I Shared My Health Story on Reddit. They Banned Me in 36 Minutes.
I thought I'd try something new today. Share my story on Reddit—specifically in r/Cholesterol, where people are dealing with the exact issues I struggled with for 20 years.
My post was simple: I followed my doctor's advice. Statins for two decades. Low-fat diet. Did everything "right." And my calcium score came back at 450. My arteries were worse than ever.
So I started digging into the research. Not headlines. Not summaries. The actual studies. I followed the money, checked the methodology, looked at who funded what. And I found things that didn't add up.
Like the fact that the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists to blame fat instead of sugar—documented in JAMA Internal Medicine, not some conspiracy blog. Or that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" came from cereal company marketing, not science. Or that when you actually look at the statin data and the cholesterol hypothesis, there are some serious problems with what we've been told.
I changed my approach based on what I learned. Lost 63 pounds. Need fewer prescriptions now. Have energy, mental clarity. Not hungry all the time.
I shared all of this on Reddit. No product pitch. No link. Just my story and an offer to answer questions if anyone was interested.
The response? A permanent ban. In 36 minutes.
Not a warning. Not a "please edit this." Just gone. When I tried to appeal, they muted me so I couldn't even ask why.
What I Learned From the Comments (Before They Locked It)
Some responses were thoughtful. People raised legitimate scientific questions about LP(a), family history, whether calcium scores increase when statins stabilize plaque. Those were the conversations worth having.
Others were dismissive: "You were just fat." "This is a new account posting a made up story." "Conspiracy theories and misinformation."
One person said it best: "This reddit group is dominated by statin-prescribing doctors. You are going to be bashed left and right."
And then the moderator shut it all down: "This is a new account posting a made up story in lieu of actual evidence. I'm locking the comments, don't feed the trolls."
The Irony
I wrote We're Not Sick, We're Being Sold because I kept running into this exact wall. When you question medical orthodoxy—even with peer-reviewed sources and personal results—the response isn't debate. It's dismissal. It's gatekeeping. It's "trust the experts and stop asking questions."
Reddit just demonstrated my thesis in 36 minutes.
I wasn't selling anything in that post. I wasn't telling anyone to stop their medications. I was sharing what happened when conventional advice failed me and I started reading the research myself.
And that was enough to get silenced.
Why This Matters
Look, some of those Reddit critics had valid points. Heart disease is multifactorial. Calcium scores are complicated. Maybe my family history played a role. Maybe I should've asked about LP(a).
But we never got to have that conversation. Because the moderator decided my story was "made up" and I was a "troll."
This is the problem. Not that doctors are evil. Not that all medical advice is wrong. But that questioning is treated as heresy instead of due diligence.
When I followed the standard advice for 20 years and got worse, I had every right to ask "why isn't this working?"
When I found peer-reviewed research showing conflicts of interest and flawed methodology, I had every right to share it.
When I changed my approach and got better, I had every right to tell that story.
But according to Reddit, I didn't. I was a threat. A troll. Misinformation.
What Happens Next
I'm not mad at the Reddit mods. They're volunteers dealing with actual spam and conspiracy theorists every day. I get it.
But this experience reinforced exactly why I wrote the book. Because too many people are doing "everything right" and still getting sicker. And when they start asking questions, they get shut down.
We're not allowed to question. We're supposed to be compliant patients in someone else's business plan.
I wrote We're Not Sick, We're Being Sold for the people who are tired of that dynamic. For the ones who've followed the advice, taken the pills, done the diets—and still feel like crap.
If that's you, maybe the framework is the problem, not you.
Reddit doesn't want to hear that story. But I'm going to keep telling it anyway.
We're Not Sick, We're Being Sold is available on Amazon. It's the book I wish someone had handed me 20 years ago.