CONSPIRITUALITY Podcast
Episode: Brief: Re-reading Casey Means
Release Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Derek Beres

Overview

This Conspirituality "Brief" episode hosted by Derek Beres is a deep dive and critical review of Casey Means, her suitability as a candidate for U.S. Surgeon General, and her wellness empire—especially as featured in her bestselling book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health (co-authored with her brother, Kelly Means). Derek scrutinizes Means' congressional hearing performance, highlights the grift at the center of the “wellness” movement she represents, and rigorously debunks many of the misleading or outright false claims in her book. The episode aims to expose how alt-wellness rhetoric undermines public health and leans into anti-science narratives for profit.

1. Casey Means’ Confirmation Hearing Performance

[01:00–02:09]

• Audio from Means’ Senate confirmation hearing demonstrates her evasiveness regarding vaccination advocacy. Pressed repeatedly about whether she would support MMR vaccination as Surgeon General, she offers vague support but repeatedly pivots to “every parent should speak to their pediatrician.”

  “I do believe vaccines save lives...I do believe vaccines are a key part of every infectious disease public health strategy. I do believe that each parent...needs to have a conversation with their pediatrician about any medication they’re putting in their children’s bodies.”
  —Casey Means [01:19]

• Derek notes that she never directly answers if she would advise mothers to vaccinate, highlighting the disingenuousness at the heart of her public health positioning.

Host Commentary: Derek frames this as emblematic of Means’ “non-answers” and the performative nature of her nomination process.

2. Political and Wellness-Industry Context

[02:09–04:50]

• Means’ nomination:
  • Democratic senators attempt to hold her accountable for her history as a “wellness grifter.”
  • Republican senators, including Bill Cassidy, offer soft questions and gestures, even though Cassidy’s own political future is under fire from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-aligned groups.
• Connection to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA PAC’s $1 million campaign against Cassidy, further illustrating the unstable alliances and contradictions of the conspirituality movement.
• Means’ rise within the wellness community accelerated with Good Energy, co-authored with her brother, Kelly, a supplement salesman and Kennedy advisor.

3. Dissecting “Good Energy”: Claims and Misinformation

[04:51–18:15]

A. Manipulation of Animal Data & Unscientific Analogies

• Outdoor vs. indoor pets claim: Means argues outdoor cats and wild dogs are healthier and less depressed than their domesticated counterparts.

  “Outdoor cats exposed to harsher environments have significantly less obesity than indoor cats...Depression afflicts 75% of domesticated dogs but is rare in wild animals.”
  —Good Energy, cited by Derek [07:00 approx.]

• Derek’s critique: These claims ignore obvious confounders (wild animals die much younger, don’t live long enough to get cancer, and data on pet “depression” is misused).

B. Single Cause of Disease Fallacy

• Means posits nearly all chronic diseases stem from “bad mitochondrial or metabolic function.”

  “Nearly every health problem we face can be explained by how well the cells in our body create and use energy.”
  —Good Energy, [10:10]

• Derek: This is a classic pseudoscience trope.

  “The scientific and medical literature does not support the idea that poor metabolic health is either a necessary or sufficient cause of most chronic diseases.”
  —Derek [11:30]

C. Misrepresentation of Disease Etiology

• Causal misunderstanding:
  • Autoimmune diseases: Actually genetic/environmental, not metabolic.
  • Cancer: Cites non-metabolic main causes (tobacco, gene mutations).
  • Infectious diseases: Caused by pathogens, not “bad energy.”
  • Genetic disabilities and mental health: Means claims simple metabolic fixes, ignoring complex genetics.
• Derek exposes the deeper financial incentive: Means co-founded Levels (sells continuous glucose monitors), while her brother profits from supplements.

  “Why would they try to reduce all these diseases down to a single cause? Well, consider the fact that Casey co-founded Levels ... [which] sells continuous glucose monitors to non-diabetics,”
  —Derek [15:00 approx.]

D. Dangerous Claims About Cancer and Personal Stories

• Means blames her own mother’s pancreatic cancer death on “preventable metabolic condition.”

  “For Gale Means ... died in 2021 of pancreatic cancer (a preventable metabolic condition)”
  —Dedication in Good Energy, cited by Derek [19:45]

• Derek’s response: “Pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of just 11 to 12%. That’s very low. It’s one of the most lethal cancers precisely because it’s so difficult to prevent and detect early... Most people with obesity and diabetes do not get pancreatic cancer, and many people who do have no metabolic dysfunction.”

4. Grifting, Data Distortion, and Wellness Myths

[18:15–24:30]

A. Misleading Epidemiology

• “93.2% of people have metabolic dysfunction” claim, based on narrow, unrealistic criteria and misapplied stats.

  “This definition is not the same as having metabolic disease. However, Good Energy repeats this statistic to suggest that nearly the entire population is sick in a clinically meaningful way.” —Derek [21:15]

B. Anti-Statin and Cholesterol Claims

• Leaning on Robert Lustig’s and Mark Hyman’s rhetoric, Means dismisses standard cardiovascular research and downplays the benefits of statins, misrepresenting risk factors and study data.

  “Per Lustig, the book advises readers to throw total cholesterol in the garbage, downplays LDL-C as a risk factor, and implies that statins are largely ineffective ... All of these are false or misleading.” —Derek [22:35]

C. Pseudoscientific Buzzwords and Supplement Sales

• Promotes “leaky gut” as a diagnostic reality.
• Recommends CGMs (meant for diabetics) to healthy people, funneling them into unnecessary lab work and supplement sales via companies affiliated with Means, her brother, Hyman.

D. Expanding Realms of Blame: Autism, ADHD, Depression

• Falsely blames metabolic dysfunction for autism and ADHD: “Which I guess is better than vaccines, but it’s still completely unfounded.”
• Attacks SSRIs as she does statins, based on vibes, not evidence.

5. “Don’t Trust Your Doctor”: Anti-Medicine Rhetoric

[24:31–25:00]

• In Good Energy and in their public statements, the Means siblings adopt a distrustful stance toward mainstream medicine:

  “Trust yourself, not your doctor.”
  —Good Energy, Chapter 3

• Kelly Means’ tweet: “Don’t trust your oncologist.”

• Derek notes the hypocrisy of demonizing clinical prescriptions while directly or indirectly pushing their boutique, unneeded lab panels and supplements.

  “The means accuse doctors of overprescribing statins, SSRIs, and metformin while simultaneously recommending a lengthy list of tests and implicitly, supplements. Because that’s where those tests lead and many of those are sold by companies they’re affiliated with.”

6. Key Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Jesus Christ, I can't believe I have to fact check this. But yes, every sentence is bullshit.”
  —Derek [06:46]
• “That's the thing about Maha. They like to pretend that researchers and doctors and oncologists haven’t spent lifetimes looking into this... It’s so deflating to people who spend their lives researching this to have people who are not trained in any of it come along and make these assumptions to sell their alt med products.”
  —Derek [19:30]
• “America’s for-profit healthcare system is fucked. There are so many problems with putting profits over people, especially when it comes to our health. Ironically, Casey didn’t once mention socialized medicine as a solution during her congressional hearing.”
  —Derek [24:45]

7. Final Assessment and Host Conclusion

[24:45–25:06]

• Derek closes by emphasizing that Means’ omission of any mention of socialized medicine—arguably the root cause of many health disparities—alone makes her “completely unqualified for the position of Surgeon General.”
• The book Good Energy “provides dozens of more reasons” senators should scrutinize her nomination.

Useful Timestamps

• 01:00—Casey Means’ confirmation hearing (vaccine evasion)
• 07:00—Debunking “wild animals are healthier” claims
• 10:10—“Single cause of all disease” fallacy highlighted
• 15:00—Financial incentives and wellness industry grift
• 19:45—Misinformation on pancreatic cancer and personal stories
• 21:15—Manipulating metabolic health statistics
• 22:35—Statins, cholesterol, and anti-pharma rhetoric
• 24:31—“Don’t trust your doctor” excerpt

Summary

Derek Beres, in his signature candid, sharp-tongued style, methodically unravels Casey Means’ wellness narrative and exposes the dangerous implications of her rise as both a public figure in health and as a potential Surgeon General. He details how Means capitalizes on the single-cause fallacy, manipulates statistics and anecdote, peddles unnecessary diagnostics and supplements, and denigrates evidence-based medicine—all to the detriment of public health. The episode stands as a primer on how wellness “grifters” leverage conspiracy, fear, and misinformation for personal and political gain.