Page 60 - Fall2011

Tim’s DVD Reviews

Apparently Forks over Knives many scientists and non-scientists have noted,
the revelation Executive Producer Brian Wendel there are many similarities between rats and hu-
mans, and therefore rats are used in experimen-
Monica Beach Media
that real food tation as models for humans. I would agree that
is better than "Forks over Knives" kicks off by looking at high protein, lowfat diets are bad for humans too.
junk is a great the statistical indicators of health, or lack thereof, A whole-food, plant-based diet probably is better
in America today. Diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart than non-whole-food (or non-food), processed,
epiphany to disease and allergies are so common that it is pasteurized, homogenized, chemicalized, plas-
the scientific getting hard to find anyone who doesn't suffer ticized, animal-based diet. All this leads to one
community. from one or more of those conditions. We spend very important question: So what?
over two trillion dollars on health care per year.
Real food is better than junk. Apparently
As the movie points out, it is easy to find a profit this revelation is a great epiphany to the scien-
motive for the health care industry to maintain tific community. There are, however, important
this status quo. There is no money in healthy details the movie carefully avoids. Animal foods
people and no money in dead people. The money are lumped in with junk food, sugar, and sug-
is in people who are alive, sort of. ary chemicals. The film makers don't compare
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. T. Colin whole-food plant-based diets to whole-food
Campbell both grew up on traditional American animal-based diets. Campbell, as the author
farms where dairy or beef were the main food of The China Study, likes to cite China as an
products and key elements of their diets. Sev- example of a healthy plant-based diet culture.
eral minutes of footage are spent showing how Kenya is mentioned in relation to having much
healthy these men are. That kind of diet seemed lower cancer rates than the U.S., but there is no
to serve them well, especially Esselstyn, who was mention of the Masai and their animal-based
an Olympic athlete. Their message now, however, traditional diet. There is no mention of Eskimo
is that their dietary upbringing was a mistake. dietary traditions or other counter examples.
We are treated to a discussion of the lipid The producers include an explanation in
theory that claims heart disease is caused by fat some detail of why removing fat from milk con-
and cholesterol jamming up our arteries. This is centrates the protein, making it much less healthy
backed by a detailed movie animation showing to consume, but there is no analysis of whole raw
cholesterol plugging an artery. Many movie- milk. The net result is a distorted picture com-
goers may be convinced by such animation but I plete with the usual politically correct agendas.
hope I can be forgiven for being a little skeptical You can see this movie if you want, but there
if an artist’s rendition is all the proof they have. are better ways to waste a couple hours of your
Campbell elaborates on rat studies in which life that you can never have back. The thumb is
rats fed diets of 20 percent casein deteriorated DOWN.
rapidly while rats fed 5 percent casein stayed
healthy or recovered if they were not healthy. Farmageddon, the Unseen War on
This outcome is meant to somehow prove that American Family Farms
animal protein in general is at the root of all Kristin Canty Productions
cancer.
What I see in this film is a whole-food, plant- In this thumb’s UP film we see a country
based diet being compared to a non-whole-food, where officials masquerade as inspectors to gain
animal-based diet. It is generally accepted that entry to a farm and then steal their products,
a high protein, lowfat cuisine is bad for rats. As where government agents steal customers’ milk
60 Wise Traditions FALL 2011 FALL 2011 Wise Traditions

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