putting in our baby formula. Mm-hmm. That's sold. So I do, I have heard that. Yeah. I mean, that would be specific to women, but All right. We're gonna have a conversation. I know. I love this you gave me on the phone. I'm like, let's fix this.

I love this. I love, like, th this is important and this is why, like, I'm involved because I, so I am not an expert. I interview experts like you, so I am like, I feel like the biggest imposter in this because I'm just like, I literally barely know anything I feel, but um. I'm kind of like the boots on the ground person because I am talking to, you know, millions of, of young female voters.

Like, okay, what are you guys dealing with? What are you struggling with? What questions do you have? What concerns do you have? I mean, that's why I was asked to testify at the Senate, uh, with RFK Jr. Mm-hmm. Back in September. It was not, 'cause I was the, the one person on there that had zero expertise and I, and I actually said no to doing it to like twice.

And then Cali, uh, bully means that you're doing it. Uh, he's like, you just need [00:53:00] to say what your audience tells you. Like what are their fears and what they're dealing with as like mothers in America. Mm-hmm. So I was like, okay. 'cause I mean, I'm not even a mom yet, but I, I just am trying to listen to people like you and then, and then them, and then kind of be the mouthpiece.

So even though I may not know, 'cause I didn't. Ask that specific question to them. Now I've heard it and I'm like, oh, this is a great thing to bring up. So now I'm going to ask and be like, what's the deal? So I'll, I'll do that, and then I'll be able to send it to you. You know, 

Dr. Brighten: I will say that in two years you could change maternal fetal outcomes and that would be a huge win.

No president's been 

Alex Clark: able to do that. Ooh. Now see that sentence right there? If somebody, if I can get this through the game of telephone to President Trump and say, Hey, no president has been able to do this. Mm-hmm. He, he'll probably love that challenge. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. It actually, things got way worse during the pandemic, so Wow.

Uh, yes. That's a huge win. 

Alex Clark: Okay. So I love it. This is great Intel. This is great. And you guys, you know, listening, if these, what Dr. Brighton is bringing up really matter to you, like Yes. Yeah. Yes. I want Maha to focus on it, be posting about it, like I [00:54:00] said. Yeah. Everyone in the administration, the Maha Coalition, if they start seeing this trending on Instagram and on TikTok on Twitter, they're going to listen to it.

They really do. So, I mean, it's helpful, not just Dr. Jolene and me can. Talk about it. You guys gotta all, everybody has to be like on the same page talking about it and they'll listen. Totally. 

Dr. Brighten: You, if you guys wanna, wherever you're listening to this, put it in the comments. I will screenshot and text every one of 'em to Alex and make that happen.

So I wanna shift the conversation to, we're talking about a reproductive health recently. Trump is pushing through to make IVF expanded, and I know this is something you're not a fan of, but I am curious, is there any point in terms of the reproductive crisis that we're facing where you would be open to IVF being technology that's being leveraged?

No. Okay. So right now we're currently facing one in six are facing infertility. Yeah. It is a disease. It does cause mental health issues. It can break apart families. It is incredibly, incredibly [00:55:00] stressful. We are seeing men's sperm declining. They don't even have as much sperm as their grandfathers did. We are facing a reproductive crisis, and there is people in the research industry who are blowing the whistle saying, this could be the end of our species.

Right. Yeah. 

Alex Clark: No, I share all of the same concerns as you. Yeah. Like I, all of that really matters to me. So almo, everything I talk about and believe in when it comes to Maha stuff and, and health, I mean, that's all non-biased. I will say. This is where my bias, I mean openly, I'm gonna tell you I'm biased on this.

Um, and that comes from a pro-life perspective. Mm-hmm. So as a pro-life person, I see the IVF industry, um, tragically. Losing so many babies, even more than Planned Parenthood yearly. So to me, I'm like, okay, we have this amazing thing happening where of course we have so many precious lives being, being created, but also there's so many lives lost.

So it's one of those things where I'm like, okay. Um, I don't necessarily agree. Just [00:56:00] because a precious life is created doesn't mean that I necessarily personally agree with the matter of conception. Mm-hmm. So I think we'd all agree. There are certain, you know, there are different ways to conceive a child that we would say are, are less than ideal or tragic.

Um, you know, when I'm talking about sexual assault or things like that, I'm not saying IVF is sexual assault. What I'm saying is that, um, in my opinion, you know, I want as many. Women to be healthy and saved, and I want as many babies to be healthy and saved. I think that there's a lot of cons to the fertility industry.

I also think what I don't love about President Trump deciding to expand on IVF amidst all of the Maha conversation we're working on, like, like, you know, let's say, you know, focusing on like why is, why are infertility rates climbing? To then say like, well, well, let's just expand IVF. Are we really getting to the root cause of those fertility issues?

Mm-hmm. So that is also a concern for me is I'm like, I [00:57:00] don't like this bandaid. I don't like that we're preying on women since 14 or 15 years old, telling them to get on the birth control pill. To ignore that, you don't need to period, that you don't need to know what's going on with your own body, uh, to then say like, okay, you've been putting a bandaid over all these different things that could be going on with you hormonally.

Now it's time that you wanna start feeling and get pregnant. Oh, you have a bunch of hormonal issues. Oh, darn. Well, I don't know how we could've known that. Um, now let's go ahead and just have you spend 20, 40 grand on IVF. Mm-hmm. I just think I would've rather have seen a pause. And, and a reassessment here before doing this again, this is something I disagree with the president, he, you know, sees this as like, oh, this is a win.

Babe's being born great. Like he's just, he's also, he's, he's, he did a lot of pro-life things his first term because he felt like that was politically expedient. Um, this term he's like, eh, like this isn't what I wanna focus on. I wanna focus on the health stuff. I really wanna focus on things that I feel like overall majority of Americans are gonna see.

This is a positive. I am fine with admitting my views on IVF at this moment are [00:58:00] very, very fringe. Even my own audience, so many disagree with me. This is not a popular opinion. So that's what President Trump is doing. He's like, okay, what is gonna be the most popular thing to say? I'm gonna expand access to IVF and getting it covered or whatever.

But everybody's, yay. So my, I am in the minority on this. I'm fine with admitting that. I know it's not popular. Um. And my best friend, my very, very, very best friend, Lauren, has two beautiful, precious twins due to IVF, and she's in the middle of doing her transfers right now. Her and I vehemently disagree on this, and she also voted for Trump and is conservative, and she's excited about this decision, and I'm not, and when she knows though, when I'm talking about this, I'm not saying, I don't wish your babies were here or whatever.

I just wish that women had other options, which, which there are, there's other technology that I believe, um, doesn't discard embryos and allow for all this gender selection. I mean, Paris Hilton saying, you know, I kept creating embryos or whatever and discarding them until I got the gender I wanted. [00:59:00] I, I think that's morally wrong.

Mm-hmm. So I don't like that the IVF industry allows for that to happen. I do love that precious lives are being hold. So being made, so that's that kind of push and pull of like, is there a greater good here or is there maybe at least like other countries, more regulation instead of expanding IVF, what if we would've just dialed it down a little bit?

Like there's a lot of holes here that are allowing for less than ideal circumstances for lives being creative, but also for, for different homes that babies grow up in. So I, I don't love that. Um, I. I personally don't love that a, you know, a single woman or whatever can just be like, okay, I want to create a baby because I'm thinking of the rights of that child, the right to know who their biological mother are, the right to their biological father.

Um, and sometimes things happen in life where your family circumstances change. You know, you get a divorce or whatever, and then you're raised by a single mom. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about [01:00:00] purposefully bringing in a child that is going to be without something like that. I don't, I don't think that that's right.

So, um, yeah, I would disagree with the president and it's, and it's hard. And I, and I, I am not married yet, and I don't have kids yet, and I want that more than anything in my life. A couple years ago, I would've said, oh my gosh, if I get married and I'm told that, you know, I'm struggling with fertility, I absolutely, of course I'm doing IVF, I'm freezing my eggs, I'm doing all this.

My mind was totally changed on this when I started listening. I. Uh, one of the people started listening to and reading the work of Katie Faust, who has an organization called them Before Us, and it's a child's rights organization. And so she is speaking primarily from the rights of a child, like what is ethical within these industries, because they have rights too, if we believe that it's a human life, you know, all human life, I believe is a pro-lifer is equal.

So what would be the best outcome for them? What's the best outcome for women struggling with infertility? But I, I mean, with my best friend going through it, me knowing how bad I [01:01:00] want this, um, and I just had to come to the conclusion of if that is, you know, something that is in God's will that I'm gonna be struggling with, then, you know, I would be like, then I'm accepting that that was God's will for me or pursuing adoption, but I wouldn't be going through IVF.

Um, I will say with my friend who has gone through IVF, she and her husband have made the decision. Yeah, every embryo created, they're going to try to transplant. So if you are going to do it, which I would say overall, I would opt to not as a pro-lifer, but if you're going to do IVF as a pro-life person, I would say then you've gotta commit to, I'm gonna attempt to use every single embryo created.

Now what happens for these people that have 25 embryos? What and what if they all take, or majority of them take? It's like, are you willing to have 20 kids? I mean, most, aren't they? The majority won't take, human reproduction is right, so the most inefficient, but sometimes you have a couple more than you were wanting.

And so it's, it's like that's that [01:02:00] gray area of like, if you're going to do it, then I would say you gotta commit to, to whatever, you know, ends up happening, like parenting all these kids and having all these children. But, um, I'm, I'm fully I understand that that's really unpopular. I understand that.

That's really, really hard. To hear, and I do have compassion for people struggling with infertility, but I did interview a co like two, two years ago now. Um, I did interview Katie Faust on this, um, and it's, if you DM me on Instagram, I'm happy to send you the link to understand this point of view if you've never heard it before.

And it's like, this is horrific evil. So, uh, you know, discouraging whatever. I promise. This episode is so compassionate. It's so loving and so kind and just like breaking down, like, okay, what are people not maybe considering with this industry? 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. So when you say, you know, you have to be willing to transfer every embryo, so you're typically, I mean, you're looking at anywhere from maybe 5,000 to $15,000 for every transfer cycle.

So if that's your stance, Trump [01:03:00] actually lowering the cost of IVF would make it less of a barrier. So Yeah. And that 

Alex Clark: would be good. I just think, you know, I feel like most of the time families that I know that have done IVF what their two, they're like, well, I only want two kids, but I could have four. So like, these are, we're discarding or we're freezing them.

Um, and so then I would agree with the ethics of that or disagree with the ethics of that. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah, I thought it was interesting timing. So at the time, uh, so you know, nothing has come of that. He signed this executive order and it's basically like, let's figure this out, but there's nothing been decided. I saw your Instagram and you were like, no, no, no.

I'm transferring an embryo in two weeks. I've gone through IBF. Well, I 

Alex Clark: hope everything works out for you. I really do. Oh, it's, I do. It's been such 

Dr. Brighten: a long journey. Yeah. Um, and, but I bring this up because I think people think. If you have different perspectives, if you disagree on things, you can't sit in the same room and have a conversation.

And it's always been my take that we don't actually come together. We don't evolve by yelling across the aisle at each [01:04:00] other. And so I know there's gonna be people, there's gonna be people in my audience who are like, I love Alex Clark. And then there's gonna be people like, oh my God, I can't believe you would interview her.

Yeah, of course. I know. And yet, you know, I bring this up because, you know, on the topic of IVF, we clearly disagree on the topic of, I mean, because like, Hey, I'm going through IVF Yeah. On the topic of, you know, many things we're going to disagree on, but I think the only way forward is that we're willing to sit down and have what can feel like an uncomfortable conversation.

This is not uncomfortable for me because I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. Yeah. And that, and I also 

Alex Clark: said like, I mean, I got messages talking about that. Like, well, I just, I totally disagree with this, blah, blah. And I'm like, you know, also at the end of the day, like if you're not. If you don't identify as pro-life also that, I mean, there's a huge campaign.

I wouldn't expect you to agree with this or like, you know, so, so that too, I was like, well, if we, I, I mean this is really, I think coming from more of a pro-life perspective. So it's like, if you are not, if you don't identify that I ideology also [01:05:00] those people, I, I'm like, well, if I'm not shocked that you disagree.

Yeah. But like I said, I would say majority of, probably a lot of my audience disagrees with me on that, so. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: Um, it's not only people that have the opposite political views. 

Dr. Brighten: Well, it was interesting 'cause I, I spoke at your young women's leadership conference. Thanks for having me. Yes. Getting to teach reproductive.

Yeah. You were one of accurate, you were favorites. Reproductive uh, education was fantastic, but I was, so what we hear all the time is that conservatives hate birth control. Conservatives hate IVF conservatives hate women. Um, and so many women there came up to me and they're like, I'm currently going through IVF, I'm on birth control.

Can you help me with like, you know? Yeah. And I was like. No, like I just probably spoke to like several hundred people and this, it was really eyeopening to me of like, wow, wow. There's more nuance. I mean, there because these are 

Alex Clark: human beings. We're we're complex as people, we're complex as people, you know, we we're gonna have all of these different views and different life experiences, experiences that shape these views.

It's not like a [01:06:00] Republican thinks this, a Democrat thinks this, like, we used to be able to understand like it was more about the individual. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Alex Clark: And, and, and understanding that. And um, I think we kind of lost that. And so it's easy even for me, I mean, it's easy to just be like, oh, this person's a Democrat.

They must believe all of this, but mm-hmm. Um, what I've learned, especially covering health and wellness, because I've gained so much audience that doesn't necessarily have my political views, but they really agree on the health stuff. So they love my show is that there's a lot of things that we can agree on across the aisle as well as disagree and, and still get along and enjoy each other's content and work.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. I love that. And I, I love the idea that we can disagree and still be civil, and it doesn't have to be a fight, because I feel like that is what has been being ingrained in us via the media for a while now, is that if you disagree on one thing, you disagree on all things. And I don't think that's true.

I wanna, it's unfortunate we have to stop talking here in a minute, but I wanna [01:07:00] just ask, you know, one last question, which is that your father has faced his own health struggles and challenges, and I'm curious, how has that impacted you and what would you say to people listening who might be facing, you know, similar challenges, struggles with their 

Alex Clark: family?

Oh, it's so hard. Yeah. So like, I'm, I'm going through all this like health transformation stuff and then meanwhile my dad, he's had two heart attacks, uh, type two diabetes. Then he was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer, uh, a year ago. Um, and now he just passed away. A couple months ago. Oh my 

Dr. Brighten: gosh. I'm so sorry.

Yes, yes. I feel like I was just on your Instagram and Isn't that crazy? Oh, that my heart. Yeah, you were, 'cause you were with him for the holidays. Yeah, and I had seen that. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So he just 

Alex Clark: passed away, uh, December 11th. 

Dr. Brighten: Okay. 

Alex Clark: And what's wild is like, I was trying so hard, which the writing was on the wall.

He was going to die. But I was trying to buy like a [01:08:00] couple months. Like, I was like, dad just like, stop doing this, stop eating this. Like, like, just, just prolong things a little bit. Um, and he just couldn't do it. And it was just, um, very eyeopening for me. The, the, that the food addiction, the addiction to ultra processed food in this country is as real as any other addiction that your loved one who you love so much, who you are just desperate for them to like stop consuming, uh, you know, the soda or the fast food or whatever.

It's the same type of process. It's baby steps. It's like, uh, having interventions and, um, trying to explain to them the science behind, like what these ingredients do to the body. Uh, and, and sometimes it's just accepting that you just have to love them where they're at. Mm-hmm. So I had to come to the conclusion basically over the summer.

I was like, fighting so hard. I, like, we left the neurosurgeon. He, he had just had his brain tumor removed. They removed all of it, but he ended up passing away anyway. Um, but [01:09:00] when he had this brain tumor removed, we literally were pulling outta the parking lot and he's like, can we please stop at Chick-fil-A a couple hours later?

Can we please go to pizza now? I was the one in the car. I was angry, tears in my eyes saying, no, we just left here because of this. Like, this is what led to this. No, like, I know it, I know that's what caused all of these problems. Um, and, and everyone else in the car was like, oh, Alex, but he just went through surgery.

Like, let's just give him this. And I'm, it's that behavior of like, it's hard when you're dealing with other family members and every, you know, uh, trying to get 10 other people to be on the same page as you's. Like, we're not gonna enable this person. And I just, I had to say my peace and then I just had to accept of like, I'm gonna love him anyway.

And when I'm, 'cause I don't live there. I, I didn't live, you know, in the same town as my parents. And so like, when I'm not here, they're gonna do what they're gonna do. And just like accepting that and just trying to find as much peace as you can and just being like, okay, the time that I have left, I'm gonna love them.

And then, you know, meanwhile, like I'm being an example. So while he was like, I need to go to Pizza Hut, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, I'm making dinner at home at their house and offering it and being [01:10:00] like, would you like some? No. Okay, that's fine. I'm gonna eat it. But like, I am showing that I'm like walking the walk that I'm talking to him.

Um, and so like I was that good example. And you know what's ironic is that like right before he died, he's still sharing my content, being like, yeah, let's make America healthy again. Like all this. And I was just like, he's trying to be supportive of me, but I'm like, man, like you are the person that I wanted.

Yeah. To help. Yeah. So, 

Dr. Brighten: oh my gosh. I 

Alex Clark: know. I'm like, I can't read you. So, but, so I understand that. Yeah. Um, I understand that and it's hard, but, uh, we just do the best we can and we just try to be an example to our other family. And like, and you know what? Even though it didn't work out with him, I have other family now though, like uncles and aunts and stuff, and even grandparents, like at Thanksgiving, like asking me, like Alex, like, okay, explain what a seed oil is.

'cause now I'm hearing this, like, uh, and then my uncle wanted me to like, go with him to Whole Foods so we could, uh, I could help him pick out things like, I want you to like look at all the ingredients that I'm, I'm picking and stuff like that. And I thought that was super sweet, but like, I've never, my [01:11:00] family's never asked me stuff like that before.

So it's like, okay, you know, this happened, but like there might be some goodness that blooms outta this that is just be being consistent. Um, practicing what you preach and, and trying to be that example, and then loving your family and being kind like, you know, I was never yelling at my dad. I, I, mm-hmm. I mean, I had strong conversations of like, do you wanna live or die?

You have to decide that, you know? Yeah. I had to have those conversations, which isn't easy, but, um, I mean, it's really the same protocols any other addiction. And so I just, I have a lot of empathy for other people that are, they see their husband or their wife, or their child or their, or their parent, you know, um, slipping through the cracks, cracks, health wise, uh, due to how they're eating and, and wanting so desperately to fix it.

Um, but maybe they'll come around. Yeah. You never know. Just don't give up and just, and just keep loving them and praying for them through it. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm. 

Alex Clark: Yeah. 

Dr. Brighten: Well thank you so much for sharing your time with us. Thank you for being an open book. Thank you. And for taking some of the hard [01:12:00] questions and really facing them head on.

I really appreciate it. I really admire you for that. And I'm sorry I made you cry. 

Alex Clark: Oh, it's okay. It's alright. Oh man. Yeah, I appreciate it so much and um, excited to interview you so people can look for my interview with you, culture Apothecary, anywhere you get your podcasts. Uh, real Alex Clark on YouTube if you wanna watch the video version.

Um, I'm very excited to have you on. It's been a long time coming. I wanted to have you on for like a year. Yeah. So now it's happening. We're gonna make it happen. Alright, 

Dr. Brighten: well thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a few weeks since we recorded this episode, so I wanted to give you an update. I, for one, am super grateful that I was able to sit down and have this conversation with Alex because it highlighted a key issue in women's health that simply wasn't taken into account or even thought about as part of the MAHA plan.

Now, immediately when we ended this episode, Alex shot off a message to RFKs team and said, I was just asked these questions about women's health. Here's the punch list of what this doctor would like [01:13:00] to see. What are we gonna do about it? They immediately shot back a message talking about the infant and maternal mortality rates and how that was definitely top of the agenda.

It's not something that has been pushed forward or even highlighted in media, whether it's social media or the general news station that I had seen. Now since then, I have been in contact with several of the people who are part of Maha talking to them specifically about women's health initiatives that we need to see.

Now, that doesn't mean I'm part of like the RFKs team now or anything like that, but I saw a real opportunity when they reached out to me asking. What can we do to improve women's health? Then I could provide that type of feedback. The feedback and, and the things that we talk about on this podcast and that I talk about all over my social media, they've been incredibly receptive.

But I always [01:14:00] remain skeptical because there's what people say and there's what people do. And so while I can hold out hope and be hopeful that we will see change, time and actions will be the ultimate test going forward. I appreciate you being here. If you listen to the entire conversation, I'd love to hear what you think and as always, you drive the conversation here.

 

So please leave me your feedback.