Tonight I wanted to watch something inspiring. Although I had other things I ought to have spent the hour doing, I took some time out and watched a documentary called Food Matters. It was indeed inspiring and I learned a lot. Some of it touched on what I already knew about the debate between nutrition and modern medicine, but a lot of the statistics and science were new to me. Food, nutrition and health are things I am constantly reading about yet this documentary taught me many things I didn’t know (or at least didn’t know the extent of).
The documentary was so interesting in fact that I took notes. Here are some of the most interesting things I learned:
- 26% of patients discharged from hospitals are more malnourished than when they were admitted to hospital. Example of a patient in hospital suffering with leukemia in hospital was fed “jello & white bread”, foods that we can largely agree are effectively devoid of useful nutrients. Why are we feeding sick people food that will not help them get better?
- If 51% of the food you eat is raw, your body doesn’t treat your food as a toxin (from 1930 study by Swiss doctor Paul Kouchakoff,)
- Less than 6% US doctors formally educated in nutrition
- Cacao as an excellent (in some cases the best) source of many minerals and even Vitamin C, it’s an incredibly powerful antioxidant. Not to be confused with chocolate or cocoa that lose these values after being treated with heat.
- Spirulina, consumed for thousands of years in Mexico is the highest known source of protein
- Often first symptom of cardiovascular disease is death.
- Drugs companies pay the people who test their drugs. They advertise in medical journals that they largely fund also. Rather relaxed laws in place regarding what can be sold in pharmaceuticals.
- Thousands of studies saying that high levels of nutrients cure disease, published in medical journals are not indexed by US medical library of information.
- 25% TV ads (in the US) are drug commercials. “Good health makes a lot of sense but doesn’t make a lot of [money].”
- Niacin (a lot of it) can be used to effectively treat depression. Example: 2 handfuls of cashews is the same as a dose of Prozac
- All drugs are liver toxic, bar none
- When you wake up, it’s a good idea to drink a lot (about 1L) of water to combat ‘toxicity’.
- The public is lead to believe that the cure for cancer is around the corner. We see the headlines in newspapers however there already exists Gerson therapy for cancer focusing on vegetables and fresh juices (by Charlotte Gerson who features in the documentary)
- Chemotherapy is carcinogens most of the time. Which is apparently why tumours grow back.
- Cancer is a 2 billion dollar industry. It is illegal in most countries to treat cancer with nutrition.
- Japan has lowest incidence of cancer in the world. High intake of fish, with anti-cancer trace elements, omega 3 fish oils, they drink green tea. Breast cancer is very low, thanks to lifestyle. 13% of American women, yet less than 1% of Japanese women get breast cancer.
- High doses of Vitamin C as cancer treatment, easy safe, taken in an IV. 30,000-100,000 mg a day to kill cancer cells. It’s toxic to cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. No adverse side effects (apart from thirst). However if we listen to scare tactics, Vitamin C is meant to cause kidney stones if you take 100mg, which just isn’t the case.
Having watched several documentaries before on similar themes, I know to take the documentary with a pinch of salt, or at least to analyse it for myself. It can be hard to separate fact from fiction and trustworthy sources from untrustworthy sources. As far as I can see, and from what I’ve read previously, this documentary seemed quite accurate to me. Even radical, perhaps. I still find it amazing that we don’t discuss alternatives to our modern medicine.
It has given me some ideas worth considering. Do I eat enough raw foods? Do I eat enough quality (ideally local and organic) fruit and vegetables? The truth is that sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. I feel healthy most of the time, but I have youth on my side. As with each time I watch a documentary like this, or read an article to a similar tune, I remind myself not to get too hung up on the idea of detoxifying, or only eating raw foods.
At the end of the day, for me personally it’s important to consume mostly good quality foods, however I also enjoy indulging in less healthy foods. A motto I can identify with is ‘everything in moderation, including moderation’. So yes I will continue to buy local and organic food where possible, but I will not feel guilty every time I eat something that doesn’t fall into either category. I see food as something inherently social, which is why I don’t like to be too highly strung about every bite I consume.
It’s true that knowledge is power though, so I would rather be the most informed consumer I can be, and ideally help others be more informed if they wish to be.
To conclude, I would highly recommend the documentary. It’s an interesting and informative watch, you’re bound to learn facts that you can apply to your life today. As I did!
