Is Your Avocado Oil Fake? What a New Study Found, the Vaccine Schedule Conversation, and Why Full Fat Dairy Is Back

From the Now + Then Podcast with Dr. Bart Precourt and Callie Michaelis : What’s Timeless. What’s Trending. What Actually Works.

You paid extra for the avocado oil because you were trying to do the right thing. New research says there is a good chance it is not avocado oil at all.

That is where we opened this week’s episode of the Now + Then Podcast, and honestly, some of these topics carry a charge. Fake avocado oil. The new vaccine schedule conversation happening at the federal level. Newly reported Fauci messages. Full fat dairy getting a second look. Food labels that say one thing on the front and another on the back. And a meditation study with results that surprised even us.

Our goal on topics like these is not to tell you what to think. It is to bring you the information we have found, share our perspective and clinical experience, and encourage you to ask better questions. Here is what we covered.

Is Your Avocado Oil Actually Avocado Oil?

A new study out of UC Davis tested avocado oil products for authenticity, and the results were rough. Of the 54 brands and products tested, 48 failed. That includes 93 percent of the chips tested and over 70 percent of the mayos, with salad dressings among the worst offenders, which stings because those are exactly the products people buy when they think they are choosing the better option.

The issue is that many of these products are being cut with cheaper oils like canola, safflower, and sunflower. Avocado oil can run four to five dollars a pound while some seed oils cost pennies by comparison, so the financial incentive to dilute is obvious. Our take: when a label says avocado oil and the bottle contains something else, that is not an oops. That is fraud, and consumers are the ones paying for it.

We feel this one personally. Our organic cafe sits just outside the studio door, and we constantly vet our sources because our community trusts what we say is in the food. That vetting is hard work, and it is exactly what many of these brands failed to do.

The New Vaccine Schedule Conversation

The vaccine schedule is back in the national conversation after President Trump addressed it publicly, and we spent real time on it this episode. Let us be clear about our intent here, because we said it on the show: we are not telling anyone to vaccinate or not vaccinate. We are advocating for something simpler and, we think, more important. Parents deserve to ask questions without being labeled, and doctors need to be able to have honest, open conversations without shaming the people in front of them.

Dr. Bart shared a personal story from 25 years ago about bringing his dogs in for routine annual shots, following the herd without a single question, and watching his older dog collapse into a seizure on the way out of the exam room. The point of the story is not the outcome. It is that he never thought to ask a question beforehand, because the environment did not invite one.

Dr. Bart also shared a hypothesis on the autism question, and he labeled it clearly as his opinion, not settled science: he does not believe vaccines cause autism, but he suspects that in children with certain genetic and mitochondrial vulnerabilities, any number of stressors could act as a trigger. Whatever your view, the bigger takeaway from this segment is the one we kept returning to: you can believe the current schedule is safe and still believe parents deserve a real conversation with their doctor. Those two things were never supposed to be opposites.

What the Newly Reported Fauci Messages Say

Still in the news cycle: reporting on messages from early 2021, around 11 of them, between Dr. Fauci and other physicians discussing the COVID vaccine and pregnancy. According to the reporting, the messages included statements that there was no data and no theoretical reason to recommend the vaccine for pregnant women at that time, along with a mention that it could theoretically be associated with first trimester miscarriage.

What frustrates us is the gap between what was reportedly said privately and what was recommended publicly, at a time when so many women trusted their doctors with the most important decision of their lives. This is a trust conversation more than anything else. Trust can be rebuilt, but it starts with honesty, and with doctors who put the patient in front of them first.

Full Fat Dairy Might Be Fine After All

Now for some good news. If you grew up on skim milk because fat was the enemy, this one is for you. A new study had adults eat three servings of full fat dairy every single day and found no increase in weight, body fat, or cholesterol.

Callie has been recommending whole milk to her clients for a long time, and this is why: it is less processed, because nothing has been stripped out of it, and fat is not the villain it was made out to be. Fat builds your hormones and protects your brain. This is a perfect example of what this show is about. What we believed then, what we know now, and being willing to update when the evidence changes.

The Front of the Label Is Marketing. The Back Is the Truth.

This is the thread that ties the whole episode together. Avocado oil, low fat dairy, gluten-free packaging covered in health claims. The front of the package is marketing. The honest information lives on the back, in two places: the ingredient list and the nutrition panel.

Learn to read those two things and skip the front entirely. A certified gluten-free label does not mean a product is not loaded with starches. And when you are choosing supplements or specialty products, third party testing is the gold standard, because it means someone outside the company verified that what is on the label is actually in the bottle.

Can 7 Days of Meditation Rewire Your Brain?

We closed with a study on an intensive 7 day meditation retreat that measured real, tangible biomarkers: changes in neuroplasticity, immunity, metabolism, and natural pain relief. In seven days.

We both talk about nervous system dysregulation with patients constantly, and studies like this point to mindfulness becoming one of the best medicines available. Dr. Bart experienced a version of this firsthand years ago on a 10 day meditation trip to India, and he calls it a game changer to this day.

So why do people skip the practices that are free and time-tested? Partly a lack of education, partly fear of failure, and partly impatience. Our answer: you have to experience it. Breathing costs nothing and takes 15 to 20 seconds. If you listened to this segment and did not take one deep breath, go back and take it.

What Actually Works

The through-line this week is trust, and here is where we landed. Read the back of the label, not the front. Choose whole, less processed versions of foods when you can, full fat dairy included. Ask your doctor questions, and find one who welcomes them. And give your nervous system the daily attention it needs, because the tools that regulate it are free.

If you are ready to go deeper with your own health, Dr. Bart and Callie are both available for one-on-one consultations, no matter where you live. If you have labs from years past, we will read them. If you need labs, we can send a requisition. We will map out a personalized plan built on foundations that work for you. Book a consult here: https://momence.com/appointments/appointment-reservation/70712?boardId=76851

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