Thank you friends for recommending I watch and review the movie, What the Health. I have to tell you, I was dragging my feet on it. It’s not exactly a feel-good movie and it took some time to wrap my head around it as well.

What the Health is not all bad but it’s definitely not completely reliable & trustworthy either. Here I tried to give you the high-points and the low-points to be help you make the best decision for your health.

What the Health Pros – A lot of the pros were what probably even the health conscious may not know and deserve light to be shined upon such as…

• TRUTH: Casein, the dominant protein in dairy has been proven to be harmful for your bones increasing the rates of osteoporosis & higher risk of bone fractures. Dairy, especially pasteurized & homogenized (commercial dairy) has been linked to cancers including ovarian, breast and prostate cancer as well as other issues such as eczema, allergies, digestive issues, etc. One of the best evidence based books on this topic is Devil in the Milk.
• TRUTH: Our current health care structure operates within the disease model. Proper nutrition is more of a preventative and healing protocol. Only a mere 3% of medical schools in the United States offer nutrition as an elective. When we’re merely treating a disease or illness the focus is mainly with pharmaceuticals. The conventional healthcare model is the business of treating people, not preventing disease.
• TRUTH: Disease and illness can run in someone ‘s family but that does not mean you are pre-destined. Genetics only plays 15-25% of the equation. The rest of the equation involves stress levels, sleep, exercise and of course diet.
• TRUTH: Unfortunately many non-profit organizations such as: Susan G. Komen, the American Heart Association, etc. are being paid mightily by the beef, dairy & meat industries. Not to mention the pharmaceutical industries play a big role in advertising and funding because over 80% of their products go straight into our animals and onto our plates.
• KUDOS: I also found it much needed to highlight the pollution from pig farms harms those living nearby and how it appears to be a civil rights issue.

What the Health Cons – these points aren’t all necessarily cons but the areas I found either to be falsified, sketchy or weakened the movie’s stance.

• The Creators: Kip Anderson & Keegan Kuhn are animal rights activists who have previously made the movie, Cowspiracy. I admire those trying to protect animal rights; however, I’d prefer more of a subjective approach to shed light on the whole picture and not just the creator’s view points.
• The Experts: all of them are well-known devout vegans or vegetarians. Again, where are the other highly qualified experts, doctors and specialist who are okay with a steak once in a while? Let us hear their side!
• FALSE: Fat makes you fat. This has been debunked many times over so I won’t spend much time on it. One practitioner states, “carbs cannot make you fat; the body doesn’t turn carbs into fat unless you’re really overdoing it”. Really? Overdoing it? Since carbs are in almost every food on the planet, minus oils & animal fat, it’s very easy to “overdo it”. Especially in America where the movie was based. Let me clarify, fat does not make you fat nor does it cause heart disease. Obesity & disease are very complex issues and it’s absurd to think we can blame 1 thing (meat/protein/animals) as the culprit. In my practice I have seen many (many!) overweight, inflamed, tired, vegans & vegetarians with diabetes, brain fog, trouble sleeping, adrenal and thyroid issues & so on. If it were only as easy as saying – “Ah you’ll be fine, just go vegan”. Sadly, it’s not.
• Ill approach reaching out to the food industries. Time and again Kip tries to approach and reach out to the American Heart Association, Susan G. Komen, etc with no luck or solid answers. Remember, they are cold calling with an agenda & sited sources and expect a clerk to go head-to-head with them. This is an independent documentary from two people nobody knows and they’re trying to make their way to the top of very large companies to find answers. Think about it this way… if random people you didn’t know came knocking on you door with cameras and references against what you stand for without notice or not telling you what was going to take place yeah, I doubt anyone would be very warm & welcoming.

The Biggest Problem: poor & faulty perspective on the scientific research. Learning to analyze well-done research studies is challenging. Which is why research is taught at the graduate level & some careers are in doing so.

Let me pick out a few examples…

• #1 – Processed meat isn’t a health food yes, but eating sausage and hot dogs is not as dangerous as smoking (the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen all advise to eat it sparingly). The filmmakers argue that they are equally as dangerous because they are “type 1 carcinogens”. That degree of risk is not what this is referring to. This kind of thing is what discredits the movie as truthful and solid.
• #2 – Dr. Michale Klaper- Mentions that “all these Paleo people are going to die from heart attacks and diabetes.” Kindly consider this Dr. K…Read more.
• #3 – Lastly the movie states that there is no clinical evidence that consuming animal foods in moderation can reverse heart disease. Ahem, see here. There is just as much evidence (if not more) that a balanced diet with plants & meats can help prevent heart disease as there are vegan diets that can do the same.

Bottomline & The Take Away

It can be quite difficult for the untrained and even trained audience to wrap their minds around What the Health with the effects, the disturbing scenes of animal abuse and the constant referrals to “the science literature”. Kip and Keegan are not science experts, specialists or researchers, folks. They’re movie-makers. They gather information with people that have the same ideas & support their original theory, slap some dramatic music, stomach turning scenes on it and drill it into you for an hour and a half and boom, you have a pretty convincing movie that leaves you feeling crummy and confused.

Bottomline Regarding Nutrition – no perfect food nor perfect diet exists nor will ever exist. We live in an broken & fallen world where everything is flawed. Even the cleanest foods have impure or “unhealthy” properties in some form or fashion. Plants have the most beneficial properties: antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, resistant starch, vitamins, minerals, etc. and there are undisputed benefits to a plant based diet. However, meat, poultry and seafood does not have to be entirely eliminated unless there is an underlying clinical issue as these food too, particularly consumed grass-fed, free-range organic support the body & overall health as well.

If you feel great on a plant based diet – awesome! If you’re your best on a paleo-type diet – go with that! Everyone is different and everyone has to do what’s best for them. If or when you watch What the Health – take away that yes, our meat supply is pretty gnarly especially outside of organic. Will it completely destroy your health and all your hard efforts to have a cheeseburger or grilled chicken now and then?

Not hardly.

Be mindful. Do your best. Enjoy life & thank God you have a liver. 🙂