Today, I watched two documentaries—Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, and Forks over Knives.
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead was made by Joe Cross, and focuses on his 60 day juice fast to get in shape, lose weight, and battle his autoimmune disease with natural methods. Joe ditches his pills, and only eats fruit and veggie juices he makes with his mixer along with water. 60 days later, Joe was off all his medications and lost over 80 pounds. He had more energy, was happier, and thought more clearly.
Some statistics that stuck with me:
70% of all diseases are caused by our lifestyle choices.
61% of the American diet today comes from processed food (sugar, oil, flour).
Total cost of a heart attack: $56,424 USD. Total cost of juicing for 1 month: $420.
Then, I watched Forks Over Knives.
Forks over Knives supports a plant based diet, and focuses on two doctors who pioneered research in nutrition and health. They argue that meat and dairy consumption can cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and death. One of the doctors focuses on research, while the other treats patients only with a plant based diet—no drugs. The documentary follows a few real patients, who reverse and better their diseases through a whole plants diet.
Although there are some criticisms of the documentary and advice in general, for the most part, I buy their argument. I won’t get into the science of it all, but I do think as Americans, we eat too much meat and processed foods, and not enough vegetables.
Some of my favorite quotes in the movie:
Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food. -Hippocrates
“Some people think the “plant-based, whole foods diet” is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery. Some people would call that extreme.”-Dr. Cladwell Esselstyn
While watching these, Mike and I discussed what to give up for Lent. Surprisingly, he was the one who suggested we give up meat for Lent. I readily agreed. After talking for a bit, we decided we will probably take more of a flexitarian approach, and eat a serving size of meat with dinner every other night (not an entire T bone steak), and we’ll stick to chicken and fish. I may attempt to do without meat, but I want to listen to my body and see how I feel. We’ll be eating a lot more vegetables, less eggs and meat, more fruit, more legumes.We hope to buy a juicer and use that as well, but I won’t be doing any 60 day juice fast. 
To be honest, I’m a bit nervous. But I am glad someone will be doing it with me, and I know we can do it. We do have a lot of learning to do, and I am wishing Forks over Knives did more teaching. Mike has already gotten us awhole foods cookbook, and I plan on visiting Oh She Glows and lots of other blogs frequently.
If you saw these documentaries, what did you think? I have read a lot of reviews debunking the science used in Forks over Knives, and I’m interested to see if people agree/disagree with the documentary.
What’s your favorite vegan/veggie blog or recipe?
I LOVED forks over knives! It pretty much represents everything I believe and reaffirmed all of my healthy living values!! It was so well put together too! I really want to see Fat Sick and Nearly Dead! I am in love with all these health documentaries….they’re so intriguing!!
I watched FS&ND over the weekend! Loved it. Want to watch the other soon, too.
I, too, was inspired after watching the documentary! So much so that the past month I did an all-raw food detox. I have never felt better really because, though I didn’t stay raw 100% afterwards, it balanced my food choices. You are going to love being vegetarian for Lent, by the way! It has been THE best choice I have made in my life (I went veggie 1.5 years ago and I just love it!) It’s rather amazing how much MORE creative you get in the kitchen…which usually people assume the opposite because it seems so restrictive. Good luck and I cannot wait to read your Lent journey… xo, Cara
I saw that both of these documentaries are on Netflix and I cannot wait to watch them! I am trying to stick to a vegan diet during Lent (I rarely eat meat as it is) because my body has been mad at me for what I eat! My stomach has been killing me!
What a great idea! After awhile, you really won’t miss it. My sister is vegetarian, so I started eating that way too, and now I only have meat once or twice a week. I usually crave salmon, which is strange, because I’ve never been a big seafood person! I’m okay with it though, it’s good for me! I’m giving up sweets this year…I’ve been on sugar overload for far too long!
I gave up meat for Lent last year, and it just stuck! A few months ago I switched to a (mostly) vegan diet, which was actually a lot easier for me than giving up meat. It’s great that you are doing this, and even if it’s way harder than you thought, it’s only 40 days!
Peas and Thank You is definitely one of my top veggie blogs. Out of the cookbooks on my shelf, it’s the one I always reach for, and I’m not much of a recipe follower!
I haven’t watched any documentaries simply because I’m worried about being freaked out but it might be what I need. I’ve been a vegetarian for about a year and a half now and don’t plan on turning back but I haven’t given being vegan a chance. Partly because I feel like so much processing goes into vegan alternatives and I try to always choose organic dairy products. Good Luck! I’m sure you’ll do amazing!
I was vegan for a while the books “becoming vegan” was excellent and really informative I’m getting back into being super healthy mainly because it’s unbelievable how much better I feel when I’m eating really healthy stuff and getting plenty of exercise, this should be a great cleanse if sorts for you
Must check these documentaries out.
I gave up meat for lent and today I had a hamburger…got sick and threw it up! I’m no longer going to eat meat! It’s disgusting!