Food Matters
The opening quote of the 2008 documentary FOODMATTERS reads: “Let thy Food be thy Medicine and thy Medicine be thy Food” (Hippocrates said that). In the 2010 documentary FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD, a gentleman weighing 429.6 pounds confesses to the camera that he thinks when people look at him that they probably see an angry man, but he says ,“I’m not really angry, I’m just in pain”. He’s in pain because of his food choices. Health food warriors who have yet to make time for these films, take note: we highly recommend both of these documentaries because they shine lights, candidly, at times quite funnily and with much sensitivity to extreme healing therapies centred around nutrition.
FOODMATTERS features a fascinating group of experts like Phillip Day, the founder of the Campaign for Truth in Medicine; Charlotte Gerson the daughter of Max Gerson who was a pioneer of alternative dietary therapies; and superfoods activist David Wolfe. When you strip down what they all have to say, the genesis of the movie is you are what you eat. “Good health makes a lot of sense, but it doesn’t make a lot of dollars,” says Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. He’s funny, he’s got great case studies, and he also makes it very clear that the pharmaceutical industry’s purpose is not to heal, it’s to make its shareholders money.
FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD starts off as a movie about the filmmaker, Joe, who finds himself in a physical crisis and thus embarks on a 60-day juice cleanse. The movie then weaves into and follows the story of a different overweight, ill man named Phil. Both men are quite endearing, and Phil, because of all the extra barriers in his life, becomes quite an inspirational character.
Innately, documentaries often leave viewers feeling like they have to make a choice or a change. Our 3 big takeaways from these two films:
- You are what you eat. As repetitive and cliché as this may sound, no one can argue that it’s not true. Good reminder that we all have choice in what we put in our mouths.
- Juice fasts will not kill you. Interestingly, in FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD, many of the interviewees said they couldn’t survive a juice fast. Why not? No pressure for you to try one today (or ever) but, when we have indulged in juice-only days, the positive results were not surprising: glowing skin, better bowel movements, sense of freedom, better sleep.
- 60% of all foods we consume are processed – including: oil, sugar and flour – and on top of that we process it further by heating/cooking food. Good reminder for when we’re drafting shopping lists: try one or two less processed items. Replace with fruits, vegetables, nuts or seeds.
