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.
GM-Oh-No
Earlier this year, Brecka released a short podcast called “GMO Foods: How Genetically Modified Foods Sabotage Your Health.” Let’s look at his claims followed by reality.
Brecka: there’s no safe level of fluoride in your drinking water
False. Dosage matters. Yet since one of his sponsors is a hydrogen water company, this fear-mongering makes sense.
Brecka: All GMOs are bad
False. As the Genetic Literacy Project states:
For over three decades, GMO foods have been part of the global food supply. Extensive evidence from the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and many other countries suggests no health risks associated with these foods. Despite the consumption of hundreds of trillions of GMO meals, there has not been a single documented case of illness, either short or long term, linked to GMO foods. There is no evidence suggesting a link to genetic mutations, cancers, organ damage, or fertility problems from GMO consumption. This is supported by nearly 300 expert institutions and over 5500 studies, indicating robust scientific consensus.
Brecka: GMOs were created specifically to resist pesticides
False. First off, genetic modification of foods is thousands of years old. Humans started manipulating plants through artificial selection and selective breeding over 12,000 years ago.
Modern techniques started in the 1970s, thanks to the discovery of DNA earlier in the century. Some countries have different definitions of what genetic modification means, so finding a common definition remains impossible.
The first commercially available GMO was the Flavr Savr tomato in 1994, and it absolutely had to do with feeding more people. Notice Brecka’s craftiness: he says it wasn’t about yielding more crops, which technically is true, but it was about letting the vegetable last longer after being picked, which by default means more edible food for more people.
Brecka: pesticides are poison
Brecka: only eat organic foods
False. Here’s Dr Andrea Love, who studied biochemistry, on the topic:
Organic farming uses plenty of pesticides and fungicides. A Soil Association survey demonstrated that 95% of organic food consumers said their top reason was to avoid pesticides. Sorry to burst the bubble here, folks. Organic pesticides are merely pesticides that remain chemically unaltered from the chemical state derived from nature. Before you fall into the appeal to nature fallacy trap, remember that the suffix ‘-cide’ means “to kill”. It doesn’t matter whether a pesticide is a natural chemical or a synthetic chemical: they all kill certain things at certain exposures. Remember: the dose makes the poison.
Organic farming is great. But it doesn’t scale. Organic farming uses 84% more land than conventional farming to produce the same yield, and even then, yields are 55% lower than conventional farming—as well as 30% more expensive.
Brecka: seed oils are toxic and have no health benefits
Brecka: you can’t heat rapeseed oil above standard room temperatures
Brecka: glyphosate changes the composition of rapeseed oil
False. There’s no evidence that glyphosate changes the composition of rapeseed oil. Glyphosate targets a plant enzyme. Oil comes from seeds; the chemical makeup of oil isn’t affected.
Rapeseed oil’s smoke point is 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it doesn't burn and isn’t broken down before that point. What’s more, the review Brecka is citing doesn't say anything about this, yet he makes it seem like it does in order to fulfill his narrative.
In terms of health benefits, this 2023 review offers perspective:
Rapeseed oil is the third most consumed culinary oil in the world. It is well-known for its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids, which make it of great nutritional value. There is increasing evidence that a diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids offers health benefits… Apart from unsaturated fatty acids, there are nine functional components in rapeseed oil that contribute to its anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective, among others.
Gary Brecka is among the growing field of fitfluencers with narratives to push and products to sell. While many of the broad points he makes are true, digging into the details reveals a different story. Health is a complex field of study. By reducing it to binaries—all seed oils are GMOs are toxic and should never be consumed, for example—Brecka is doing more harm than good.