Why Chronic Disease Keeps Rising: Chris Kresser on Ultra-Processed Food and Functional Medicine
Functional-medicine clinician Chris Kresser explains why he blames the modern lifestyle for chronic disease, where conventional care shines, and how to pick a practitioner.
By The Meat Mafia (Harry Gray and Brett Ender)
For Brett, this one was personal. He spent about six years on an immunosuppressant called Remicade for ulcerative colitis, and by his own math his treatment cost the US medical system around $2.4 million. Chris Kresser's writing was one of the things he read while working on his health. So before we got to policy, we asked Chris how he ended up in functional medicine. It starts on a surf trip.
In his early twenties Chris was a surfer. He set out to travel the world for a couple of years, surfing wherever the waves were good. Somewhere in Indonesia, staying in a small village on a little island, he got sick.
He describes it as a tropical illness: diarrhea, vomiting and delirium. He says he barely remembers the three days that followed. He was a long way from any medical care. By luck, another traveler in the village, an Australian, had antibiotics in his medical kit and gave them to him.
"apparently I was pretty close to the edge" (~10:00)
The antibiotics got him well enough to get out of bed and make his way to where he could get a diagnosis. He went back to Australia from Indonesia. But getting through the first wave of the illness wasn't the end of it. A whole set of after-effects followed, and, as he puts it, very long story short, that turned into a decade-long effort to figure out what was going on.
Along the way he found two things that, he says, made the biggest difference in his own recovery. The first was a paleo or ancestral way of eating. This was about 25 years ago, when, by his account, Loren Cordain was about the only person talking about paleo. The second was functional medicine, which he jokes about five people had heard of back then.
That's when he changed course and trained to become a functional-medicine clinician himself. His own case was unusual, he says, so he didn't set out to treat people with exactly what he'd had. But he saw plenty of people with complex chronic illness who weren't well served by conventional care, and he wanted to look for root causes.
His second book, Unconventional Medicine, came out in 2017 as a kind of manifesto about where the conventional system falls short on chronic disease. He's clear that it isn't anti-doctor: he calls conventional medicine "pretty amazing" for trauma and emergencies. What drives him, he says, is simple:
"knowing what it's like to suffer like that and not be able to get help and then finally being able to recover through these tools" (~12:00)
That's the Chris Kresser we sat down with: a clinician whose own long illness shaped how he practices. Below is the rest of the conversation, from why he blames the modern lifestyle for rising chronic disease to where conventional care fits and how to choose a practitioner. Brett's story and Chris's are their own experiences, not medical advice. Don't change medication without your doctor. (Timestamps are approximate.)
Listen to the full episode · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR: Chris Kresser says the short answer for rising chronic disease is "the modern lifestyle", led by diet: he cites that about 60% of the calories Americans eat come from ultra-processed foods. He credits conventional medicine for acute and emergency care and says it struggles with chronic disease. His top filter for a practitioner is someone who listens.
Who is Chris Kresser? A functional-medicine clinician (M.S., L.Ac.), founder of the Kresser Institute and author of The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine. He has been a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Key takeaways
- Chris's one-line answer for what's driving chronic disease: “the short answer is the modern lifestyle.”(~1:00)
- The diet stat that stuck with us: “60 percent of the calories, the average American consumes come from not just processed foods, but ultra processed foods.”(~2:00)
- Food is the first lever he'd pull, because you eat every day.
- He gives conventional medicine credit where it's due: “the conventional medical system is pretty amazing when it comes to trauma and acute emergency medicine care”(~13:00)
- His top filter for a practitioner: “Someone who listens, I think is for sure the number one criteria”(~19:00)
Why chronic disease keeps rising
Chris points to the modern lifestyle as a whole, with diet at the center, and walks through how common autoimmune conditions have become.
“60 percent of the calories, the average American consumes come from not just processed foods, but ultra processed foods.”(~2:00)
Source note: a 2016 study in BMJ Open using US national survey data (Martínez Steele et al.) estimated that ultra-processed foods make up about 58% of calories in the American diet.
Where conventional medicine fits
This isn't an anti-doctor conversation. Chris separates acute care, where he says the system shines, from chronic disease, where it struggles.
“the conventional medical system is pretty amazing when it comes to trauma and acute emergency medicine care”(~13:00)
Brett shared his own ulcerative colitis story here, including asking his doctor for a colonoscopy to check his progress before coming off medication, under his doctor's supervision. That's his personal experience, not medical advice.
FAQ
What does Chris Kresser say causes chronic disease? His short answer is "the modern lifestyle," with diet at the center (~1:00 in the episode).
How much of the American diet is ultra-processed? Chris cites about 60% of calories. A 2016 BMJ Open study of US national survey data (Martínez Steele et al.) put it at about 58%.
Is Chris Kresser against conventional medicine? No. He calls it "pretty amazing" for trauma and acute emergency care and says it struggles with chronic disease (~13:00).
How does he suggest choosing a practitioner? "Someone who listens, I think is for sure the number one criteria" (~19:00).
Related on The Meat Mafia
- Episode MMP #297 show notes
- MMP #298: Chris Kresser, Part 2
- Dr. Ken Berry: 3 Things to Cut and How to Start
- Root-cause medicine hub
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Disclosure: Meat Mafia hosts Harry Gray and Brett Ender co-own Noble Origins, a grass-fed beef protein with organs. We mention it where it is relevant, so weigh our take with that in mind.
Not medical advice. This post summarizes a podcast conversation for education. The views are the guest's own. Talk to a qualified clinician before you change your diet, supplements or any medication.
