Full disclosure, I bought several copies of this movie and gave them to everyone as Christmas gifts last year. It is my favorite nutrition documentary (although Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is the funniest) mostly because it is a good quality film with the same message that I end up beating people silly with.
Change your diet and you will change your life.
Anyone who is gluten-free for a non-medical reason may want to know that the doctors in this movie do not think that gluten is a problem for most people. It is dairy that virtually no one should eat.
I agree with them.
Most people seem to digest gluten with few ill effects. I have not seen good research indicating that gluten is harmful to people without autoimmune or psychiatric disorders. At most, it appears that a third of the population should avoid gluten.
Now my gut (note, not my medical training) tells me that the reason that this particular vegan diet works and other wild meat diets also sometimes work is because you don’t eat a lot of grains. Grains are pretty much empty calories and there isn’t a primate or bear that I know of that eats them on a regular basis (gorillas are vegan but chimps do eat some animal products) I also think that avocados, coconut, olives and some fish are probably healthy and should be consumed in modest doses.
That said, if I get advanced heart disease, you can guess what I will be eating.
So anyway, without further ado, here is the link to the free viewing of Forks Over Knives on Hulu!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/279734
The above posting is confusing. For example: “Most people seem to digest gluten with few ill effects….At most, it appears that a third of the population should avoid gluten.” To my way of thinking, “a third of the population” is a lot of people. Technically, it’s less than “most,” but much more than a minority.
“Now my gut (note, not my medical training) tells me that the reason that this particular vegan diet works and other wild meat diets also sometimes work is because you don’t eat a lot of grains. Grains are pretty much empty calories….”
What medical training would that be, please do tell us. Not in nutrition, because even Adelle Davis who promoted eating meat knew that grains are complex carbohydrates and are a powerhouse of nutrition. Whole, unrefined grains, that is. Humans evolved eating complex carbohydrates, which is why we produce enzymes that are specific to the breakdown of carbohydrates.
Ah, the confusion clears with the phrase “other wild meat diets.” This is someone who hasn’t really listened to the message in Forks Over Knives. They are interested in promoting, not a whole food, plant based diet, which is the diet promoted in the movie, but some diet that values animal foods over plant foods. Damn these omnivore opportunists, these Weston Price patsies.
I have no formal medical training. What I know is strictly from reading, working with a nutritionist, and watching presentations from actual licensed doctors. I think the movie makes a lot of valuable points but given where whole wheat bread is on the ANDI chart (lower than white potatoes), and on the glycemic index (worse than eating straight table sugar) I don’t think it should be a big part of anyone’s diet. It is not enough nutrition for the calories.
Also other than humans, I am unaware of any primates that get significant amounts of food from grains, or for that matter from meat, although there are primates like chimpanzees that do eat animals. All primates eat primarily fruit, veggies and seeds. Different ones for different primates, but its pretty consistent.
Thank you for the feedback on my writing. I will try to be clearer. You are right about my comment around the gluten issue. It could be worded better. I was thinking about how a lot of celiacs think that no one should ever eat gluten. I don’t agree with that. I do however think that there is a significant chunk of the population that should avoid it.
Thanks for commenting!