Movie Night: What The Health

What The Health came out a little bit ago, but I just finally got the chance to watch it recently. It was good and I see why there was so much buzz about it.

In essence the makers of this documentary point a finger at how much doctors and non-profits are making money off of having people be very sick and that for this reason they are encouraging people to eat foods that are in fact killing them: namely animal products.

Any kind of meat is aggressively vilified as being unhealthy for both the eater and the planet as well as milk, cheese, yogurt and anything else non-plant based.

He points to numerous studies suggesting this, even putting regular meat consumption on the same level as smoking cigarettes. The cause of diabetes, heart problems and cancer it seems from this doc is meat.

That might sound a little extreme, but I keep seeing story after story of people loosing weight and becoming such dramatically healthier versions of themselves on a plant diet that it’s not really that far fetched even for a non scientist. This about what a typical diet for an obese person is. It’s animal products.

The most interesting thing for me was seeing how these non-profits worth millions upon millions of dollars that are constantly throwing fundraisers for a “cure” were so uncomfortable even discussing cutting back on meat as an option. The doc spells it out that they receive a lot of funding from the companies that make so much of the unhealthy food that is causing these problems. Hmmmm…. super suspicious.

My takeaways were, yes meat does impact your health when you over consume it. And no these health professionals and non-profits are not acknowledging it for what appears to be some shady reasons. I was floored to find out what some of the annual salaries were for some non-profits out there. MSPCA CEO was taking home 600k each and every year. Gross!

So before you donate find out how much the CEO is making, that is one tell. Last I checked Doctors Without Borders took around 100k which is more reasonable. It’s best if you actually get to know how the place is run by volunteering first so you can really feel these people out.

The pink walks, ribbons and balloons will do nothing to fight cancer if people don’t even know about basic healthy daily eating. How much is Susan G. Komen fighting pollution in the air and water too? I’m guessing, but I’d say it’s very little.

The one thing that did not sit well with me was that sugar got a free pass. It was not supposed to be the root of any health problems, only animal products. I think that’s super fake news. The white stuff is absolutely doing damage. I know those people chugging down sodas and gobbling supermarket cookies every day are just killing their insides and I feel like that was totally brushed aside. I’ve known overweight vegans that eat binge on the sugary vegan stuff at wholefoods and are not in prime shape, although I do think severe obesity comes from a mix of animal products and very processed sugars and starches stripped of fiber and nutrients.

I’m personally not sold that back yard eggs from healthy happy chickens are bad for you, or Greek yogurt – in moderation. They mentioned cholesterol levels rising, but did not make it clear if it was LDL or HDL. It’s like how avocado fat is not the same as bacon grease and that is constantly skimmed over. Greek yogurt has some amazing probiotic properties to it and I generally feel great when I eat it. I’m happy eating coconut yogurt, kombucha, and making flax eggs too, but I’m not convinced that these are really so villainous, in fact I feel wonderful when I eat them with tons of veggies, fruit, and whole grains.

So those two health points in mind, I was really engaged with how much this consistent meat consumption is impacting people and how much it is not spoken about. I never saw anyone linking diabetes to chicken before and now I see why they would. There are so many vegans that love animals, my own personal love of fuzz monsters is what made me first give veganism a curious try despite my love of tasty foods in all their many forms. I work on finding my balance with this and would love to see more people watching this film finally getting that push they need to give eating more plants a serious try. Eating mostly plants is definitely the better way to live and maybe eating only plants is the best.

Watch it here.

Give it a watch and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.  ❤