Saturday, September 24, 2011

Forks Over Knives Documentary Review- Cure Yourself With Food

I just finished watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. It has put me in a mental conflict. As I have mentioned before I was vegetarian before starting the specific carbohydrate diet. I went vegetarian because of watching Food Inc. So maybe I have a small addiction to documentaries but they are so informative and I can appreciate the approach of outsider's viewpoints in such a straightforward way. Anyways, Forks Over Knives advocates a "plant-based whole foods diet." Which basically means vegan. I love
that it did not push veganism though. Rather, it followed the line of thought of two prestigious medical doctors who pioneered the modern day thought of  food curing the diseases that are so prevalent today instead of pharmaceuticals. Curing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and so many others is not a new concept through the use of healthy foods. Obviously, if you too are on SCD you have come to appreciate this fact. Forks Over Knives though just solidifies through research done in China and across the globe that the increased rates of diseases like the ones listed above are directly linked to the western diet. The cornucopia of fast food, promotion of meat and dairy being healthy for us, and the downplay of how important plant-based whole foods are highlighted in this movie. While my opinion varies slightly from those expressed in Forks Over Knives (in that I find some benefit to eating small portions of dairy and eggs) it did inspire me to cut back on my meat consumption even more. I would say on average I only eat one serving of meat everyday and that would be for dinner. Once in a while I eat half a portion for lunch, but usually I just stick to a bowl of yogurt and fruit. I wish there was some way I could be SCD and vegetarian. But as it stands I am re-introducing my body to SCD in that I am very much limiting my consumption of vegetables. This is not because I do not like them, for I actually  miss being able to eat piles of green beans, broccoli, and salad. Rather, I have found that for myself fiber from veggies is very hard to deal with gastro-logically speaking (if that makes sense). In other words, veggies not sitting so well with my tummy. This is so unfortunate because I know I am missing out on so many vitamins and essential nutrients. However, I hope to incorporate them back into my diet as a major staple even if it is force-ably. I see many problems with this theory however, I do wish to proceed. I don't want to eat little animals. Even though I buy free-range and grass-fed, Forks Over Knives emphasized there is hardly any benefit to eating even the most humanely treated creatures. So even if I won't go vegan, I hope to eat more "plant-based whole foods" and nurse myself back to health as I know that food has the ability to do so!

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