Foreword for Food for Freedom, by Dr. Michael Nehls

Foreword for Food for Freedom, German-language edition

By Dr. Michael Nels, author, The Indoctrinated Brain

Freedom begins in the mind—yet it often falters at the dinner table. This book by Dr. Will Tuttle demonstrates with admirable clarity how closely our daily eating rituals are linked to our intellectual autonomy, our physical and mental health, and ultimately, to the freedom of entire societies. Tuttle reveals that the routine exploitation of animals not only causes immeasurable suffering but, as a fundamental cultural pattern, trains our acceptance of dominance, reductionism, and control—a pattern reflected in medicine, media, politics, and economics. Those who recognize this understand why food can be a lever for liberation.

Tuttle’s five-dimensional view of health (environment, culture, physical, mental, and spiritual-ethical health) and freedom (ecological, cultural, physical, mental, and spiritual freedom) is particularly compelling. These dimensions form an interconnected web: what we do with one dimension affects all the others. This is precisely where my Methuselah Formula comes in – an overlapping map of life domains that I originally presented in The Methuselah Strategy and later further elaborated as the “Formula Against Alzheimer’s” or the “Hippocampal Anti-Indoctrination Formula.” It shows how a species-appropriate lifestyle, via the hippocampus – our autobiographical memory center and seat of our mental immune system – protects our cognitive plasticity, resilience, and freedom of choice. These systems perspectives provide a practical roadmap: Those who strive for true freedom must learn to see connections instead of focusing on supposed isolated factors – especially those hidden behind seemingly harmless, widespread habits.

Tuttle describes a crossroads of our future: a technological path of development that – where it is stripped of its ethical orientation – leads to surveillance, centralization, and alienation. In contrast, there is a path of spirituality that strengthens insight, self-determination, and compassion. He doesn’t cast suspicion on technology in general, but rather soberly reminds us that technology is value-blind—it serves or enslaves, depending on the underlying conception of humanity and the cultural model it embodies. The pastoralism analyzed by Tuttle—dominion over animals as a cultural archetype—provides the template for the instrumentalist use of science and technology that ultimately degrades us to mere “livestock” in a technocratic order.

Thus, the book touches upon my central theme: mental sovereignty. In The Indoctrinated Brain, I described the Great Reset architecture as a project for a totally managed world: close “partnerships” between corporations and governments, seamless traceability, the gradual erosion of privacy, and a “permanent crisis mode” that weakens the frontal lobe and makes the population susceptible to any narrative—culminating in an attempted Great Mental Reset, in which a new belief system is implanted into brains—first through the targeted destruction of our mental immune system (measurable in chronic mental exhaustion, rising rates of depression and Alzheimer’s disease). From a neurobiological perspective, true autonomy rests on the mental immune system with its core, adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN): the adult brain’s ability to generate new nerve cells and thus distinguish experience from imagination, past from future plans—the prerequisite for scrutinizing external narratives instead of succumbing to them. This ability is the foundation of an autonomous self. It makes us resilient against indoctrination and alien, harmful narratives. A healthy, species-appropriate lifestyle maintains this neurogenesis—even into old age.

Tuttle’s central diagnosis—that materialism and reductionism cloud our perception and make us prey to the financial, media, and medical industries—fits seamlessly into my neurobiological perspective: A culture that numbs compassion at the dinner table also numbs the hippocampus as the organ of classification, memory, and foresight. Crucial here is the distinction I elaborate on in The Indoctrinated Brain: Empathy (System 1) can act as a “spotlight,” appearing biased, impulsive, and divisive, while rational compassion (System 2) broadens our perspective, considers global consequences, and fosters sound judgment. This very non-selfish, far-sighted compassion that Tuttle calls for corresponds to the quality of System 2: It protects against indoctrination because it includes the suffering of all those affected—not just those close to them—and thus makes freedom practically possible.

I am particularly grateful to Tuttle for his distinction between true veganism and “false veganism.” He shows how ultra-processed, industrially marketed “plant-based” substitutes—often promoted by the same actors who profit from pharmaceutically managed chronic diseases—serve as a Trojan horse: people fail at artificial substitutes and consequently reject the entire concept. The damage is felt by health, the credibility of the cause, and the fight for animal welfare. Logically, however, this does not mean that plant-based diets should be naive: certain nutrients that humanity has evolutionarily obtained from marine sources (especially DHA/EPA) must be consciously replaced—but regardless of a fundamental vegan decision, as I have already explained in my book The Algae Oil Revolution. Because even beyond ethical considerations, meeting the necessary omega-3 requirements worldwide through fish is unrealistic, both in terms of quantity and with regard to pollution; an optimal omega-3 index could not be achieved globally using fish alone. The production of pollutant-free microalgae/algae oil is the systemic solution and the only viable “fish substitute” for aquatic omega-3 fatty acids.

The same applies, from a systemic perspective, to lithium in micro-quantities: In many regions (including the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland), natural drinking water levels are very low; at the same time, comprehensive analyses show that higher natural lithium levels are associated with, for example, a lower overall risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease—knowledge that the pharmaceutical cartel is apparently trying to suppress, as I explain in detail in my book The Lithium Conspiracy. Therefore, a conscious basic supply of lithium in micro-quantities—regardless of diet—is also a crucial component of modern disease prevention.

Tuttle’s critique of coercive medicine and the genetic engineering of the human body is sharp, but necessary. When bodies threaten to become patentable platforms and people manageable objects, the red line has long since been crossed. In my work, I have repeatedly addressed the neuropsychiatric consequences of such interventions—mediated through chronic neuroinflammation—as part of defending our intellectual property rights. Freedom is inconceivable without bodily autonomy.

What are the practical implications of all this?

1. Nutrition as a choice of freedom: Every wholesome, natural meal that fulfills all our natural needs strengthens health, mood, and cognitive clarity—and thus those inner resources we need to defend our self-determination. (See Tuttle’s Five-Dimensional Model; my work on lifestyle neurogenesis.)
2. Cultivating narrative competence: Those who understand the cultural patterns at the dinner table more easily see through the narratives of the media, pharmaceutical, and technocratic complexes. Freedom arises from the ability to recognize connections—and this is precisely what this book invites you to do.
3. Act ethically – benefit neurobiologically: practicing compassion is not a luxury, but rather essential for neuronal hygiene. It organizes our memory, protects against cognitive distortion, and maintains mental plasticity.

I recommend this book to everyone who no longer wants to delegate health and merely demand freedom, but actively cultivate it. Dr. Will Tuttle shows how daily nutrition can become the key to a healing revolution – one that begins with the individual and extends to culture. Those who read this work with an open heart will recognize that the liberation of animals is the defining test of our time – and the breakthrough to a culture that once again takes us seriously as human beings.

May we follow the paths outlined in this book – mindfully, courageously, and resolutely – so that knowledge becomes self-determination and self-determination becomes freedom.