This Movie "Cuts thru the Meat" of Our Growing Health Crisis

Yesterday I attended the San Diego premiere of the documentary, Forks Over Knives with some friends and what a great night we had!

For less than the price of a typical $12 movie ticket, we got a vegan dinner catered by Whole Foods, a goodie bag, got to watch the movie, and attend an informative Q&A panel discussion afterward. I was thrilled to see that the theater was completely sold out in less than just one week after tickets went on sale.

Despite the fact that my friends and I watched the entire movie from the second row, I still loved it and look forward to adding the DVD to my library once it goes on sale...or at least watching it again in the theater from a seat in the back :-)

Check Out the Trailer of "Forks Over Knives":

I definitely encourage everyone to watch this documentary.

The focus is on the benefits of adopting a vegan diet as well as the science behind it, but I hope that doesn't discourage people from wanting to go see it. I know some of you tend to run in the other direction when you hear the word "vegan", but please give this movie a chance. You don't have to become vegan as soon as you step out of the theater.

The message I want people to get is that the foods that we eat have a profound and direct effect on our health. The foods that we eat can prevent, treat, and reverse health conditions that most people rely on prescription medication for. If you think that you are destined to get heart disease, cancer, or Type II diabetes because it runs in your family, this movie has your name written all over it. While we might be genetically predisposed to get certain diseases, we can actually change the expression of our genes by adopting a healthier, "plant strong" diet and in doing so, we can completely avoid getting these diseases in the first place.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."

~Thomas A. Edison

As I've mentioned on this blog, I personally do not adhere to any one "diet" nor do I recommend any one "diet" to everyone.

I've tried and enjoyed many different ways of eating, including a high raw and 100% vegan diet, but I believe that we are all unique and there is no "one size fits all" way of eating for everyone.

I am not arguing against the compelling evidence supporting the benefits of a vegan diet, but I do know many people whose health have actually improved with the addition of some animal fat and animal protein.

I am a proponent of a whole foods diet, particularly rich in organically grown, seasonal, local fruits and vegetables of every color of the rainbow but I also believe that a diet consisting of a small amount of organic, grass-fed beef, for instance, is healthier than a diet which is vegan but consists of white bread and junk food.

What I think both healthy, plant-based vegans and healthy carnivores can agree on is that the two biggest culprits in the modern western diet are:

1. PROCESSED FOODS: Namely the foods located in the middle aisles of the super market or in convenience stores. Many of these products contain high fructose corn syrup and have with a list of ingredients so long that the product doesn't even deserve to be called "food" (check out the the documentary King Corn for more on this)

2. FAST FOOD: Particularly poor quality, grain-fed meat, foods void of nutrients (e.g. french fries, hamburger buns), and soft drinks

These foods are making us sick and our society is so dependent on prescription medication for fixing just about everything that it's costing us not just an absurd amount of money each year, but our health as well. Doctors even prescribe medication to treat the symptoms caused by the side effects from our other prescription medications! We take whatever our doctors tell us to take without considering more natural and less costly alternatives.

We would rather rely on a quick fix than address the root cause of the issue and take responsibility for doing something about it.

How did we get to a place where having our bodies sliced open to fix our health issues is more commonly accepted in our society and is considered a less "extreme" alternative than cutting out meat from our diet?

It's about time we make a shift in our way of thinking and watching Forks Over Knives is a great first step. Click on the links below for showtimes in your city: