Thursday, January 24, 2013

Food Movie Reviews

I am typically a little late to the party when it comes to watching movies and reading books.

So while my opinions on the below movies is a little late I did want to share because it might prompt someone to watch one of these.

Last week I watched Food Matters:

                                                                         Source: imdb.com via Luis on Pinterest

It provides a look into naturally keeping yourself healthy, and using food as your medicine.

A thought first espoused by Hippocrates "Let food by thy medicine and medicine by thy food."

There are segments from doctors, journalists, naturopaths, and nutritionists who provide some very compelling evidence that putting nutrient rich food in your body will help it heal itself.

My favorite segments were with Dr. Andrew Saul who touts vitamins over pills.  He believes that eating vegetables and fruits doesn't get a lot of lip service because it doesn't make money for pharmaceutical companies.  Additionally he commented that most doctors don't receive training in nutrition.

That seems crazy to me.  They can learn all of the parts of the body but they don't learn how to keep them healthy without the intervention of pills?

Overall I feel I was affirmed in my decisions to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and that you don't always have to turn to something from a bottle to fix what ails you.  That pill, whatever it may be, could have some side effects that turn out to make me more sick.

I followed Food Matters up this week with Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead:

                                                                             Source: en.wikipedia.org via Heather on Pinterest


This is a documentary that follows the story of Joe Cross, and Australian entrepreneur, and his quest to heal an autoimmune disease as well as wean himself off of several medications.

At the start you meet Joe and he is 310 lbs.  He decides to come to America and spend 60 days on a diet solely made up of juice with the help of Dr. Joel Fuhrman monitoring him.

I was a little skeptical on the outset thinking that there is no way juice could be filling enough to subsist on it for 60 days...but I was wrong.

Not only did Joe change his life he also changed those he met on his journey (he traveled across the US).

What I enjoyed about this movie is that it was more about Joe and his journey.  You don't get weighed down  in facts and percentages (which I happen to love, but it isn't for everyone) instead you get a story similar to Supersize Me.

Watching both of these movies tied in nicely together.  Food Matters teaches that the body can heal itself and then Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead shows you the body healing itself and making Joe a well man.

Both movies are available through Netflix (that's how I watched them), and I would highly recommend watching.

For more information on Food Matters please their website it is a wealth of information (you can sign up for a newsletter there and get up to date information on nutrition, natural healing, and recipes) and they have a  Facebook page as well.

Joe Cross has a website dedicated to teaching anyone who wants to learn about the benefits of juicing (complete with recipes) it is called Reboot with Joe.  In addition to that there is a Facebook page and Twitter to connect with others as well as Joe.

The opinions expressed are my own and I was not compensated by anyone or asked by anyone to provide my opinion...just did that of my own free will.

I hope you will take some time to watch one, or both, of these movies.  And if you take nothing else away remember to eat a rainbow when it comes to your fruits and veggies.

Happy Thursday to you all!

3 comments:

  1. Rachel!!!!!! You sweet woman for mentioning me in the last post! Hahahaha. I was the same way over the holidays. I've loved your last two posts. We have good eating habits here, but there is always room for improvement. For us, we eat lots of whole foods for meals and snacks. I'm always looking out for sugar. There is this billboard on the freeway close by that has a kid in a mound of sugar and it says, "kids in America are drowning in sugar." I don't doubt it. In our home I bake very little, they bake very little, we don't buy desserts really, but still it's in everything and I'm not talking natural sugar. And with church, scouts and these things it seems like the kids can always get it somewhere ya know?

    On juicing: Okay, I've been looking into juicing now for awhile because everyone is doing this!!! I've met so many people over the last couple of weeks that are on juice fasts. And if juicing really is as good for you as they say, then.... apparently there are enzymes in the juice that are digested differently in our bodies and better digested. Soooo, this also leads me to think we can get caught up in so many different things. Especially today, because we have gotten so off with our health.

    In the end I think the basics are the best. Whole, clean foods as much as possible. Little processed foods and moderate sugar. You are doing great. I love your devotion to this cause.

    Love,

    Shauna

    PS. Agreed about pills and vitamins. Want to hear something funny? When I was in the hospital they were running tests. The nurse came back and said she had never seen such great "Folic Acid" levels and congratulated me on taking my prenatals. I didn't have the courage to tell her I hadn't really taken the prenatals. But, I eat whole foods and lots of veggies. My dad's side of the family are huge into Vitamins but they are also super healthy eaters. Interesting...

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  2. Both these movies have been on my "must-see" list... you have inspired me to watch both! Thanks!

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  3. These movies sound really interesting! I'll have to see whether I can access them over here.
    I found 'A Delicate Balance' and 'Making the Connection' very inspiring. Watching these documentaries and reading 'The China Study' helped us in our decision to move to a plant-based diet. (The links for the two documentaries are on my blog under the 'video' tab... they're free to watch).
    Have a great weekend Rachel! xx

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