Here is a review of some of the top food documentaries. This is a work in progress. Some of these reviews are complete with timestamps, others only contain my somewhat cryptic notes of what to expect from the film. These notes should be reasonably accurate, however, simply use them as a guide on which films you want to spend time watching.
If you have a Netflix account and are signed in, then the Netflix links will start playing the film at the specified timestamp. For example, approximately 25 minutes into Forks Over Knives [~0:25 Netflix] T. Colin Campbell explains the details of his study that concluded that dairy protein (casein) can cause increased cancer growth.
My personal favorites are Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead for motivation, Fed Up for sugar addiction, The Perfect Human Diet and Forks Over Knives to help you choose between Paleo and Vegan diets.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010) [Netflix]
Fed Up (2014) [Netflix]
The Perfect Human Diet (2012)
Forks Over Knives (2011) [Netflix]
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead 2 (2014) [Netflix]
Forks Over Knives - The Extended Interviews (2012)
PlantPure Nation (2015) [Netflix]
Sugar Coated (2015) [Netflix]
Hungry For Change (2012) [Netflix]
Food Matters (2008) [Netflix]
Vegucated (2010) [Netflix]
GMO OMG (2013) [Netflix]
Vanishing of the Bees (2009)
Cowspiracy (2014) [Netflix]
This website is located in Canada. Films available for streaming in your country may differ. This website is not affiliated with, authorized, endorsed or sponsored by Netflix. There is no guarantee that the Netflix links will continue to work as intended or that they will work on all browsers or devices.
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
fatsickandnearlydead.com
review status: complete
Theme: You are what you eat. Australian Joe Cross goes on a 60 day juice fast (reboot) while traveling across the US.
- the vegetables are juiced simply because it would take too long to eat the amount needed to get the desired daily nutrients [~0:05 Netflix]
- after going to doctors to cure his health problems without success Joe turns to diet for the cure - diet should always be priority #1, above work, etc. [~0:07 Netflix]
- Dr. Joel Fuhrman supervised Joe's juice fast [~0:09 Netflix]
- juice fasting is a quick easy way of giving your body a potent source of healthy nutrients, and is totally different than processed bottled juice [~0:17 Netflix]
- fasting is part of our history as hunter-gatherers - a discussion of calories in vs. calories out [~0:20 Netflix]
- 61% of the American diet is processed foods which probably don't have one tenth of the original nutrients
- the closer a food is to it's natural state the healthier it is - two types of nutrients (micronutrients and macronutrients) [~0:23 Netflix]
- micronutrients are essentially vitamins and minerals - micronutrient food is vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and beans - macronutrient food is everything else
- your stomach fills up more quickly (per calorie) when eating vegetables, that's why it is very easy to overeat processed foods (they are calorie rich) [~0:27 Netflix]
- Joe meets Phil Staples for the first time - Phil has the same rare autoimmune disease as Joe [~0:42 Netflix]
- day 61 recap (end of Joe's juice fast) [~0:48 Netflix]
- Joe's diet changes have eliminated his need for medication for his autoimmune disease
- the film starts to follow Phil, and his juice fast [~0:50 Netflix]
- Phil meets Dr. Amy Badberg for the first time to assess his state of health and to supervise his juice fast [~0:56 Netflix]
- how juicing/micronutrients help us [~1:06 Netflix]
- Dr. Joel Fuhrman talks about how effective his food pyramid is for losing weight (drfuhrman.com/library/foodpyramid.aspx) - used in a study by Barbara Sarter, PhD; T. Colin Campbell, PhD; Joel Fuhrman, MD (nutritionalresearch.org/sites/ntr.civicactions.net/files/research/weightloss-HND.pdf) [~1:07 Netflix]
- Phil's follow up appointment with Dr. Amy Badberg shows his health has improved dramatically [~1:13 Netflix]
- Phil's Mean Green Juice: 1 bunch of kale, 4 stalks of celery, 1 cucumber, 2 granny smith apples, 1/2 a lemon, ginger root [~1:22 Netflix]
- Phil's diet changes have eliminated his need for medication
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead 2
fatsickandnearlydead.com
review status: complete
Theme: Now that Joe Cross is much healthier than he used to be, he investigates the challenges of staying healthy/slim in a predominantly unhealthy world. He has created an online business around the reboot (rebootwithjoe.com), and talks about how his first film and current business has changed peoples lives.
- determining what best to eat for long term health is difficult with so much conflicting information [~0:05 Netflix]
- there are really only three things we can eat: plants, animals and processed food [~0:09 Netflix]
- processed foods have only been with us for the last 70 years and are low in nutrients - if we are filling up on processed foods then we are not eating enough plant foods to get our required daily nutrients to keep us well
- REBOOT: a set period of time where you eat only fruits and vegetables (either eaten whole, or juiced, or both) [~0:19 Netflix]
- to your body a reboot is like a famine, our bodies are designed to react to famine, for 2-3 days there is a hunger stage (and other signals like pain and being tired) because your body is not eating as many calories as it's used to, at some point your body will consume it's energy reserves (around 70% fat, 30% muscle - this percentage is different for everybody), that if not satisfied (by eating more calories) then survival mode kicks in, in survival mode hunger is switched of, you get better focus, better hearing, better eyesight, better smell, more energy (designed to help you find food)
- a reboot resets your taste buds to crave healthier foods
- Licensing: we look for excuses to give ourselves permission to eat what we want ("I deserve this food because...") [~0:23 Netflix]
- with licensing, we buy the junk food item next to the cash register because we have been 'good' and resisted many similarly unhealthy products before reaching the till - we make 200 decisions per day about what food to eat, but we are only aware of 30/40 of them, that leaves 160/170 decisions being unconsciously affected by our environment (e.g. marketing, mom's cooking, etc.)
- your self control works better if you do not have bad food within sight [~0:26 Netflix]
- consider keeping bad food out of your home altogether
- how to get your kids on the path to healthy eating [~0:32 Netflix]
- kids teaching their parents how to eat better [~0:34 Netflix]
- some psychology behind successful changes in diet [~0:43 Netflix]
- an update on Phil - he has had a 'relapse' because of a lack of support system [~0:46 Netflix]
- Joe Cross has created an online business (rebootwithjoe.com) designed to provide a support system [~0:55 Netflix]
- interview with a cardiologist [~1:10 Netflix]
- re: plaque in arteries - 15% of cholesterol is from our diet, the rest is what we make in the body (medications do not reduce cholesterol by as much as 15%)
- how your immune system is affected by diet [~1:17 Netflix]
Fed Up
fedupmovie.com
Theme: mainly about sugar addiction, health affects of, politics surrounding historical increase in sugar consumption and the failure of attempted political changes due to food industry intervention
- exercise is not the solution - the fitness/exercise phenomenon started after a lab rat experiment in 1953 yet obesity continued to rise in most countries
- counting calories in vs. calories out does not work
- a calorie in is not a calorie in - e.g. a soft drink's lack of fiber gives the liver a rush of sugar (big blood sugar rise over a short period of time, causing the pancreas to turn it into fat immediately), unlike the same number of calories of almonds, because of the fiber in the almonds the liver gets a smaller amount of sugar over a longer period of time
- fructose, the sweet part of sugar can only be processed by the liver, when consuming e.g. a soft drink your liver is pushed to the max., the pancreas comes to the rescue by producing an excess amount of insulin (the energy storage hormone), this insulin turns sugar into fat for storage, high levels of insulin can block your brain from receiving the signal that you are full, making you feel tired, and hungry
- it takes 75min of exercise to burn off a 20oz coke
- beware, many of the studies on health effects of e.g. soft drinks are funded by soft drink companies
- there are many different forms of sugar, they are all equally as bad for you, cane sugar is just as bad as high fructose corn syrup
- processed starches (white bread/white rice/potato products/cereals) are turned into glucose immediately after eaten (same as eating a bowl of sugar)
- sugar content (tsp): can of Coke 9.75, smallest pack of mm's 7.0, 3 Oreo's 3.5 (same as one Luna bar), smallest Yoplait yogurt 6.5, bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce 12.5, small glass of OJ 5.5 (natural), serving of salad dressing 1.0, serving of pasta 0.25
- e.g. aspartame causes your body to produce insulin
- in 2002 the WHO tried to set a 10% limit on daily recommended sugar intake, but the sugar industry/George Bush put a stop to the report
- sugar is 8X more addictive than cocaine - the brain lights up similarly for both, more intense for cocaine
- in the 1980's foods were re-engineered to be low in fat (but higher in sugar)
- the leftover fat was then used to make cheese
- different branches of the USDA (food pyramid branch and agriculture branch) simultaneously encouraged people to eat less cheese (and sugar, etc.) AND help the diary industry promote an increase in cheese consumption - the later prevailed
- the government is subsidizing the production of corn that is being used to produce high fructose corn syrup
- fast food is in US schools - they used to have kitchens, but not any more due to bad political decisions
- junk food industry markets heavily to children (this is changing the circuits of their brain, for life)
- processed foods became cheaper because of high fructose corn syrup, and more money was being made to put back into marketing
- belly fat is the dangerous fat - thin people are not necessarily healthy (TOFI - thin on the outside, fat on the inside, OR metabolically obese normal weight)
- junk food companies (soft drink companies in particular) are behaving similar to how the tobacco companies used to
The Perfect Human Diet
theperfecthumandiet.com
Theme: why we should choose the paleolithic diet (claims to be the world’s first Paleo movie)
- weight loss is done through diet - exercise is not as important (according to an Australian aboriginal experiment, a second guest's opinion was that exercise was important but without proof)
- their logic is: evolution had us eating meat with Omega-3 (that's why we have big brains) and plants but no dairy or grains (we ate dairy/grains in last 0.5% of evolution, processed food in last 0.001%) - today's healthy tribes eat mostly meat - our digestive system is designed for meat
- the food pyramid is wrong
- we are smaller than humans before the industrial revolution because we are eating a smaller variety of foods (i.e. fewer nutrients)
- grains cause many of our current inflammatory diseases (e.g. arthritis, auto immune)
- whole grains have antinutrients that hold minerals in the gut i.e. your vitamin pills will be less effective
- meat consumption should be from an animal eating natural diet (see GMO OMG)
- human food: lean meat/pork (larger cuts), chicken, fish, turkey, vegetables, fruits (not too much), nuts
- non human food: grains, dairy, beans (including soy), potatoes
- protein gives you a time released supply of glucose (from liver), eating carbs will stop that process
- frozen foods are generally flash frozen, and can be fresher than some 'fresh' produce
- the more color the better, bell peppers and strawberries however can be high in pesticides, bananas and avocados are good
Forks Over Knives
forksoverknives.com/the-film
Theme: whole foods plant based diet
- American meat, sugar and dairy consumption has doubled in the last 100 years
- a study by T. Colin Campbell indicates a diet consisting of 20% of calories as dairy protein (casein) turns on cancer growth, 5% turned it off [~0:25 Netflix]
- the China study (T. Colin Campbell) results were less specific... less likelihood of cancer if animal content is minimal
- OK to eat fruits, vegetables, GRAINS, legumes
- OK to eat potatoes and rice
- no meat, dairy, eggs
- no direct mention of fish
- no processed food: white floor, refined sugar/oil
- plant food fills our stomach quickly, processed foods are more dense causing us to eat more calories and become overweight
- processed food has hyper concentrated sugar and fat making it very addictive
- a study indicates more calcium (does not specify source of the calcium) causes more hip fractures, indicting osteoporosis [~1:03 mark] - the dairy industry was telling us the opposite - animal protein creates an acid like condition in the body (Acidosis) which draws calcium from the bones - low fat milk has more protein - low fat milk products = more prostate cancer
- the 4 food groups were based on the best science at the time
- the food pyramid is wrong, and is skewed by big industry interests
- 6 out of the 11 on the panel for deciding food pyramid had financial ties to industries such as Kraft
- more and more corporate money (and members) is coming into the National Academy of Sciences that influence policy
- they claim their diet has stopped/cured cancer, stopped/cured heart disease
- takes 10 times more fossil fuels to produce livestock than plants
Forks Over Knives - The Extended Interviews
forksoverknives.com
- they recommend getting getting your vitamins from your food (vitamin pills do not work)
- high doses of vitamins (beta-carotene) may cause cancer
- exception: if you are a vegan, you need to take B12 vitamins
- the China study has received a lot of criticism because it is a cross sectional study that does not prove cause and effect
- there is less iron in plants, but it is enhanced by the vitamin C, etc.
- organic animal protein would only be a small diet improvement, compared to 100% plants
- re: heart disease and endothelial cells - no oil, including olive oil
- 30-60% increased risk of prostate cancer if you drink milk (skim just as bad as others)
- milk may cause migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, digestive problems
- US government approached fast food companies to sell products with more cheese to increase national cheese sales
- MUST have starch: rice, corn, potatoes, barley = high calorie vegetables
- oils increase risk of cancer and infection because they suppress immune system
- omega-3 is beneficial but has same problems as oils 'above', and the 'benefits' increase bleeding
- vitamin pills increase risk of cancer, heart disease (folic acid, anti oxidants, E and beta-carotene were mentioned)
- see ted.com/talks/william_li for a different take on vitamin E and angiogenesis (vitamin E was the least effective treatment of cancer - the top 4 were soy, parsley, berries, garlic)
- fish meat may be a bit healthier, but has problems of omega-3 'above', and contain ocean toxins
- our brains/taste buds are wired to like foods that have the most calories per bite
- there are pleasure centers in our brain that give us euphoria when certain chemicals are introduced, these pleasure centers can be hijacked (or banged) by chemicals more potent than we would naturally encounter - tobacco companies have purchased food companies and continue to research and profit on this by selling addictive food
- in addition to stretch receptors, our stomach can sense how much macro nutrients (carbs/protein/fat) we have eaten
PlantPure Nation
plantpurenation.com
Theme: narrated by the son of T. Colin Campbell - at first glace it seems to be a reiteration of what was covered in Forks Over Knives
review status: incomplete
Sugar Coated
sugarcoateddoc.com
review status: incomplete
- sugar content of fruit bites [~0:44 Netflix]
Hungry For Change
hungryforchange.tv
foodmatters.tv/hungry-for-change
- we are programmed to store calories when they are available (in preparation for famine)
- MSG in in 80% of processed foods under several ingredient names, making you crave more
- aspartame + caffeine kill brain cells
- sugar is turned into insulin (fat producing hormone) by the pancreas
- margarine is very bad
- all refined sugars are bad for you: high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, etc.
- eating the following is like eating sugar: white rice, corn, potatoes, white bread (also, may have added high fructose corn syrup), cereal (most have added sugars)
- the body will not allow you to loose weight if your toxin levels are too high, because the toxins are stored in your fat, and releasing them would be too much of a shock to your body - must reduce toxin intake by eating mostly organic food
- detox with green vegetables
- detox with gelatinous foods (chia seeds), organic greens, parsley (cleans blood, also gives good breath) and cilantro (for mercury)
- eat things that come from a garden not a laboratory
- your body takes 15min to absorb nutrients from fresh juiced vegetables
- juicing (fresh juiced vegetables) can cure cancer
- your skin is the last organ to benefit from a healthy diet
- beauty foods = olives/oil, coconut oil, cucumbers, aloe vera
- reduce stress (sleep deprivation and dehydration included)
- best way to digest stress hormones (cortisol and epinephrine) is sleep (deep sleep), otherwise you will retain liquid pounds - also exercise (walking 3-4 times per week, lifting weights) - also laughter
- talks about self esteem, and using visualization techniques
Food Matters
foodmatters.tv/food-matters
- doctors receive little training in nutrition - modern medicine (e.g. pills, hospital bugs) kill over 200,000 Americans per year
- food is only as good as the soil it's grown in
- transportation of food leaves food with as little as 40% of it's nutrients
- enzymes are lost when food is cooked, which help with digestion and and nutrient absorption - your body treats cooked food as a toxin (if more than 50% of meal is cooked)
- eat spirulina instead of steak for protein, because it is easier to digest
- cooking any food destroys 50% of the protein
- super foods: spirulina, raw cocoa bean
- vitamins instead of doctors to cure people - drug company profits drives modern medicine
- a few drugs are taken briefly to save your life, but the drug companies only make money on the drugs that don't cure you, and studies for these drugs are funded by the drug companies, and large marketing dollars are spent on these drugs
- alternative example: Niacin (B3) for depression, found in cashews
- drugs and mercury fillings are toxic
- drink lots of water (1+ liters) every morning before breakfast to detoxify
- Gerson Plus therapy for Cancer (juicing cures it in 50% of cases)
Vegucated
getvegucated.com
Theme: what you can eat as a Vegan - 3 meat lovers go on a vegan diet for 6 weeks
- Dr. Joel Fuhrman: heart disease and cancer is reduced when more fruits and vegetables are consumed in a diet
- soy protein, etc. instead of animal protein - quality protein
- technically some foods like Oreos are OK in a Vegan diet
- heavy focus on how livestock are treated - organic and free range does not necessarily mean humane (depends on the farm)
- T. Colin Campbell: the China study (see Forks Over Knives)
- increase risk of colon cancer with red meat
- Vegan's have a 26% lower chance of dying of heart disease
- modern livestock production is bad for the environment (electricity consumption, carbon imitation from transportation and animal's 'exhaust', water consumption, animal waste contamination)
- the ocean is running out of fish - 25% percent of catch is wasted (wrong species) - the ocean ecosystem is being damaged - wild fish are used to feed farmed fish
- Milton Mills: why did we evolved to eat meat - at times when plants were not available year round we developed hunting skills to survive, now that plants are available year round we don't need to hold onto our meat eating culture (see The Perfect Human Diet for a different take on this)
- it is now evolutionary advantageous (to save the planet) to adopt a plant based diet
- it's hard to stay on a Vegan diet when your family and friends are not
- 2 of the 3 participants blood pressure dropped during their 6 week Vegan trial - all of their cholesterol dropped - all lost weight
GMO OMG
gmofilm.com
review status: complete
Theme: genetically modified organisms (GMO's) - it is very difficult to avoid eating GMO food, and the public is not well informed
- what are GMO's - two types of GMO (pesticide producers and herbicide resistors) [~0:05 Netflix]
- Monsanto's presence in Haiti [~0:08 Netflix]
- Monsanto's presence in other counties [~0:12 Netflix]
- 80% of all processed foods contain GMO's
- unless the meat is labelled organic, the cows were eating genetically modified corn and soy
- 'all natural' does not mean GMO free [~0:16 Netflix]
- percentage of US crops that are GMO vs. non-GMO (including cotton) [~0:18 Netflix]
- interview with a Hybrid Seed Dealer [~0:19 Netflix]
- in 1860 farmers made up 58% of the workforce, now with industrial agriculture farmers make up less than 2% of the workforce
- GMO corn is registered as a pesticide [~0:24 Netflix]
- Monsanto and the other major agrochemical companies are also the worlds biggest seed companies [~0:26 Netflix]
- Monsanto's patents on living organisms (seeds) and how they affect small farmers [~0:29 Netflix]
- historical information on pesticides and fertilizers, and the environmental impact of using them [~0:35 Netflix]
- study finds that organic yields match GMO yields [~0:40 Netflix]
- in the last 100 years in the US up to 93% of crop varieties have vanished
- failed attempts at getting GMO labeling on the food we buy [~0:46 Netflix]
- lack of science behind GMO safety [~0:49 Netflix]
- BioTech companies have a lot of political power [~0:51 Netflix]
- fish hatcheries use GMO feed [~0:58 Netflix]
- a visit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, and an interview with Global Crop Diversity Trust [~1:03 Netflix]
- interview with Gilles-Éric Séralini on his research concluding that GMO food is unsafe for consumption [~1:08 Netflix]
Vanishing of the Bees
vanishingbees.com
review status: complete (this film is no longer available for streaming in Canada and therefore the Netflix links may or may not work depending on what country your in)
Theme: In 2006 a US beekeeper noticed that his commercial (factory farming) bee populations were disappearing. Later it was determined that this was a worldwide problem (and given the name colony collapse disorder) endangering future production of fruits and vegetables, as well as the livelihoods of beekeepers. Though it is difficult to prove, many believe the bees are disappearing (getting disoriented and eventually dying) after gathering pollen from crops grown with systemic pesticides.
- pollination (primarily dependent on insects or the wind), and how important it is to our food supply [~0:01 Netflix]
- David Hackenberg was the first US beekeeper to witness/report a problem with the bee populations [~0:04 Netflix]
- colony collapse disorder (CCD) defined [~0:09 Netflix]
- the transportation of beehives in commercial beekeeping for pollination [~0:11 Netflix]
- honeybees are a big part of our culture [~0:16 Netflix]
- colony collapse disorder (CCD) investigated [~0:20 Netflix]
- holistic beekeeping vs. commercial beekeeping [~0:27 Netflix]
- some holistic beekeepers believe that part of the problem is the unnatural methods used in pollination including transporting the bees large distances to pollinate crops, feeding the bees sugar syrup during transportation, and the manipulation of the hives by replacing old or lost queen bees with new artificially raised ones
- beekeepers are forced into factory farming pollination because they can't compete with world honey prices [~0:33 Netflix]
- cheap imported honey containing other ingredients, such as High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lactose Syrup, or Beet Sugar [~0:34 Netflix]
- the requirement of pesticides in monoculture farming [~0:42 Netflix]
- many believe the new systemic pesticides are harder on the bees, but the effects are sublethal making it difficult to prove [~0:47 Netflix]
- in France the effects of systemic pesticides on bees was first noticed in 1994 (they called it Mad Bee Disease at the time) - recently, enough proof was obtained in France for a partial ban on the use of systemic pesticides to protect the bees [~0:54 Netflix]
- most of the rest of the film talks about pesticide use, starting with the politics of pesticide approval [~1:03 Netflix]
- what you can do at home to help the bees (mainly being to buy organic) [~1:22 Netflix]
Cowspiracy
cowspiracy.com
review status: complete (this documentary contains numerous interviews - only the interviews with environmental groups are referenced)
Theme: environmental effects of livestock production (and fishing) - a disgruntled environmentalist trying to stir up controversy over the fact that environmental groups and government are not addressing these environmental issues - going vegan is the most environmentally friendly move a person can make
- raising livestock (for meat and dairy) produces more greenhouse gasses than the emissions of the entire transportation sector - also compares carbon dioxide vs. methane [~0:04 Netflix]
- raising livestock is also the leading cause of resource consumption and environmental degradation destroying the planet
- raising livestock consumes much more water than fracking [~0:05 Netflix]
- one quarter pound hamburger requires over 660 gallons of water to produce [~0:06 Netflix]
- comparison of carbon dioxide from transportation vs. nitrous oxide from animals [~0:11 Netflix]
- statistics on resource consumption and environmental degradation [~0:12 Netflix]
- environmental groups are not addressing the environmental effects of animal agriculture
- interview with Sierra Club [~0:19 Netflix]
- waste from land based animal agriculture is polluting our coastal waters
- interview with Surfrider Foundation [~0:22 Netflix]
- over fishing and inefficient fishing (bykill) [~0:24 Netflix]
- interview with Oceana [~0:26 Netflix]
- an acre of rainforest is cleared every second, and the leading cause is to graze animals and grow their feed crops
- interview with Rainforest Action Network [~0:32 Netflix]
- interview with Amazon Watch [~0:33 Netflix]
- statistics on land requirements for grass fed beef [~0:45 Netflix]
- it takes upwards of 1000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk
- predator populations (e.g. wolves) suffer because of ranching
- animal food production is subsidized [~0:55 Netflix]
- as with any other large industry, the meat and dairy industry have a lot of political power
- human overpopulation [~1:04 Netflix]
- on average you can produce 15 times more protein from plant based sources than from meat on any given area of land (Dr. Richard Oppenlander)
- examples of imitation meat and dairy products [~1:14 Netflix]
- statistics on environmental effects of going vegan [~1:22 Netflix]