A new book by Luke McConachy
The Lie That
Keeps You Sick
The gluten-free trap, seed oils, and the processed food making you sick.
Buy on Amazon →
Kindle eBook · Available now
The gluten-free trap, seed oils, and the processed food making you sick.
water, maltodextrin, modified corn starch, soybean oil, glycerol, mono- and diglycerides, xanthan gum, dextrose, soy lecithin, natural flavour, citric acid, sodium phosphate, potassium sorbate, carrageenan, colour (171)…
Most of what's on the back didn't exist in the food supply fifty years ago. Your body has no idea what to do with it.
We scanned a bottle of a best-selling electrolyte drink — "Most Popular," five stars, "low sugar," "natural." Here's the front of the packet versus what's actually in it.
Beautiful bottle. Waterfall. Athlete. Every box on the front of the packet, ticked.
This is a flavoured electrolyte water sweetened with dextrose (sugar) plus natural sweeteners. Despite the 'low sugar' claim, it carries 11.5g of sugar per bottle — about 3 teaspoons. It's mostly water, sugar, some minerals and a few additives.
Don't let the white-and-blue 'low sugar' bottle fool ya — the second ingredient is dextrose, which is straight-up glucose, giving you nearly 3 teaspoons of sugar a bottle. It's basically lightly salted sugar water with a sprinkle of minerals and a marketing degree. Real hydration is water plus a pinch of salt, mate.
Same bottle, three seconds. Scroll the full scan ↓
“Don't let the white-and-blue 'low sugar' bottle fool ya — the second ingredient is dextrose, which is straight-up glucose, giving you nearly 3 teaspoons of sugar a bottle. It's basically lightly salted sugar water with a sprinkle of minerals and a marketing degree.”
sugar per bottle — about 3 teaspoons. The front of the label says "low sugar."
of its energy comes from carbohydrates. Protein 1%, fat 2%.
ingredient is dextrose — pure glucose. Right after water.
Marketing claims and nutrition figures are taken from the product's own published page. Scan and rating generated by Frank.
You've been doing everything right. Gluten-free. Low-fat. Natural. And you're still tired, inflamed, foggy, and heavier than you were five years ago.
Here's what nobody's telling you: the label on the front is marketing. The ingredients on the back are the truth — and most of what fills a modern supermarket didn't exist in the food supply fifty years ago. Your body has no idea what to do with it.
The Lie That Keeps You Sick pulls apart the gluten-free trap, the seed oils hiding in everything, and the processed food quietly breaking you down while everyone calls it normal. No fads. No supplements to sell you. Just what's happening to your body — and what to do about it.
The food industry won't tell you. This book does.
Strip out the gluten and something has to hold it together. What goes back in — thickeners, gums, emulsifiers, synthetic additives — is often worse than what came out. "Free from" rarely means better for you.
Industrial oils engineered for shelf life, not for your body — hiding in bread, sauces, snacks and "healthy" foods you'd never suspect. Once you know the names, you'll see them on every label.
Over 70% of a Western supermarket is ultra-processed — built to sell, not to nourish. It's quietly wearing you down day after day, and everyone's been taught to call it normal.
These aren't random, and they're not just you getting older. In most cases, it's what you're eating — and nobody's telling you.
of products in the average Western supermarket are ultra-processed — built on additives that didn't exist in the food supply 50 years ago.
adverse health outcomes linked to ultra-processed food — from heart disease to depression and anxiety.2024 systematic review, The BMJ
extra calories a day eaten on an ultra-processed diet versus whole food — even with unlimited access to both.Cell Metabolism
The food industry won't tell you. This book does.
Buy on Amazon →Available now on Amazon Kindle. Paperback, Kobo and Apple Books to follow.
No. There's no plan to follow, no foods you have to buy, and nothing to give up on a timer. It's about understanding what's actually in your food so you can make your own call — no fads, no supplements to sell you.
No. The goal isn't restriction — it's clarity. Once you can read a label honestly, you decide what's worth it. Most people change more than they expected, simply because they finally know what they're looking at.
Yes. The book draws on peer-reviewed research — including work published in The BMJ and Cell Metabolism — and lays it out in plain English, without the jargon or the hype.
Especially for you. It's written for people who are tired of feeling off and tired of being told it's normal — not for nutritionists. If you can read a packet, you can read this.
Frank is the app — a health and life companion that reads your food labels and tells you the truth about what's inside. This book is the same mission in print. You don't need one to get value from the other.
I'm building Frank — a health and life companion that tells the truth about what you put in your body, with nothing sold to you and nothing taken from you. No data selling. No engagement traps. No percentage cuts. If you want to be part of what's coming, you can support the build directly. Every dollar goes straight to the build. Completely optional — give what feels right.
Support the build