Our Health Is Our Responsibility

I’m Todd Garrett, accountant by trade, cattle rancher at heart, and health nut by necessity. Driven by a commitment to better health and better food, I co-founded Born & Raised, a grass-fed, pasture-raised meat producer based in East Texas, where our animals are never raised with added hormones or antibiotics.

Let me say this plainly: I’m not qualified to give medical advice. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a guru. I’m just a guy who got tired of feeling like his health was headed in the wrong direction and decided to start asking better questions.

What I share here isn’t instruction, it’s experience. It’s what I’ve tried, what’s worked for me, what hasn’t, and what I’m still learning.

If there’s one major shift that changed everything for me, it was this:

My health is my responsibility. Period.

Not my doctor’s.
Not an influencer’s.
Not a government agency’s.

I can gather information from all kinds of places. I can listen to experts. I can weigh opinions. But at the end of the day, I’m the one who lives with the consequences of my decisions.

And so are you.

From Blind Trust to Informed Choice

For years, I followed recommendations without much research. When a medication was suggested for sleep, I didn’t dig into the long-term effects. When something was offered to help with focus, I didn’t fully understand the tradeoffs.

That’s not a knock on doctors. I’ve had the same doctor for over 20 years and respect him deeply. His job is to make recommendations. My job is to decide what path I want to take.

Sometimes I follow his advice. Sometimes I explore other options.

But now, I do the homework.

Farm Life Teaches You About Biology

Growing up on a farm shapes how you see the world.

When you’re connected to the land, you understand that biological systems follow patterns. They respond to nutrition, sunlight, stress, rest, and environment. Humans aren’t separate from that, we’re part of it.

My grandfather, Claude Willis, taught me more about life than any textbook ever could. He was strong, active, sharp-minded well into his later years. He didn’t live by trends. He lived by principles.

One of the lessons that stuck with me:

Don’t blindly follow the herd.

That applies in business. It applies in life. And it definitely applies in health.

On the farm, if a cow is undernourished and nursing a calf, she won’t breed back easily. That’s not complicated, it’s biology. The body protects itself first.

It shouldn’t surprise us that human bodies respond in similar ways.

The same goes for sunlight. Spend enough time around crops and livestock and you realize how much living systems depend on natural light cycles. A few cloudy days changes everything. Sunshine brings it back to life.

Why would humans be any different?

Where I Learn

I try to learn from a variety of sources, some conventional, some not so much.

I’ve found value in listening to people like Andrew Huberman, who breaks down neuroscience and practical health tools in a way that makes sense.

I’ve read work from Paul Saladino, particularly around organ meats and nutrient density. (The accountant in me eventually realized it’s far more economical to eat real organs than buy capsules.)

I’ve also followed conversations around metabolic health from voices like Casey Means, potentially the next U.S. Surgeon General, who emphasizes how foundational blood sugar and metabolic function are to overall health.

And yes, I listen to podcasts, including health discussions on Joe Rogan, because hearing multiple sides of an issue helps me think critically.

Do I agree with everything everyone of them says? No.

But I don’t outsource my thinking anymore.

My Approach (For What It’s Worth)

I try to eat whole, clean foods 80–90% of the time. The other 10–20%? I don’t stress about it.

I eat organ meats because I believe in nutrient density. I pay attention to my microbiome. I try to get sunlight. I try to move.

I avoid extremes because I tend to resist rigid rules. That’s just how I’m wired.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress.

And I can say this honestly,  I’m on an upward spiral now. That’s something I couldn’t say most of my life.

If there’s one encouragement I’d leave you with:

Don’t take my word for anything.

Start asking questions.
Read. Listen. Think.
Make informed decisions.

Your health is yours.