Forks Over Knives Review
Hall
BIOL 1322
26 April 2014
Movie Review: Forks Over Knives
Lee Fulkerson aims to educate the public about the relationship between degenerated diseases and our everyday diets. Today, 1 in 5 children are obese. 2.2 trillion dollars a year is spent on food in America alone, five times more than our defense program spends. Adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet rather than consuming refined foods, processed foods, and animal products has been shown to significantly improve the health of those who are severely ill or obese.
Fulkerson begins by showing he’s no hypocrite. He visits a physician for a checkup, and learns that he has high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol..
“Let food be thy medicine” - Hippocrates
Only within the past century has the science of food been researched. As part of Fulkerson’s research, he visits a legendary food scientist, Dr. Colin Campbell, at an old dairy farm in Virginia where his family raised and milked cows. When Dr Campbell first came to the farm in the 1940’s, milk was thought to be the perfect food. We then meet Dr. Esselstyn, who performed some of the first surgeries removing buildup in arteries of those with coronary heart disease. Dietary cholesterol, which is tied to plaque that builds up in the arteries, is produced by animals. The same protein that we feel we need so much of, can be found in plant-based foods.
In the mid-60’s, Dr. Campbell worked on getting protein to starving children in the Philippines, mostly animal protein. While he was there, he read a study on animal protein and its carcinogen content. In the 60s and 70s, cancer rates skyrocketed, as Campbell began to doubt his own work. He began to look at public health figures compared to other nations. (18 deaths in Japan caused by Prostate cancer, compared to 14,000 in the U.S.) Probably one of the most gripping pieces of Campbell’s research was the decline in cardiovascular diseases in Norway in the 1930’s and 1940’s. A chart showed that
BIOL 1322
26 April 2014
Movie Review: Forks Over Knives
Lee Fulkerson aims to educate the public about the relationship between degenerated diseases and our everyday diets. Today, 1 in 5 children are obese. 2.2 trillion dollars a year is spent on food in America alone, five times more than our defense program spends. Adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet rather than consuming refined foods, processed foods, and animal products has been shown to significantly improve the health of those who are severely ill or obese.
Fulkerson begins by showing he’s no hypocrite. He visits a physician for a checkup, and learns that he has high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol..
“Let food be thy medicine” - Hippocrates
Only within the past century has the science of food been researched. As part of Fulkerson’s research, he visits a legendary food scientist, Dr. Colin Campbell, at an old dairy farm in Virginia where his family raised and milked cows. When Dr Campbell first came to the farm in the 1940’s, milk was thought to be the perfect food. We then meet Dr. Esselstyn, who performed some of the first surgeries removing buildup in arteries of those with coronary heart disease. Dietary cholesterol, which is tied to plaque that builds up in the arteries, is produced by animals. The same protein that we feel we need so much of, can be found in plant-based foods.
In the mid-60’s, Dr. Campbell worked on getting protein to starving children in the Philippines, mostly animal protein. While he was there, he read a study on animal protein and its carcinogen content. In the 60s and 70s, cancer rates skyrocketed, as Campbell began to doubt his own work. He began to look at public health figures compared to other nations. (18 deaths in Japan caused by Prostate cancer, compared to 14,000 in the U.S.) Probably one of the most gripping pieces of Campbell’s research was the decline in cardiovascular diseases in Norway in the 1930’s and 1940’s. A chart showed that