Profit, Public Health & You: Why the Business of Healing Doesn’t Always Align With Your Health

Ocean Ki Wellness | Integrative Nutrition & Whole-Body Care

In theory, the business of medicine and food should serve your health. In practice, things get complicated. Large pharmaceutical companies, major food corporations and shareholders all have one thing in common: profit. And when profit becomes the dominant driver, sometimes the public’s health takes a back seat.

1. Why Pharmaceutical Interests Can Conflict With “Cures”

Treating vs. Curing: The Financial Incentive

• Pharmaceutical companies often earn high profit margins (40-90%) on treatments that patients must take continuously or long-term. Public Eye+1

• One industry commentary:

  “Curing patients will result in less revenue compared to ongoing, chronic treatments.”Above the Law

• In other words: if a single treatment cures a disease, the company’s recurring-revenue stream ends (and so does long-term profit). Meanwhile, medicines that manage or suppress disease for years may be more financially attractive.

• For example, one analysis noted that if “just one dose of a company’s new drug will cure a patient’s disease … insurance companies will have to pay a lot of money upfront” and the business model is harder. WHYY

• Additionally, pharmaceutical R&D decisions are often guided by fiduciary duty to shareholders, not purely by medical best-interest. PMC

• So, while many devoted researchers work to find cures, the business framework surrounding drug development makes treatment monetization far more predictable and lucrative.

Implications for Natural Remedies & Integrative Care

• Natural remedies, lifestyle interventions, diet changes often have low profit potential (difficult to patent, low exclusivity, hard to monetize) — so they may receive less research funding or attention.

• That means: there is less structural incentive in large-scale corporate medicine to “sell” cures via natural means, even if those approaches offer long-term value.

• At Ocean Ki Wellness, we focus on underlying wellness, metabolism, and prevention — precisely because we believe supporting the cause rather than solely the symptom is the path to lasting health.

2. Why U.S. Food Companies Load Foods with Additives, Preservatives & Hidden Ingredients

Regulatory Differences: U.S. vs. Other Countries

• Studies show the United States allows many food additives, colorings and preservatives that are banned or heavily restricted in the European Union. TIME+1

• For example:

  “Many artificial colorings and preservatives allowed in the US are banned or restricted in the EU.” RDR Global Partners

• One review noted that more than 10,000 chemicals/additives are allowed in U.S. food, placing “a critical challenge to the FDA’s ability to effectively assess … the safety of all these chemicals.” PMC

• Another commentary:

  “The U.S. tends to wait until an ingredient is flagged as dangerous before taking action; the EU tends to be more proactive.” EatWell

Business Impulses & Processing Pressures

• Big food companies aim to achieve shelf-stability, low cost, high convenience, long shelf-life and strong margins. Additives, preservatives, refined starches and cheap seed oils help achieve low cost and mass production — even if long-term health suffers.

• When profits depend on mass-market, ultra-processed foods, the use of preservatives and additives becomes a structural feature.

• Who’s behind these companies? Large conglomerates, shareholder-driven public companies, supply-chain interests (seed oil producers, large agribusiness) and marketing arms. By contrast, smaller farms and minimally-processed foods have lower profit scale and often lower margins, making them less prioritized in mainstream retail channels.

Link Between Food & Pharma Interests?

• There is overlap in the sense that both industries (food and pharma) are major global markets with large corporate players, complex supply chains and heavy lobbying.

• While direct “ownership links” are harder to trace, what is clear is that both industries operate within business frameworks where maximizing shareholder return often influences product design, marketing, regulation and public policy.

• For example: when food-regulation is lax, processed foods flourish; when drug-regulation supports high pricing and long-term treatment models, chronic therapies dominate.

3. What You Can Do to Stay Healthy in a Profit-Driven System

Because you can’t rely on the system to always put your best health first, here are steps you can take proactively:

Eat Real, Minimally-Processed Food

• Prioritize whole foods: vegetables, fruits (with fiber), nuts and seeds, quality protein, healthy fats (olive, avocado, coconut).

• Avoid ultra-processed foods laden with hidden seed oils, additives, artificial colorings and excessive sugar or starch. These are the ones often permitted in U.S. in ways not allowed in stricter regulatory settings.

• Read labels: if you see dozens of additives, artificial colors, “vegetable oils,” “modified food starch,” think twice.

Use Strategic Fasting + Balanced Meals

• Instead of constant snacking and multiple meals every few hours (which feed both insulin spikes and corporate profit models of “lifelong issues”), rotate in periods of fasting, balanced macronutrients and meals that support metabolism.

• This supports metabolic health and reduces your dependence on treatments by reducing the root causes of chronic disease.

Support Detox & Reduce Exposure to Additives

• Choose organic when possible, especially for coffee beans (which are heavily sprayed), fruits, vegetables.

• Filter your water; use cookware that avoids toxic non-stick breakdowns; limit exposure to processed foods.

• Consider food-based support (greens, herbs, phytonutrients) to support your body’s detox pathways.

Move Your Body, Sleep Well & Manage Stress

• Sedentary behaviour and poor sleep contribute to chronic disease, high blood pressure, insulin resistance — all systems big business wants you to treat.

• Gentle movement, strength training, acupuncture, and integrative therapies (like those at Ocean Ki) support your resilience and reduce your reliance on “repair” options.

Arm Yourself with Knowledge

• Be a savvy consumer: ask why you’re being told to treat versus cure, read ingredients, question “quick fix” supplements or ultra-processed foods marketed as healthy.

• Engage with health professionals who prioritise root-cause, not just symptom-management.

Final Thoughts

The conflict between public health and profit is real — in pharmaceuticals, in food manufacturing, in how the system is structured. But you don’t have to be a passive participant. By eating intentionally, choosing minimally-processed foods, supporting your metabolism and staying informed, you can side-step many of the downstream effects of a profit-driven system and build health that lasts.

At Ocean Ki Wellness, we support this kind of proactive, integrative approach — because we believe true health does not mean a lifetime of treatment, but a foundation of resilience.

Middletown & Warwick, Rhode Island

401-862-4894 

oceankiwellness.com