Senator Marshall: A Healthy Diet is Better Than Any Medication

Senator Marshall Joins The Julie Mason Show to Discuss Dr. Casey Means

Washington - U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined SiriusXM's The Julie Mason Show to discuss the nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General, how Make America Healthy Again can help the healthcare affordability crisis, and the conflict in Iran.

Click HERE or on the image above for Senator Marshall's full interview.

On the Iran conflict:

"Well, I think that number one is, let's stop and remember the six fallen soldiers and just mourn their loss. As a former officer in the military myself, my dad and brother served, my son is serving, I think it's always important that we stop and thank those and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice. I think the speed, the precision of our military, its overwhelming force, they're outperforming what I could have ever dreamed our military could be able to do. I think that achieving our goals is very doable, and in short order. You know those goals of destroying Iran's missile system, their navy, their ability to make nukes, and their ability to fund and arm terror. So I'm very optimistic, and I sure hope it's a short battle here, and we can not have any troops on the ground."

On the confirmation hearing for Dr. Casey Means:

"Yeah, so Dr. Means is really a big leader in the MAHA movement; Make America Healthy Again movement. She wrote a very much a tell-all book several years ago. I read it, and you know, there are probably some things in there that I don't agree with. There are some things don't agree with in it, and one of them is the use of mushrooms. And it's never an excuse, but she was going through a tough time in her life, she'd lost her mother, and some other things as well. But, but regardless, I think that she can be a great Surgeon General. I think that she's a great messenger. The Surgeon General is supposed to be America's doctor, and in this case, I think we need America's coach. I think that most of us know what we need to be eating, what we need to be doing to Make America Healthy Again. And I think her communication skills have proven that she's able to do that. And just remember, 80% of Americans have a chronic disease now, 1 in 3 teenagers are prediabetic. Our country is very sick, and just like those Surgeon Generals back in the 60s and 70s got us to quit smoking for the most part, hopefully this Surgeon General can lead us out of this chronic disease epidemic we have in this country."

What to know about Dr. Casey Means:

"Yeah, so I got to know her pretty well through the nomination process already and reading her books, but I think she came off so authentic and so genuine. I mean, they caught her off guard with a couple of questions, like she had no idea really what they were talking about. Some pretty bizarre accusations regarding some social media posts and whether she was taking money from a company or not. But I just saw her being very logical, calm-headed, you know, like most physicians are - like we're supposed to be and say, "Okay, I you know, I don't know." She said, "I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but I'm going to go back and we'll figure this out," but certainly said, "I'm going to comply with all the ethical rules that surround this position." And I thought she just did a really nice job of handling it. You know, suddenly she went from a nominee to being someone who was being persecuted like she was a criminal. So that's never a fun situation, and I don't know why some of my friends across the aisle think they have to do that."

What Dr. Means' priorities will be as Surgeon General:

"Yeah, Julie, I think you're on the right track here. I think that she wants to address this chronic disease epidemic, and I think a lot of it is going to be through nutrition and really calling out what ultra-processed foods are. I think you know, more than just counting calories, now we're concerned about the quality of the food that we're eating. She and I both believe that ultra-processed food causes inflammation. So it not only causes diabetes, but I think it leads to a lot of autoimmune problems. I think that Alzheimer's is a type three diabetes, it's an inflammatory process, Parkinson's as well. So I think she's going to focus on identifying what ultra-processed foods are, as well as the exposures to chemicals and toxins, and try to move those out of our diet and move those out of our environment."

On the long-term effect of the MAHA movement:

"Absolutely, it has to be; this is something I've been fighting for 40 years." As an obstetrician, I had a very busy diabetic practice, you know, for multiple reasons. So I think, you know, I was trying to make those moms MAHA before I knew what the term MAHA meant. And, you know, give me a healthy mom before she gets pregnant and keep her on a healthy diet - that is more important than any medicine I could give them as an obstetrician. So I think we need to spread that love to the rest of the country. Again, 8 out of 10 Americans have a chronic disease, and it's financially bankrupting this country; we're spending $5 trillion on healthcare. I want to make America healthy because it's the right thing to do, but if you want me to balance the budget, save Medicare, save Medicaid, then we need America to be healthy again."

On the cost of healthcare in America:

"Yeah, you know, with the average deductible maybe over $5,000 now, for most families, and they're living credit card to credit card already, you pile on another $5,000, and it's one of the most common causes of bankruptcy. So certainly there's the physical health part of this, and there's the financial impact that it makes as well. And we're working on that, too, I certainly want to focus on bringing down the cost of healthcare. We have a transparency bill that's really the centerpiece of President Trump's Great American Healthcare Plan that forces every healthcare provider to show you the price tags up front. We think that when we turn patients into consumers again, it can mean saving $1,000 a month for a family. So yes, there's a huge financial component to this as well."

On Dr. Means' views on vaccines:

"Yeah, so I think number one is, it's not her mantra, all right? She's not going to be going around telling people to take vaccines or not take vaccines; that's not going to be her mantra. She's going to focus on ultra-processed foods, on environmental toxins, toxins in our food, that's going to be her mantra. I agree with her from the standpoint that she thinks the patient-physician relationship is so paramount, and we value that in that she wants everybody to talk to their doctor about the vaccines. We have so many vaccines now, I am concerned about their interactions with each other. So again, I just think what she said very clearly in her nomination hearing is that's not going to be her focus, telling people what vaccines to take or not to take."

On the vote for Dr. Casey Means' nomination:

"I don't think I've got it on the schedule yet this week, but hoping we get to do it. I think it's very public that she just had a baby 17 weeks ago. So she was scheduled for her hearing 17 weeks ago and went into labor that afternoon. So, you know, I think she'll be a great role model too - a young mom, with a young baby, and trying to raise that baby. She's going to truly be exposed to a lot more. I think the baby formula is something that's a concern to people as well, and what babies are eating, and all that. Maybe she'll write another book on that specifically."

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