030: Dr. Brad Montagne Reveals Why Doctors Fail Chronic Illness Patients

On a recent episode of Your Radical Truth, host Margaret Mary O’Connor welcomed Dr. Brad Montagne, a functional medicine expert with over four decades of experience helping patients recover from chronic illness. With a global reach and deeply holistic approach, Dr. Montagne laid bare the systemic failures of modern medicine while offering empowering solutions for those seeking true healing.

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A Broken Medical System and the Rise of Chronic Illness

According to a 2008 article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, medical education has remained largely unchanged for over a century. This outdated system produces doctors unprepared to handle 75% of their patients—those suffering from chronic illnesses. Dr. Montagne pulled back the curtain on this crisis, revealing how most medical schools teach virtually nothing about chronic conditions. Instead, the focus remains on acute care and pharmaceutical solutions, leaving countless patients misdiagnosed, dismissed, or untreated.

The Origins of Functional Medicine

Functional medicine began as a grassroots movement among chiropractors and nutritional experts seeking deeper healing through holistic practices. Dr. Montagne credits early pioneers and his own decades of research for shaping his comprehensive approach. He emphasized that true functional medicine evaluates the root causes of illness—such as gut health, environmental toxins, and stress—not just symptoms.

Dr. Jeffrey Bland is often cited as the father of functional medicine, but as Dr. Montagne noted, it was the original clinical techniques, not lab tests, that held the real power. Unfortunately, many practitioners have since drifted from those foundational diagnostics, chasing protocols over personalization.

Gut Health: The Root of Healing

Dr. Montagne emphasized that almost all disease begins in the gut—a belief once held by Hippocrates and now backed by science. He explained how chronic inflammation and gut lining atrophy create an autoimmune storm, which leads to conditions like celiac disease. Drawing from personal stories and clinical cases, Dr. Montagne detailed how addressing microbial imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and environmental triggers can reverse even the most stubborn conditions.

What’s Behind the Rise in Food Sensitivities?

Modern agriculture and the industrialization of the food supply have played a significant role in the increase in chronic illness. Dr. Montagne singled out corn, dairy, wheat, and processed sugars as top offenders. He explained how herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup) and atrazine not only destroy gut flora but also disrupt hormones, damage detox pathways, and contribute to conditions like infertility, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.

He also debunked myths around artificial sweeteners, noting that many so-called “healthy” sugar alternatives like erythritol and agave can actually worsen gut health and feed pathogens.

Exposing the Insurance-Pharmaceutical Complex

Throughout the podcast, Dr. Montagne detailed how insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations have shaped the trajectory of healthcare—not to heal, but to profit. He explained how insurance models reward the use of expensive treatments, suppress innovative healing methods, and limit doctor-patient interaction to as little as six minutes per visit.

This broken system keeps patients in a cycle of sickness and dependence, Dr. Montagne argued, while those practicing functional medicine are often forced to work outside of it to truly help people.

Practical Takeaways for Listeners

Dr. Montagne’s message is one of hope: healing is possible. His book, Exposing Lyme and Chronic Illness: Revealing Secrets of All Chronic Illnesses That Keep You Sick, provides an in-depth roadmap for identifying root causes, healing the gut, and regaining vitality.

For those dealing with celiac disease, autoimmune issues, or persistent symptoms, he recommends starting with the basics:

Eliminate inflammatory foods (especially corn, dairy, wheat, and processed sugars)
Improve gut health through whole, unprocessed foods
Avoid toxic food additives and artificial sweeteners
Drink clean, filtered water
Rebuild health with nutrient-dense, organic ingredients

A New Standard for Healing

Dr. Brad Montagne is not just a clinician—he is a trailblazer challenging the status quo and offering a path toward true wellness. His insights on Your Radical Truth offer an eye-opening, empowering, and practical guide for anyone who feels stuck in a healthcare system that fails to ask the right questions.

To learn more or get a copy of his book, visit healthfullyu.com. Dr. Montagne also has a gluten-free cookbook in development, which will offer guidance on making nourishing, homemade meals with fresh-milled flours and clean ingredients.

As Margaret Mary O’Connor reminds listeners—when you tune into Your Radical Truth, you’ll always hear the truth from the other side of the issue.

About Dr. Brad Montagne

Dr. Brad Montagne was raised in the East San Francisco Bay Area, where he experienced firsthand the challenges of growing up amidst societal dysfunction and personal health struggles. From a young age, he battled chronic illness—an experience that would later shape his lifelong mission to help others reclaim their health and vitality.

With a heart for service and a deep commitment to faith, Dr. Brad has traveled the world ministering the Kingdom of God, often in regions shadowed by the institutional darkness of communism and religious oppression. His spiritual calling is inseparable from his approach to healing, viewing the restoration of health as a sacred responsibility rooted in truth, discernment, and compassion.

A pioneer in Functional Medicine, Dr. Brad brings over 40 years of experience to his practice. He specializes in working with individuals suffering from disabling chronic illnesses—especially those who have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, or failed by conventional medicine. His relentless pursuit of answers and solutions has helped countless patients find real, lasting healing after years of frustration.

More than a clinician, Dr. Brad is an avid researcher and lifelong student of both science and scripture. His approach is deeply integrative, drawing from medical physiology, nutrition, clinical diagnostics, biblical history, and a wealth of hands-on experience. His commitment is always to honor the Great Physician King—empowering others with truth, practical solutions, and faith-centered care.

Dr. Brad Montagne is the author of Exposing Lyme and Chronic Illness: Revealing Secrets of All Chronic Illnesses That Keep You Sick and is currently developing a gluten-free cookbook that makes healthful living both accessible and sustainable.

About Margaret Mary O’Connor

Margaret Mary O’Connor, as a member of the Catholic Laity, thought she knew everything about the Catholic Church, at least until she came upon a centuries-old Scandal of lies and cover-up by the Hierarchy of that Church. Frankly, she was fed up being lied to by her own Church, about its own past Church’s History on Women priests. With that realization, she truly felt in that moment, the monumental feeling of betrayal by her own Church.

Follow Margaret, as she travels down this Highway of Radical Truth where lies and outright coverup will be disclosed. Millions of Catholics are unaware of that past presence of Women Bishop’s, Women Deacons, as well as Women Priests, all there hiding in plain sight, in Early Church History.

As the complicity of this centuries-old Scandal continues, Margaret wants her fellow Catholics to learn the actual truth of this matter for themselves. She strongly believes, at minimal, any Catholic deserves the actual truth of this matter. To say that change is needed is hardly an understatement. She doesn’t let the Church’s betrayal stop her from uncovering some very fascinating Church Skeleton’s – one which very well might help solve our current priest shortage issue today.

Margaret Mary O’Connor has been called, “The Modern Day David” on many occasions. On a mission to reveal carefully guarded secrets of the Catholic Church, she unveils the truth through her well-researched writings.

Author of Scandal in the Shadows and Journey of a Celiac’s Soul, Margaret Mary is a force to be reckoned with.