What The Health (2017)

lilangel

Runt
Jul 25, 2017
32
25
NYC
Has anyone watched it yet?!? I wanna hear other peoples thoughts.
I'm currently watching and it is crazy. I've heard that a lot of statistics/facts in it are pretty biased but at the same time there's a lot of eye-opening information in here and i'm really considering a plant-based diet after watching the first 20 minutes..
 
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I literally watched that documentary the other day, it is from the same maker as 'Cowspiracy' (which is a documentary that I cannot recommend it enough, it's about the environmental effects meat production, and how global warming could easily be reversed if the whole world reduced its meat consumption)

I am torn, on one hand, the guy obviously must've done his research, everything is backed by information gathered from academia, scientific papers, etc. However, the fact that is is backed by AN academic paper, or A study doesn't make it necessarily reliable: his main source of information are 'Prospective cohort studies', which, as fancy as it sounds, has many limitations, so what he backs his information on is something I'm not 100% convinced about.

I am also slightly sceptical as he is condemning everything, almost every food group (except plant-based foods) that we have ever eaten. That seems a bit extreme. As I do for any 'controversial' documentary/article, I researched around and found a LOT of criticism on it, with many people calling it 'vegan propaganda'. Obviously you need to take everything you find on the internet with a pinch of salt, but I found this criitc particularly insightful (https://robbwolf.com/2017/07/03/what-the-health-a-wolfs-eye-review/)

I firmly believe that the human body can get absolutely everything it needs from having a vegan diet (you just have to be very, very, very careful about what you eat and in what quantities, it takes a significant effort but if you want to do it well then that's what it requires)
But the guy is basically saying that: fish are bad, eggs are bad, this is bad, that is bad, and as much as I LOVE those types of documentaries, I did feel like he took that to an extreme. Both my great grand mothers lived until the ripe old age of 95 and 101, and they both had a diet that the maker of the documentary absolutely condemns, so I am very skeptical about it.

He raises interesting points, about what food does to our health, and to a certain extent it's important to be aware of it. But whilst these food can potentially be 'harmful' (and that is also debatable, as there is a very limited number of these studies), it also contains a lot of good nutrients, and that is something which is seems to overlook.
I think this documentary, albeit slightly biased, was interesting, but wouldn't convince me to switch to a plant-based diet.

NB: he made this other documentary which -again- I cannot recommend enough, 'Cowspiracy' (can easily be found on Youtube), about the beef industry and how it's destroying our planet
 
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After watching this movie, I had asked my friend, who is a Registered Dietitian, on her opinion of the movie. She said she couldn't even make it through the entire film because she considered it such a waste of time. Basically, it was just one man's perspective and his use of research was narrow and "cherry picked" to only include studies that confirmed his beliefs.

I do applaud that the core of the movie which was that Americans need to make healthier and informed food choices, but I don't applaud any documentary that presents information that only proves their position without including a credible and/or interesting dissenting argument. And the information was misrepresented and altered to better fit the "go vegan" narrative. Vox "Debunked" the documentary in this article. Basically, it sounds like Gotcha Journalism more than anything else.

If somebody chooses to become a vegan, that is an absolutely fine choice, but I don't think the right way to convert people into veganism is by telling them that everything will give them cancer and heart disease. It's an overwhelmingly negative documentary. It was proven that some graphic anti-tobacco ads had the opposite effect and caused people to smoke more. I suspect this movie may have the same effect on people who have high meat / dairy diets.
 
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I agree with the above perspectives. I became sceptical as soon as I saw the Cowspiracy guy (and I loved Cowspiracy) because it indicated he already had a biased view. But I stopped watching because of the science. I even read some of the original papers that he referenced (because I work in academia and I am a massive geek) and found that on occasion the findings didn't support his claims. In most cases he didn't account for confounding variables. I was really disappointed because I became a weekday vegetarian after Cowspiracy and had high hopes for this doc.
 
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Ever since becoming vegan I feel soo much healthier and have so much more energy than before. Suddenly I don't feel as fatigued, I have so much more energy, my skin is looking amazing. Plus it feels great knowing so many veggies barely have any calories so I can eat so much veggies and still lose weight without exercise. Even before becoming vegan I felt guilty knowing how many animals were being hurt and how unhealthy my diet was. (I was obsessed with eggs and eggs have soo much cholesterol. I still miss them so much despite being vegan for more than a year.) I would say try it for at least a week and hopefully you'll see the same results as me. When I first became vegan the weight just melted off, and I'm naturally slim so it wasn't like I had a ton to lose. Even if you can't become vegan just cutting out as much animal products as possible will make a huge difference in health. I know a lot of girls here don't eat that much based on the "Show us what you ate today" thread. :) (I think that's what the thread is called.) Hope this at least some what helps! Good luck!
 
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I love videos like this, however this guy is insufferable to listen to, I couldn't even finish it.

Firstly his whole premise that he was shocked to have JUST found out red meat can be linked to medical issues, preservatives in meats are dangerous seems completely ridiculous, especially for someone as supposedly on top all the latest research as he was. Even if not endorsed or supported by certain societies and organizations, this is something that has been heavily talked about and debated for a while now. A google search would have told him this in 5 seconds.

He also has a bad habit of not including anything or anyone that contradicts him in the show, and only portraying the other side as collusive government figures trying to get money from lobbyists and refusing to speak to the public. While there is significant support for his arguments against animal based products, there is also a lot of research that supports the benefits of a paleo diet and the dangers of a high carbohydrate diet.

I'm a huge fan of documentaries about food and health, and some are very well done, but the condescension, self-victimization, blatant bias emanated in this made it so I only got three quarters of the way through, even though I agreed with a lot of what he was saying (of course it is on Netflix and they seem to have a very difficult time actually putting forward anything without extreme political/societal bias.)

For those interested, there are some great amazon prime documentaries on food topics that are similar. One in particular comes to mind that discusses dairy and the pro and con arguments that I found very informational and unbiased called "Milk?". Another good one is "Fat Head", this one is more biased and the comedic elements can be juvenile/annoying, but I love his emphasis on personal responsibility and feel it sort of correlates to a major theme of this community in that respect.
 
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Im so torn tbh.

I believe a vegan diet is better for the planet, hands-down, and sustainability-wise.

But including egg white and 1 other animal protein (turkey or fish at diff times) kept me leaner in the past than cutting them out completely.... ive done each for years at a stretch and unfortunately rven a wellplanned vegan-diet left me prone to overeating... I just raised my intake of animal products per week this very week (it had fallen to about half a pound a week), letting my weight control trump ethics again, bc for me it makes such a difference in weight control. 2 days ago i had 4 oz 99%fatfree ground turkey, and also i had that 3 days ago. Then yesterday and today, zero animal products. So... ill probably be up to a lb a week of animal foods.... I feel bad about myself for it. The cognitive dissonance is real.
 
I have an addiction to documentaries so I watched this movie more than once - I became vegan some 10 months ago having been vegetarian for a while. But even I didn't like it :meh:

The thing is being plantbased for me isn't about the dangers of meat, but about the benefits of veggies. And then of course the production methods of today's animal agriculture which are horrendous both environmentally and empathic-wise (the life and death of the animals we explore for food)...
 
Questioning vegans, give the fictional movie Okja a spin.

It's more or less vegan propaganda, but also a look into our mass-produced, mass-marketed food industry ways. Thought-provoking and kills my appetite (for meat at least).
 
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Questioning vegans, give the fictional movie Okja a spin.

It's more or less vegan propaganda, but also a look into our mass-produced, mass-marketed food industry ways. Thought-provoking and kills my appetite (for meat at least).
Completely second this film! I watched "What the Health" along with several other vegan documentaries and while intriguing they can sometimes be a bit repetitive. That being said what's different about the film Okja is while it still has a vegan agenda it takes a different angle. The problem is we currently view animals as a commodity which naturally shapes our behavior towards them. Okja tries to shift that mindset by showing animals as possessing distinct personalities, experiences of pain, fear, hunger, desire to live, etc. The film also sheds light on the confinement, deprivation, and violence animals face in modern meat, fur, and medical research industries. These atrocities will never end until we look inside ourselves and realize cognitively intelligent animals deserve the same love, protection, and consideration as human life.
 
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Im so torn tbh.

I believe a vegan diet is better for the planet, hands-down, and sustainability-wise.

But including egg white and 1 other animal protein (turkey or fish at diff times) kept me leaner in the past than cutting them out completely.... ive done each for years at a stretch and unfortunately rven a wellplanned vegan-diet left me prone to overeating... I just raised my intake of animal products per week this very week (it had fallen to about half a pound a week), letting my weight control trump ethics again, bc for me it makes such a difference in weight control. 2 days ago i had 4 oz 99%fatfree ground turkey, and also i had that 3 days ago. Then yesterday and today, zero animal products. So... ill probably be up to a lb a week of animal foods.... I feel bad about myself for it. The cognitive dissonance is real.
I agree with this completely and it leaves me so torn. I was vegan for about 5 years, primarily for ethical reasons and then growing to love the health benefits etc. Once I started exercising more regularly I noticed I was hungry ALL the time and have digestive issues that made some vegan sources of protein really hard for me to eat. I incorporated fish into my diet (sparingly, think half a can of tuna every couple days or the occasional sushi dinner out) as well as the rare Greek yogurt (those are the only animal products, never random cheese, picking off other people's plates or other forms of meat) and feel SO much more satiated, especially as I ween out more grains/processed carbs which cause a lot of stomach acid and reflux for me. I've only been able to lose a lot of weight as an already slim girl (17-16bmi) in the past through some animal product consumption but feel ethically and environmentally guilt ridden a lot of the time! That being said, I still think it's awesome that this film was made and is getting the recognition that it is. It's disgusted a good amount of coworkers and distant people in friend groups to stop eating meat and most dairy ( wondering how long this will last lol...) but it's a step!