The slippery science of Gary Brecka

Another fitfluencer goes astray

Having spent the last few weeks looking into 10X Health Systems cofounder Gary Brecka, I’ve found his work to obscure much more than it reveals. Case in point: his unscientific demonization of GMOs and seed oils.

Brief background: With 1.9 million Instagram followers and 187,000 YouTube subscribers, Brecka’s star rose after supposedly helping UFC president Dana White “hack his health.” As a fitfluencer, Brecka falls somewhere between the Andrew Huberman / Dave Asprey optimization space and the magical thinking pseudoscience of Joe Dispenza.

Before co-founding 10X Health Systems, Brecka achieved a BS in Biology from Frostburg State University, then received another BS from the National College of Chiropractic in Human Biology. Most of Brecka’s content centers on nutrition and toxicity, which could fit into the latter degree, though his selection of science to fit a narrative is often suspect.

Human Biology is a 20th-century interdisciplinary field that covers genetics, evolution, anatomy, physiology, epidemiology, ecology, nutrition, population genetics, sociocultural influences, ecology, and anthropology. The National University of Health Sciences (which hosts the chiropractic school Brecka attended) offers degrees in naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and biomedical science, which is what I’m guessing Brecka studied, since it’s related to the field of Human Biology.

While I advocate for expertise, investigating connections between disciplines is also important. My problem is Brecka’s playbook, which mimics most conspiritualist playbooks: identify a problem that may or may not be a problem, and instead of offering actual solutions, sell something.

For example: his solo podcasts are filled with fear-mongering and marketing that often strays far from his areas of study. They go broad but never deep, and always follow a pattern of contrarian “science.”

A few titles:

• Brain Fog, Season Allergies, Red Light Therapy & More

• Removing forever chemicals from your home

• Enhancing mental clarity with 10x Focus

• Symptoms, Causes & treatments for an overactive thyroid

• Alopecia, causes and treatments for hair loss

• Decoding depression: beyond medication

• Tinnitus: symptoms, causes, and what you can do about it

• Hacks, supplements, and routines for better sleep

• Is fluoride lowering IQs? Why tap water needs to be filtered from your home

• Water fasting for detoxification and longevity

• Grounding: optimize your health at the cellular level

I’ve seen this pattern before: everything around us is toxic, which is not what god intended (as he said in this recent clip). Never mind the fact that we’re inside a climate-controlled building speaking through amplification, which is all being recorded and which I’ll share later through wireless networks on the computer in my pocket. 

I’m being a bit facetious, yet also not. This pattern is common among wellness and fitness influencers: blame technology for certain things yet turn a blind eye to all of the advancements technology has afforded us. This makes the god argument even more disingenuous: this tech is bad, but god granted us this other tech for the good of humankind!

In reality, we do have serious problems. An example, based on Brecka’s comment about air pollution (in the clip above): the American Lung Association recently found that roughly 40% of Americans live in places where air pollution is a health risk. Of the top nine worst cities to live in, seven are in California and Oregon, which has numerous reasons, including industry and wildfires—those fires are due to a complex history dating back two centuries.

But here’s the thing: air pollution gets better with regulations, just as it did when the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. 

Is Brecka calling for Americans to mobilize and affect political change? Of course not. This is what accompanies the video on the post: 

Our genetic test provides insights into your unique physiology, revealing exactly what your body NEEDS to thrive. It’s time to prioritize personalized wellness and tap into the healing potential within us! DM US ‘10X’ to start your individual journey toward becoming your best self.

Watch what they say, then watch what they sell.

Brecka sells a lot. 10X Health System products include a $133,000 light bed, oxygen machine, and red light mat kit. You can just get the mat with light panels for $18,000 or splurge on the light bed for $119,000. There’s also plenty of supplements and electrolytes, which the company will sell you after its $600 genetic test. 

Brecka is listed as 10X’s co-founder, chief human biologist, and life coach. He claims expertise on serum blood and genetic biomarkers, which is suspect without the appropriate degrees but makes sense if you’re selling blood and genetic tests, which are inevitably followed by supplements and red light therapy. Brecka also claims to be known as the “celebrity bio-hacker.” 

Unsurprising. Yet when Brecka presents science, things go even more south, which we’ll now turn to.