Those living with excess weight often feel their lack of willpower and need for convenience is the main reason they choose taste over health. But, you may be surprised to know that the “foods” on the shelves of grocery stores, schools, work canteens, and pretty much everywhere in between, are engineered for addiction, in the same way as cigarettes or illicit drugs.

They call it “hyperpalatable foods”, the inevitable consequence of making sugar, salt, and hydrogenated oil the main ingredient of most processed and ultra-processed food products. To compensate for the flavour eliminating preservation processes that gives these foods their long-shelf life, food scientists have steadily tinkered with obesogenic, carcinogenic, and metabolic disruptive ingredients and chemicals to entice consumers into buying large quantities of their product.

In September 2023, the government reported that they were launching an inquiry into unregulated cosmetic activities, in an effort to protect consumers from “botched” procedures like Botox. The UK government news report went on to say that there were around 900,000 Botox injections each year, and in 2022 there were over 2,000 complaints related to the injection.

But were these complaints for botched procedures? Botox, short for botulinum toxin, is derived from clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that produces dangerous biological substances that attack the nervous system. Specifically, Botox blocks the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter responsible for muscle contraction. While orthodox medicine uses Botox in medical management[i] (despite there being far less toxic alternatives), more commonly, it’s used as an aesthetic treatment to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. This article will discuss the long-term consequences of Botox, and why consumers may truly be unhappy with the results, and it’s not because it needs further regulation.

As an alternative health coach, as well as a naturopathy, herbal medicine student, I watch the news and scream at those who minimise this conflict as just another thing that is happening amidst rising inflation and changing weather conditions. This is a serious affront to human potential, as there are multifaceted health impacts from the scarcity of essential resources. There are risks of injury, global disease, environmental degradation, and long-term mental illness due to the psychological trauma and generational scars left by violent conflict. Depraved violence is unnatural to humans, as our essence thrives and progresses when we live in a peaceful environment that respects the body, mind and spirit. That honours life and security. That values our continuation as a species, without induced health defect or disease.

It has now become an ubiquitous chemical in our day to day lives, found in the majority of people worldwide, and is classed as a public health concern by many governmental environmental health bodies. These same bodies report that PFAS causes increased cholesterol levels, increased risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, low infant birth weight, changes in liver enzyme production (needed for detoxification) and increased risk of kidney and testicular cancer.