Another thing I'm addicted to, movies. I especially love documentaries. This week, I watched the new documentary Forks Over Knives. According to the film's official website the purpose of the film is to examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
The film did precisely that. Full disclaimer, I'd eaten a very light breakfast and a granola midday snack prior to going to the movies in the afternoon so I could get a hot dog at the theatre. By the first five minutes into the movie, my hot dog made it's way back into the plastic container and was not eaten. The film delves into the debate concerning whether or not a plant, whole foods, based diet can in fact prevent, reduce, or regress degenerative diseases. The doctors, specialists, skeptics, and practitioners of this diet highlighted in the film made a compelling case. I'd already decided that moving towards as close to a whole foods diet as possible would be in the best interests for me going forward. My reasons for this are two fold, first, I'm a African-American and Puerto Rican woman so I literally hit the genetic lottery on likelihood to develop a degenerative disease in my life (so unfair) and second, when I went to get a physical before starting this endeavor my Doctor did two things, one which he's done before and the other which he's never done. Upon entering his office he, as he's done for the past seven years, shook his head at me. It's his universal way of saying "you don't sleep enough, exercise enough, take care of yourself enough and your body is on the verge of being FUBAR" - it's amazing what can be said by the shake of ones head. The second thing he did was to hug me after I told him I'd had enough and wanted a change. I've been told I have very expressive facial expressions and eyes so I guess he could read in them that I wasn't fooling. So this movie came out at the perfect time for me.
I would recommend everyone go see it, if for no other reason than to find out what work is being done out there to prevent the spread of degenerative diseases and to see that there are solutions that do not require pharmaceuticals. They broke down the science and the statistics. The major players in the game who determine health policy and how corrupt, and corrupt-able, those institutions have become. One of the individuals showcased in the film had to take nine pills a day and two injections, he went into the doctors office having been diagnosed with three degenerative illnesses and a list of 28 ailments/symptoms. He was a wreck. He was the face of what is rapidly becoming America. The face of a population under attack from preventable diseases. A population that needs to wake up. I've learned I cannot make anyone else ready to make a change. But I can do something about making a change for myself.
As a nation the statistics on health are alarming, as a woman and minority those statistics become even more alarming as they concern my situation. Food has held me prisoner in many ways for too long - making poor decisions and choices in what I eat and confusing an active social life with a physically active life. I do not want to be held prisoner by pills or surgeries in my future because I've let my health become a problem that consumes my life. This film presents yet another call to action, it does not demand we all make extreme changes to our diet/lifestyle but instead begs to question why we would stand in the way of our own health. It begs us to re-examine our attitude towards what is and is not extreme in the pursuit of health, long life.
As one of the prominent Doctors featured in the film said, people think it's extreme for me to call for a whole foods based diet. But, I think it's extreme to cut someones chest open, remove a vein from their leg, attach it to their heart, and sew them back up. That's extreme. He was referring to bypass surgery and I think that's a good way to frame the debate, as a bypass. We've removed ourselves from the seemingly hard taste of reacquainting ourselves with the taste of real food and tried to bypass our health in the name of surgery, pills, fads, quick fixes. Forks and Knives shows that one such quick fix could be as simple as putting more vegetables and fruits on your plate.
The film did precisely that. Full disclaimer, I'd eaten a very light breakfast and a granola midday snack prior to going to the movies in the afternoon so I could get a hot dog at the theatre. By the first five minutes into the movie, my hot dog made it's way back into the plastic container and was not eaten. The film delves into the debate concerning whether or not a plant, whole foods, based diet can in fact prevent, reduce, or regress degenerative diseases. The doctors, specialists, skeptics, and practitioners of this diet highlighted in the film made a compelling case. I'd already decided that moving towards as close to a whole foods diet as possible would be in the best interests for me going forward. My reasons for this are two fold, first, I'm a African-American and Puerto Rican woman so I literally hit the genetic lottery on likelihood to develop a degenerative disease in my life (so unfair) and second, when I went to get a physical before starting this endeavor my Doctor did two things, one which he's done before and the other which he's never done. Upon entering his office he, as he's done for the past seven years, shook his head at me. It's his universal way of saying "you don't sleep enough, exercise enough, take care of yourself enough and your body is on the verge of being FUBAR" - it's amazing what can be said by the shake of ones head. The second thing he did was to hug me after I told him I'd had enough and wanted a change. I've been told I have very expressive facial expressions and eyes so I guess he could read in them that I wasn't fooling. So this movie came out at the perfect time for me.
I would recommend everyone go see it, if for no other reason than to find out what work is being done out there to prevent the spread of degenerative diseases and to see that there are solutions that do not require pharmaceuticals. They broke down the science and the statistics. The major players in the game who determine health policy and how corrupt, and corrupt-able, those institutions have become. One of the individuals showcased in the film had to take nine pills a day and two injections, he went into the doctors office having been diagnosed with three degenerative illnesses and a list of 28 ailments/symptoms. He was a wreck. He was the face of what is rapidly becoming America. The face of a population under attack from preventable diseases. A population that needs to wake up. I've learned I cannot make anyone else ready to make a change. But I can do something about making a change for myself.
As a nation the statistics on health are alarming, as a woman and minority those statistics become even more alarming as they concern my situation. Food has held me prisoner in many ways for too long - making poor decisions and choices in what I eat and confusing an active social life with a physically active life. I do not want to be held prisoner by pills or surgeries in my future because I've let my health become a problem that consumes my life. This film presents yet another call to action, it does not demand we all make extreme changes to our diet/lifestyle but instead begs to question why we would stand in the way of our own health. It begs us to re-examine our attitude towards what is and is not extreme in the pursuit of health, long life.
As one of the prominent Doctors featured in the film said, people think it's extreme for me to call for a whole foods based diet. But, I think it's extreme to cut someones chest open, remove a vein from their leg, attach it to their heart, and sew them back up. That's extreme. He was referring to bypass surgery and I think that's a good way to frame the debate, as a bypass. We've removed ourselves from the seemingly hard taste of reacquainting ourselves with the taste of real food and tried to bypass our health in the name of surgery, pills, fads, quick fixes. Forks and Knives shows that one such quick fix could be as simple as putting more vegetables and fruits on your plate.
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