How many of you have seen What The Health, the new Netflix documentary? When I say "documentary" what I really mean is "propaganda piece." Over the past couple of weeks, I have had several patients ask for my opinion on the film. To be honest, I was trying to avoid watching it... But when I have several patients asking what I thought about it, I guess I need to set aside 90 minutes that I can afford to waste!
Last Sunday night, I reluctantly logged into Netflix and decided to attempt to watch What The Health with an open mind. About 2 minutes into the film, I knew that I was not going to be able to remain unbiased while watching this movie. Much like anything else that we watch or hear or read there is a palpable bias that is unavoidable. People who film documentaries, much like the people that provide our news, will unconsciously skew the information that they present. Being aware of that, the level of bias displayed by these filmmakers was RIDICULOUS. It comes down to a HUGE fundamental issue. Unfortunately, these film makers really struggle with the interpretation of the data that they cite throughout the film. I am not the only one who has complaints about their interpretation. In fact, Virginia Messina MPH, RD wrote an article for www.vegan.com blasting the film for "repeated blunders and bad science" and stated that it is "impossible to recommend." Those words were written by a HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL, who just so happens to be a VEGAN. If someone who whole heartedly endorses veganism can't recommend the film, then who would? If you would like to read the article here is a LINK.
This is how What The Health looks if roles are reversed!
Last Sunday night, I reluctantly logged into Netflix and decided to attempt to watch What The Health with an open mind. About 2 minutes into the film, I knew that I was not going to be able to remain unbiased while watching this movie. Much like anything else that we watch or hear or read there is a palpable bias that is unavoidable. People who film documentaries, much like the people that provide our news, will unconsciously skew the information that they present. Being aware of that, the level of bias displayed by these filmmakers was RIDICULOUS. It comes down to a HUGE fundamental issue. Unfortunately, these film makers really struggle with the interpretation of the data that they cite throughout the film. I am not the only one who has complaints about their interpretation. In fact, Virginia Messina MPH, RD wrote an article for www.vegan.com blasting the film for "repeated blunders and bad science" and stated that it is "impossible to recommend." Those words were written by a HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL, who just so happens to be a VEGAN. If someone who whole heartedly endorses veganism can't recommend the film, then who would? If you would like to read the article here is a LINK.
This is how What The Health looks if roles are reversed!
|
With all of my complaints about the filmmakers and objections about their interpretation of the current research, there is certainly benefit to eating more of a whole food, plant based diet. However, based upon other nutritional research I would not be willing to replace ALL of the animal products in my diet with fruits and vegetables, but it certainly makes more sense to eat an apple instead of picking up a Twinkie! We can all benefit from increasing the fruits and vegetables that we consume, but I am NOT ready to purge all of the animal products from my life!
Movement is my Medicine,
