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I am inspired. I am motivated. I am feeling high after watching this documentary, even though it’s the fifth time I’ve seen it. When the publishers of Food Matters sent me a copy for review, I was elated because it had been on my to-do list for a long time. And, man, am I glad I saw it! I showed it to both my mom and husband and we all wholeheartedly agreed that this is a documentary we want to see a few times a year. It’s that good! Every time I see it, I hear something new. And for the stuff I’ve already heard, it just further ingrains it in my subconsciousness and I feel myself internalizing its details more and more. I walk away feeling strong, smart, and empowered about my lifestyle decisions, albeit a bit frustrated at times because not enough people know this information. That’s where YOU come in!
If you haven’t seen Food Matters yet… get to it! You can rent it on Netflix or purchase it here. Once it’s in your hot little hands – watch it multiple times! Then, be sure to share it with your family and friends. Here’s some of what you’ll learn:
- Heart disease and cancer are the top two killers in the United States annually. (That might not be breaking news to some people, but I get jolted every time I hear it.) Additionally, 39,000 people die due to unnecessary surgery and other errors in hospitals. But that’s not all! 80,000 people die due to other infections in hospitals and 106,000 people die due to adverse drug reactions.
- Less than 6% of graduating physicians in the USA receive any formal training in nutrition! Holy sh*t!! No wonder they almost never prescribe nutritional remedies to things that, er, are 100% curable with nutrition. It just pains me every time I hear this.
I pretty much hang on every line of Food Matters. I love the discussion of vitamins and the vital role they can play in helping fight illness at various quantities. It was fascinating to learn about therapeutic effects of niacin, and its history as a cure for depression with the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s important to recognize that vitamins enable the body to heal, it’s not the vitamins doing the healing. The body is powerful when given the right tools and building blocks.
The documentary also covers eye-opening, scary information about drugs, their trials, studies, and regulatory approval process. You’re not going to hear drug companies telling you that “two handfuls of cashews can give you the same therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac.” No wonder I love Raw vegan cheesecake.
Food Matters also addresses the fact that cardiovascular disease is a lifestyle disease which can be reversed with… drumroll please… DIET, FOOD, NUTRIENTS, STRESS REDUCTION, EXERCISE. Again, this is not rocket science. It’s a simple formula that we can all apply. (Ehem! I hope my dad is reading my blog.) The scary aspect of it is the dependance on physicians who are viewed as omniscient, but who lack nutrition education, such as two physicians I heard last week on CNN and MSNBC about how heart disease “can’t be cured.” They don’t know!! Instead, they are knowledgeable only about drugs, and educated by the drug companies themselves. Something is very wrong with that picture. But, of course, this isn’t generally known to the public because:
- Most doctors are not trained to the know this information.
- There is no profit prescribing fruits and veggies. Drug companies have a duty to shareholders, and I get that. But, guess what? I have a duty to myself. So take that drug companies!
It was gripping learning about the amazing success of Gerson Therapy with some forms of cancer. Why aren’t more oncologists recommending this? My Nana died of malignant melanoma, where Gerson Therapy has been particularly effective. Why didn’t my Nana’s doctor tell her about this amazing vitamin-megadosing, nutritional option? Because they didn’t know about it!… Why not? Because they aren’t taught about it, and frankly, many physicians are not open to natural therapies, even though that’s how the body works. I wish I had known back then what I know now, because my grandmother would’ve been open to that form of therapy. I don’t want to come off too hard on doctors because I do recognize that there is a place for them and hospitals. They’re excellent in many aspects of medicine (acute illnesses, traumas, surgery, etc.) but they are systematically failing at helping us with many chronic diseases because they treat symptoms instead of underlying causes. The bottom line is, despite decades of research and new drugs, that the incidence of diseases like heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, cancer, obesity, diabetes… they’re going up. It’s sadly laughable to look at the money spent on the “war on cancer” and its failure to reduce cancer rates or deaths. I just wish more professionals would talk about how a healthy plant-strong lifestyle is helpful at fighting cancer and preventing it. It’s worked for so many already, and for those of us who don’t have that diagnosis of cancer, let’s do everything we can to prevent it. Go Plants!
Food does matter. Our bodies are powerful if only we’ll give them a chance to be strong with healthy, organic plant-based foods. So, choose those! Stack the deck in your favor! Set yourself up to win! Strengthen your immune system nutritionally! Nourish yourself with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients! Watch Food Matters and get FIRED UP about this awesome lifestyle!
Here is a great song they featured in Food Matters. Check out the lyrics here and sing along as you listen.
Here is a trailer for Food Matters.
Have you seen Food Matters? What did you think?
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. 
