Recently the documentary 'What The Health' created a heated debate online. The claim from the makers of this film is that we should all become vegan in order to save ourselves and the planet. And while there is some truth in this message I strongly disagree with the way this story is being told and how the documentary format is being abused.
From a scientific point of view, I'm not the right person to judge on what is being claimed in the film. I'm simply not that schooled in physiology and nutrition. So what I'll do instead is refer to a couple of articles that I found to provide thoughtful feedback in regards to the scientific claims that are being made in 'What The Health' From there on I'd advise you to do your own research and see what your instinct tells you. Yes your instinct, your gut feeling, something I'll get back to later on in the post.
Point Your Finger And Say; That's The Bad Guy!
My biggest problem with the film is the Good VS Evil narrative. While we can all agree that mass produced meat and it's huge industry definitely has negative effects on the global environment as well as our health, it's another thing to leave from that conclusion and provide a finite solution in regards to how we should live our lives. In that aspect, I prefer the makers previous documentary "Cowspircay' better because it focusses on the meat industry itself and does not try to convert people into living a very particular and to some extent complicated lifestyle such as veganism.
To make my point a bit more clear I'd like to go back to my childhood. I used to love cartoons. Transformers, Batman and Dinobots were some of my favorites. Children love repetitive narratives and it so happens to be that repetition is a key element in learning specific vital skills. I'm not sure if watching tons of cartoons adds up to that, but that's a different discussion.
As a kid I wanted these so bad, arghh
The narratives of these cartoons are always based on the struggle between good and evil. Something that could be linked to our (western) rooted Christian inheritance but let's not go down that path. My point is that good vs evil narratives are designed to entertain. Just look at all the Hollywood blockbusters. But the big difference between a film and documentary is that the latter is based on facts and stories taken from the real world. And we all know that in the real world there is no evil genius master mind, launching in a huge leather seat with a kitten on his lap thinking up sinister plans to take over the world and destroy humanity.
Yes, there are larger than life companies with enormous influence on politics through lobbying firms. And yes you most definitely have to watch out what you eat and how you prepare your food. Do I think that we are properly educated when it comes to nutrition, hell no! My general practitioner doesn't know the slightest thing when it comes to my food allergies let alone how to potentially tackle them. And when you visit a nutritionist he or she gets his information from centralized institutions who are years behind on the latest science.
We have a huge problem when it comes to food and nutrition. But what certainly won't help is to try to find a bad guy and start pointing fingers at him. That's the narrative of a cartoon which sole purpose it is to entertain. Whether you're a young kid or an old grandma enjoy you entertainment but be wary of factual films obtaining these kinds of narratives.
Let Me Google That For You
The first thing you might find when you go on YouTube in critics who share their thoughts about 'What The Health' is this debunk. IMHO the first one comes across a bit childish and harsh. Calling people idiots, douchebags, etc. is not my preferred method of critique. However, the doctor in this video does make strong points in regards to the complexity of nutrition and how we still don't know all the answers.
The second video is a more reasonable and gentle approach. In a calm and sophisticated matter, Unnatural Vegan explains what's wrong with the film. Pointing in a similar direction as Dr. Z. Check the description in the video as it's stacked with links.
She also makes a firm point about the brief moment the Animal Rights Activist shows up in the film. Violence is a sign of weakness. Period. I could write a whole post about how violence is the worst way of making a point come across, but I'm not sure if it's worth my time besides that I hope most people share this opinion.
Another article which I found interesting was this blog by Dave Asprey. Yes he is the Bulletproof Coffee guy. And yes he runs a very profitable business which promotes a specific diet. But I found that there are quite some similarities with Unnatural Vegan's vlog regarding the kind of critique that thrown into the arena. Again lots of references as well.
That Gut Feeling And How We're All Different
I guess the last and most crucial flaw of 'What The Health' is the fact that the makers point out that a vegan diet is the only solution. Like, that's it. There is nothing else and if you think so; Thou shall be damned and forced to feed thou siblings cigars!
No, for the love of soy sauce! No!
Nutrition is a personal matter which needs a lot of personal attention and research if you wish to optimize your self through what it is you eat. Don't fall for the good vs. evil ideology. Life and for sure our metabolic system is far more complicated than that. This is one of the main reasons why I'm currently having my DNA sequenced.
I believe that customization is the future and that our genetic information can tell us so much about what it is we need when it comes to nutrition.
Next month I'll get my results back. Super curious!
Again I'd also like to point out that optimizing yourself through nutrition starts with being able to listen to what it is your body is telling you. The best and most simple example is getting pissed drunk and having a humongous hangover. That's your body trying to tell you that you should not do that again. You can ignore that signal or obey to it. The choice is up to you. While the effects of alcohol are a pretty easy message to notice others might be harder to spot. I wish I would have a tutorial for detecting bodily signals, but again, it's not that simple. I found that meditating opened a lot of doors regarding noticing subtle messages.
Cutting down on alcohol consumption helped a great deal as well. (while writing this I'm in my 11th month of sobriety). And last but not least sugar intake. Ahhh, sugar. The evil bastard son of the meat industry! Well yes and no. If you start making a habit of reading the back of food items, you'll notice that sugar is sneaking up in lots of products. Just give it a go and try to cut down for 2 weeks. Keep a journal, make a vlog or do it with a couple of friends to see how everybody reacts.
Yes, it becomes a bit like home work, and if that's not for you, it's all good. By all means do you! Just keep in mind that the world is a complicated place and finding the right answer to something that is such a personal matter won't be provided to you by watching a Netflix documentary. It might inspire you to go into a particular direction. But the only direction I wanted to go after seeing "What The Health' was online to find more information on the subject because deep down I felt like I was watching an episode of Transformers again.