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The Political Gut: Quantum Nutrients, Two Brains, Upside-Down Diets

By Brett Casper

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A deftly written tour of food science that offers plenty to think about , but doesn’t quite succeed as a guide as to what to eat.

Synopsis

The Political Gut follows Brett Casper’s journey from a Calvin Klein model to founder of acclaimed wellness brand Pure Luck®. A journey which led him to realize that toxic foods and deceptive messaging are creating toxic humans.

Casper says, “Our food and political systems are threatening our very existence. Humans are being manipulated daily, to act and consume against their own best interests. Many people don’t realize, or refuse to accept, how much they are under the control of politicians, advertising, processed foods and corporations. I aim to educate readers and show them it is possible to take back control of their decision making processes, and eliminate the toxic voices inside their head.”

Citing dozens of studies and interweaving stories from his own personal experiences, Casper paints a concise picture with a broad brush. Covering a range of topics that influence our personal and collective well-being. From culture, chemical additives, farming methods, soil and gut health. To politics, advertising, subsidies, meditation and even the quantum mechanics of it all. Illustrating how food, our thoughts, microbiome, and manipulative messaging interplay to influence decision making, personal energy signatures, our genes, interactions with others, and even our views of reality.

I drink a lot of tea, and so maybe I was bound to like the opening story in this book, explaining how the author discovered in this humble drink a metaphor for the whole global food industry. 


It was while on a visit to the Far East that Brett Casper discovered “Not all tea leaves are created equally”, and that some “are bitter, some bright, some fruity and some malty”, others “dark, light, yellow, black and green” and yet others “heavy, light, thick, thin, precious, soft, brittle and hard”. Later, the leaves are processed and packaged and drunk not so much for any practical reason, but rather as part of longstanding social rituals


More worryingly, he discovered that some tea bushes are allowed to grow sustained by the sun and rain, while others are fed a diet of fertilisers and pesticides. For this and many other reasons, writes Casper, tea is truly an allegory of human civilisation. 


Think about how you drink tea, or if not tea, one of our other regular daily drinks. To what extent do you simply follow a routine? To what extent do you rethink and explore the myriad of possibilities around the ritual? Maybe not so much, because, as Casper puts it:


“Our roots, nourishment, mentors, education, season, enrichment, environment, experiences, thoughts, shape us no differently than the weather, region, soil, altitude, care, genes, health and artisans shape a tender, freshly picked green bud into the myriad of configurations, profiles and varieties of tea available today.”


Other aspects of this wide-ranging book are, to my mind, too esoteric, too colorful. The text straddles the line between grand theory-making and random speculation, inevitably sometimes falling into the latter category. It is interesting not to day ambitious, to link mind and matter through both quantum theory and stomach bacteria but to be really compelling, the story needs to offer - if not answers - at least some kind of tentative conclusion.


And while it’s great to urge the reader to be skeptical, authors too need to watch the assumptions they are making. Given today there is a concerted effort by both environmentalists and big business to demonise traditional livestock farming, it really won’t do, as Casper does, to trot out dodgy statistics on how much water it takes to produce a pound of beef, or how much land is taken up by grazing.


If you enjoy esoteric tales of things like the man who became drunk because bacteria made alcohol in his stomach, or the goats whose milk deteriorated because their pasture was surrounded by an electric fence, this is a fragrant potpourri. If you are looking for practical dietary take-aways, though, you may feel your appetite is only, shall we say, whetted.

Reviewed by

Martin Cohen is an author specializing in popular books in philosophy and social science. His writing ranges widely as he likes to make connections between different areas and ideas. Recent books include 'Paradigm Shift’ two ‘for Dummies’ books and a look at food, called, ‘I Think Therefor I Eat'!

Synopsis

The Political Gut follows Brett Casper’s journey from a Calvin Klein model to founder of acclaimed wellness brand Pure Luck®. A journey which led him to realize that toxic foods and deceptive messaging are creating toxic humans.

Casper says, “Our food and political systems are threatening our very existence. Humans are being manipulated daily, to act and consume against their own best interests. Many people don’t realize, or refuse to accept, how much they are under the control of politicians, advertising, processed foods and corporations. I aim to educate readers and show them it is possible to take back control of their decision making processes, and eliminate the toxic voices inside their head.”

Citing dozens of studies and interweaving stories from his own personal experiences, Casper paints a concise picture with a broad brush. Covering a range of topics that influence our personal and collective well-being. From culture, chemical additives, farming methods, soil and gut health. To politics, advertising, subsidies, meditation and even the quantum mechanics of it all. Illustrating how food, our thoughts, microbiome, and manipulative messaging interplay to influence decision making, personal energy signatures, our genes, interactions with others, and even our views of reality.

Preface

The Political Gut is built upon nearly three decades of professional and personal experiences. From owning a wellness brand built around tea, named Pure Luck®, to a career as a professional artist. Working globally with major advertising agencies, fashion labels, alcohol brands, post production studios, art departments, mega corporations, politicians and more.

I was engaging with, and working for the entities that try and succeed, to define us. Creating the content to do it. The message I kept receiving was clear. I had to stop supporting these entities. And begin actively working to educate as many people as possible how upside down the system is.

My Memoir From The Anthropocene

My goal with this book is to inspire people to change the way they live. To manifest change in our collective patterns of thinking and being. By altering how we view food and the world around us. We will build a new way of being and thinking. Breaking ourselves free from the toxic world we presently inhabit.

My hope is that I motivate others to assist in creating this new paradigm. Where every person has the basic necessities of life – food, water, shelter, clothing, safety and sanitary living conditions. Where we are able to make clear-headed decisions, free from chemical contamination, ill health and manipulation. The idea is simple: the return to “natural.” My wish is for humanity to come together collectively and build a new paradigm, one so popular it renders the current one obsolete.

This "memoir" is telling the story of our current paradigm, our epoch, the Anthropocene. A period of time in which human activities have altered society and changed the course of the planet's geology and ecosystems. I piece together the myriad of ways consumerism and business as usual are changing the very being of humans, our DNA, food systems, and society.

Shining a bright light on what is obscured by our everyday lives. I have collated a wealth of information and research, bringing it together in one place. Viewed as a whole, a clear picture emerges. The goal is to enlighten, inspire, and foster a new view to enmeshing with the natural world around us.

Recalibrate Back To Natural

The physical world is full of traps, constraints, and heavy weights. Holding humanity back from meeting, and being our full potential. Causing us to act against our best interests. My aim is to help you navigate and recognize the tripwires. The world we live in has been built upside down on purpose. Food is political and the human gut is an integral part of the decision making process.

I highlight several key areas: energy, critical thinking, diet, discipline, kindness, awareness, objectivity, love, and mindfulness. To gain awareness of oneself, engaging in an inner dialog is imperative. Throughout the book I point out methods and means of trickery used against humans to continue the status quo. To maintain the status quo means to continue keeping humans from focused, clear thought, at all costs.

Living in a natural state of being. You begin to experience the world around us for what it truly is. Once you see this, it cannot be unseen. Stop, think and recalibrate back to natural. Maybe you don’t even know what a natural state of being feels like.

Improve Your Quality Of Life

Free yourself from dogma and embrace dharma. Challenge the ways you think, believe, eat and live. This will actually reduce your stress and increase your health. The Political Gut is meant to be a “memoir of paradigm,” and provide the tools to the art of living in the 21st century.

Remove the guardrails, they don’t exist. It’s all an illusion. Cut out the toxicity, pills and bad influences; ignore the manipulation and cravings and remove the toxins we ingest and absorb willingly. These toxins collect in our bodies and infect our minds, thoughts and most importantly our decision making. Becoming aware of it all is a big first step. From there I will guide you to detox, re-align your reality, and renew your quality of life. You have never known freedom like this.

We Resist What We Don't Know

Humans are programmed and designed to resist the unknown and foreign. Every day we are taking unconscious actions to resist conflict. Making decisions based on group think. As a species, we are ultimately just stumbling through the dark on a rock hurtling through space time, searching for a light switch, trying to keep up, and figure it out.

Group acceptance is a very powerful force and we let it control us more than we should. To think freely–true free thought–is to be accepting of the unknown and to be open to new ideas. In marketing, there are categories used to describe different types of people. A person who takes a risk. Accepting an idea or product before the majority of others is known as an early adopter. This is roughly thirteen percent of people.

The Early Adopter

Early adopters don’t care if others are widely adopting an idea. This person is open to change and trying new things. “Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters.” - Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers.

Another word we may use to loosely describe an early adopter, progressive. “Progressive,” defined by Merriam Webster, “1) using or interested in new or modern ideas especially in politics and education  2) moving forward.”  Those with a progressive mind are living, moving into the future, evolving, and changing sooner. The early adopter is flexible in their mindset, creating new neural pathways, methods and sometimes even paradigms.

Everyone Else

If most people are not going to accept something new. How do you get the majority to purchase or accept it? Through repetition, birth, manipulation, and coercion. This is the purpose of advertising, politics and the media. When those things don't work. There are always laws, chemicals, and additives. These mediums are signaling it’s OK, go ahead and give into your craving. Follow us. Try it out. Be like everyone else. There is a lot of psychology behind all this.

The ideas sold to us are that we should be getting the newest things. Maximizing our buying power by working and competing harder. Endlessly, consuming and working to get money, to exhibit status. When you minimize inputs instead of maximizing consumption. You will find much greater peace of mind with less. Realizing that the majority of things that are sold to us as “must haves” are actually worthless. Or worse, own us. 

Change The Way You Live

What if you cut out social media, shopping binges, the newest TV, culture war politics, junk food, meat, soda, TV dinners, snacks, candy, special sauces, and the like? Learning to live with less will free your mind of the mental weight and cravings of physical things. You will find this significantly improves your health, sleep and lowers your stress.

What if you start drinking only clean, pure spring water? Eat real organic food and turn off the TV, just sitting with yourself, in the quiet of your mind. I reckon a majority of people may find this very difficult at first, or maybe even say they don’t have the time.

Yet, you have the time for social media and to watch TV, right? If you make the time, you will regain your focus and absolutely maximize the quality of your life. If you can find your natural state you might learn something very new and appealing about yourself and the world around you.

Objectivity Is Power

Being able to objectively, and reflectively view ourselves and the world around us. Allows us to see the incredibly negative effects of the world we live in, and the outsized influence it has on our minds, environment, health, and collective futures. Taking a moment to stop and recognize relationships and interconnectivity. Enables us to break the mono-mindedness cycle. Stop living in a repetitive state, reliving our past experiences endlessly.

Open it all up. Take the time to think and inspect ourselves. Shine a bright light in all of the crevices and cracks of your mind. I want to show you how you can view yourself objectively. Creating context and the ability to acknowledge what is really happening. And to be able to build an off-ramp, safely crossing the barrier into the unseen and natural world. We can create a better quality of life, a kinder society and a healthier world if enough people dare to do the same.

Inspiring You To Make The Connections

In The Political Gut I convey a lot of information in generalities in order to drive the main points home. The goal is to provide fodder for your mind. To stimulate you to think and ask questions. To make the connections I provide a trail of breadcrumbs. It is up to you, the reader, to make the effort to do the homework.

The best way to learn and come to realizations is by committing and undertaking the task yourself. Spoon feeding the reader is how the media works. They expect you won’t do any research for yourself.

My Personal Philosophy

The Political Gut takes a philosophical approach to what we call the Pure Luck Lifestyle. From there, it builds on existing theories and ideas. Ideas which my company has been teaching during our fermentation seminars and lectures for the last decade.

I cite dozens of scientific studies as correlative and anecdotal evidence and interweave experiences from my own life and our interactions with clients. I have personally been living the lifestyle I describe in The Political Gut for a long time. However, there was a time when I was just like everyone else: wanting to fit in, consuming, and addicted to sugar, alcohol, nicotine, meat, salt, and fat.

I sincerely believe each person has the power to change the world. First by making the change they want to see within themselves. I strongly believe in leading by example. I wish to thank you for making it this far. You are well on your way to true balance and freedom.

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About the author

Founder of Pure Luck® kombucha, rated “Top 5 Best” in America by Food & Wine Magazine. Notable wellness collaborations - Michelin Starred Chefs, FENDI, Fresh Cosmetics, Park Hyatt, Six Senses. Notable photography clients - Prince Andrew, Warren Buffet, and Jay-Z, Brooklyn Brewery and German Vogue. view profile

Published on June 18, 2022

70000 words

Genre:Health & Wellbeing

Reviewed by