What the health also received a lot of criticism in the Netherlands. My followers asked for a review. Herewith.
What the health: Conscious or frightened
Many had become confused and even a little anxious about food by watching this and asked if I could have my take on it. Of course, a lot of documentaries appear worldwide and I gave a generic answer, "A documentary is made by media people and so you can take this with a grain of salt". Apparently, this did not help in this case, because these people kept on asking.
Okay okay, I just watched it briefly and I have to say I have a very mixed feeling about it. The deeper purpose behind the film is to inspire viewers to follow a plant-based "whole foods" diet with the theme, "The more dedicated, the less medicated...".
Now I understand that to make your message clear and reach a wide audience, you have to dare to take a stand and make your message simple and appealing. In doing so, the goal is to make people aware and set them in motion. As far as I am concerned, the end then justifies the means. However, there is a fine line between making people aware and frightening them. Sometimes books or documentaries (especially American ones) come out that cross that a bit, but this documentary really takes it way too far as far as I am concerned.
Doctors as nutrition experts...
What the health begins by naming a number of diseases associated with the intake of processed meat. From here, it does not look at the word "processed" but quickly jumps to meat in general and even all foods that are animal in origin.
One epidemiological study after another is cited just to support the creator's thesis. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer are one-sidedly attributed to eating animal products and substantiated with only associations in studies also selected by cherry picking.
Besides, the interviewees are not scientists but doctors. So on the one hand, doctors are accused of having no knowledge about nutrition and then almost only doctors are cited as experts, hmmm, strange.
Just for the non-scientists:
In epidemiological studies, large groups of people are not selected but simply followed. Their diet is tracked and you see who gets what complaint, disease or other trait. If you then put the intake of processed meat and the number of people who develop a certain disease side by side, you can sometimes see a connection and that is called an association. So this does not automatically mean that this is then also a cause.
For instance, people who eat a lot of Big Macs may do many more things differently in their lifestyle than a very conscious vegan, for example. This makes these kinds of surveys very unreliable. For instance, even in these kinds of studies, you can see an association between a man's income and baldness. If you were to do the same as in this documentary you would say that the more money you make as a man, the balder you are. Of course, you understand that a more earning man is often older, and that there is a much stronger correlation between age and baldness. This documentary is full of this kind of very weak research to make the point.
The only option offered is...
Moreover, the claims made about the plant-based diet in the studies are often in comparison to an unhealthy average "American" diet. So no comparison is made with other diets that involve eating plenty of fruit and vegetables but moderate minimal processed meat, fish and egg. It's really just about declaring unhealthy and of everything animal-based. The only option offered is total switching to veganism and no moderation.
Wonder-testimonials
Of course, What the health closes with miracle testimonials where people can throw aside all their medications after a two-week plant-based diet and feel better than ever. Of course, it's great to show how big of an impact nutrition can have on a wide variety of ailments and diseases, but this goes a long way.
In addition to a plant-based diet in fact, there are many other diet forms that give this result and may be easier and more persistent as an entry-level model. Completely turning your life around after two weeks is interesting to see the effect, but what do they do on average over the next few years. Ultimately, long-term behaviour is going to determine the real result.
It is crucial as far as I am concerned to explain how, with this diet where many foods are cut out after years, you can avoid building up a deficiency and what you all need to consider. This was totally downplayed in the documentary and even the importance of B12 did not come across well. The real creators of B12 would be bacteria that we would have ingested by eating fermented products. There is certainly a grain of truth in this but it really needs to be emphasised harder that a vegan should screen and supplement B12 as far as I am concerned.
Does the end justify the means?
I actually thought the documentary was more of a fine fantasy film. But of course, the key question is: Does the end justify the means? Of course, there is a nice mission behind the documentary and the maker will certainly have a good intention. What I found positive was:
- A "whole foods" plant-based diet is minimally processed. Eating more vegetables and less ultra-processed foods is always a good idea as far as I am concerned.
- The topic of the environment, the danger of factory farming and animal suffering gets good attention.
- The conflicts of interest in all kinds of big organisations were again nicely exposed. This again shows more people that you should always use your own common sense and not blindly follow every piece of advice from a government agency or anyone else (yes, including me).
- You can take more control of your health by making lifestyle changes.
- Fine to show that if you don't want to eat animal products then it is possible to put together a healthy diet. However, read up very carefully and preferably get an expert involved.
All in all, as far as I'm concerned, it matters. There are many people confused and even a little worried after consuming animal protein for a lifetime, which, according to some "screaming" interviewees, has caused irreparable damage to your body. Against this are some good themes that have now received attention.
Ps. If you want my response to a specific statement or research from the documentary What the health, please post them below this blog.
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10 Response(s), post a comment too!
Stopped watching halfway through. This docu is an attack on the dairy and meat industries. They must have thought to scare people a lot and that was allowed to come at the expense of truth. Eating an egg equals 5 cigarettes? Then you know who and what you are dealing with! Freaks.
I cannot imagine an area of expertise more complex, contradictory and confusing than that of nutrition. Eating one over another hardly makes any difference in the short term, but it does over a long period of years. Take to that exercise/training + predisposition and you have a complex cluster of contenders.
The end does not justify the means here. This is yet another flawed display steered by a fancy health fad that does not shy away from fear and lies as its means of deployment. Because why people are too fat, too unhealthy and too lousy is not simply attributable to food and exercise, let alone animal products in particular.
[...] diseases, ailments, mental problems and even obesity. After the hype of the documentary "What the Health" in which animal products were said to be pretty much the source of all evil get into "the [...]
I read "Prevent and reverse Health disease " by Dr Esselstyn for familial dyslipidaemia after a stent and bypass tg due to general arteriosclerosis. I am 75 years old , industrial pharmacist and I have been following this "whole food plant bases no oil" diet to the gram for 15 years. I find it extremely beneficial, my problems have been solved and my blood levels normalised.
To evaluate, you should also read " the China study" by Dr Campbell TC.
[...] nutrition and elite athletes starring. Ow dear I thought, surely not another one like What the Health? No, The Game Changers would be much better with a stronger scientific foundation. Hmm, [...]
Just watched it too, and is like hearing yet another direction in terms of nutrition. I do keto now, EXACTLY what this docu says 'is bad', because, too much meat, and diabetes is 'not' caused by sugar and carbs (???) whereas... the numbers do show that too much processed food, with lots of carbs, can induce insulin boost, and insulin resistance.
They say here that it is 'due to fat', that is, there would be a layer of fat 'over the cell'???? Apparently forgetting for a moment that insulin resistance comes from frequent 'offering' of insulin to a cell, blocking the 'gate' on the cell. I don't understand for a moment how they see 'fat' as a blockage, because... I've never heard of the fact that at the cellular level, fat 'sticks' to the outside.
Anyhow... ALL the examples in this docu.... were people , who
1) were overweight
2) were taking medication, a lot even by the number of jars
3) had wrong nutrition
Switch to plant-based, cured.
Now.... now comes the 'proof' lining... is this because of plant-based 'only' or... stupidly because they leave out all the bad stuff? You have this same 'proof' lining with keto, and actually with any diet.... simply switching to healthier foods helps! Indeed, there was no mention of what they were eating before, just that they were eating 'meat and dairy products' ... not ... that they might have been eating a lot of crisps, biscuits and whatnot....
What is claimed here, lazy people in ketogenic diet industry also claim! And people who choose any other diet ditto! With keto, however, there is a good logic behind it. The whole ketosis story, lowering insulin spikes, less hunger because of this... is much more logical than the 'meat causes cancer' story, which is, mostly based on statistics... 15% increased risk of... which therefore also means, 85% ... no effect (funny how statistics work).
That all involved gained more energy, became healthier, is most likely due to reduction of calories, reduction of sugars, reduction of alcohol, reduction of processed food....
The crazy thing is that people here don't even see 'sugar' as wrong, while, biggest bulk of the lazy who are overweight don't get it from meat, but... from too many sugar products, being hungry all the time is clearly a sugar/insulin issue after all.
Anyway, is pretty easy.... 2 weeks says ayh? You can still maintain 2 weeks... I've been doing keto for 10 months now, and I didn't think I'd maintain that either (i.e. no beer, biscuits, rice, pasta, bread, nothing.... )....
I've lost weight, feel 'ok' (not that 'feel fantaaaaaaaaastic' ) , is maintainable, but... I'm not going to keep this up forever.
I have something like that with this vegan food too.... might give it a try, I'm already 'close' to it because I already eat a lot of vegetables, only now to add meat (and their 'wrong' products, like bacon and cheese, 'oeew cheese is the only thing' I hear from them hahaha).
Dear Ralph
On your stie is your mission statement. See text below. But surely that is exactly what this film is about. Raising awareness, prompting thought.
Mission
We exercise too little, we eat increasingly unhealthy food. Producers heavily manipulate our food and additives to it - with the aim of obtaining patents and maximising profits. These foods are so far removed from nature that I see this as an experiment with the population that hardly anyone has consciously chosen.
This needs to change.... My ambition is to make people aware of our unhealthy lifestyle - leading to a 'hormonal imbalance' that causes many health issues.
I warn consumers and remind producers of their responsibilities. I also advise companies on the importance of a healthy lifestyle for employees and help food companies develop fair alternatives that fit today's society and zeitgeist.
That is what it should be about and then you should come to the conclusion that there are many roads to Rome with regard to health, with and without animal products. Hormone Factor can be done both with and without animal products, for example, although with veganism you have to be careful.
However, these filmmakers have an activist agenda regarding animal suffering and sustainability and 'misuse' the health theme for it. I find that cheating and so I like to see it differently.
Cheating? Briefly, the results of being vegan for 2 weeks? Sigh. None of all the bribery and why no interviews are allowed, the doctors running away when confronted and the announcement of sponsors is covered here. It is clear which corner this wind is blowing from.
I totally agree with your analysis. What I do wonder about is the claim that you can prevent or even cure all the diseases mentioned with a vegan lifestyle. Take rheumatoid arthritis for example, can you really alleviate or cure that through a vegan, vegetarian or healthier diet?