What The Health.

Since this debatable documentary made its debut on Netflix back in June, social media has been set ablaze with conversations about the eye-opening nature of the film.

More importantly, hordes of people, including myself, have been motivated to test out vegetarian or vegan diets due to the project's extreme opposition to all meat-based foods.

The newest documentary from directors Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn, who premiered their first documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, back in 2014, follows their journey as they discover the answers to some of the most confusing, misleading and often deceptive information that can be found out about the working relationship between the healthcare, government, pharmaceutical and food industries.

Over the past two months, the film has received praise for its focus on pushing people to think more consciously about the foods that we eat, and the consequences of indulging in diets that are not beneficial to us. On the other hand, the flick has gained a ton of flack for its exaggerated claims, lack of certified academic resources and its overarching agenda to inspire all viewers to adopt a plant-based vegan diet.

As a viewer of the documentary myself, I can see how the statistics and suggestions are easy to believe due to Kip's persuasive technique of citing specific studies and interviewing a handful of clinical researchers and doctors, who have their respective views on dieting and healthcare. By throwing alarming numbers at us, he feeds our fears as our eyes are opened to the possibility that we've been eating our way to an early death for years now. By the end of the film, we're left conflicted as we wonder if we're going to pursue a change to our diets, or act like we didn't watch the film at all.

Before we continue, let's get one thing straight—even though I've transitioned to seeing what a diet without animal-based products feels like, I'm not out here scolding my friends who continue to stand strong in stating that they'll continue eating whatever makes them happy. I understand because the fact remains that there is so much information to be found out about the foods we receive and eat that I feel it's somewhat impossible to truly ever know what in the world is going on.

However, the main benefits I've received from watching the film is an improved sense of incorporating more fruits, vegetables and grains into my diet than I was doing before. During my vegan-in-training experiment, I felt healthier overall after replacing some of the heavier foods I used to eat with more greens and healthy snacks that we typically don't run to when we're younger. Like others who have gone the same route, I know it's going to take longer than a month or two to truly understand how I feel about this change in lifestyle, but the truth is that I feel good now and by taking it even more seriously, I believe I'll feel great.

Whether or not you decide to eat a more balanced diet, stop eating meat overall, or choose not to ride the wave and rather stick to what you've grown to love, people letting go of some of their favorite foods has become the latest trend. As an ode to a few of our favorite meals and items we've grown fond of, let's reminisce about the tasty goodness we once found in these "6 Favorite Foods We'll Miss Because Of What The Health."

1. Chicken

You know I had to start with this one. Why? Because it hurts. Like, seriously. You're telling me that there is no type of chicken that I can eat without worrying about how it will hurt me in the long run? There are numerous ways to cook chicken and I love all of them—fried chicken, baked chicken, grilled chicken, braised chicken, sautéed chicken and definitely curry chicken (shout out to all my West Indians!)

In this film, we're drastically told that 1 serving of processed meat per day increases our chances of having diabetes by 51 percent. That's definitely false and way too high of a number to even be believable. However, this "fact" is backed up by the note that 17 million people die yearly from heart disease, and that the high levels of sodium and carcinogens found in chicken and other meat products will lead to our demise. When you think about it, the purchase and consumption of chicken is one of the biggest money makers for the food and government industries. We're introduced to chicken as toddlers and the large majority of us rarely stray from it. It makes sense that eating chicken is targeted in the film and I do agree that we shouldn't be as dependent on it as we are, since we often cite it as a source of protein. Nonetheless, letting chicken go is like losing your best friend.

2. Turkey

Yes, turkey falls into the label of poultry we're advised to turn away from, so it's got to go too.Whether it's baked turkey, grilled turkey or deep fried turkey, it just won't do because it's an animal, which means it doesn't fit into the plant-based diet we're encouraged to adopt. Most people tend to think turkey is a fairly healthy option, as it possesses less fat than other variations of meat, but the verdict is still out on how it may play a part in this scheme.

What will I be thankful for this Thanksgiving? Not the fact that I have to give up turkey, that's for sure.

WH.gov

3. Fish

Now, this one is hard to let go of. After I graduated college and transitioned to adulting, I instantly went to tilapia anytime I felt like eating some fish. Why? It was cheap and easy to season (pass the Lawry's). However, I eventually learned the negatives about tilapia such as how it's often farm raised (bad sign), lacks essential nutrients, is typically fed animal waste and other byproducts in farms and contains acids that are linked to increasing the risk of diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Since then, I bossed up to the goodness that is salmon. While watching the movie, clinical researchers and doctors advised that basically all fish is bad.

HBO

I know, it's hard to believe, especially since you thought you were doing everything right. Did you buy your fish from a store well known for its fresh and trusted produce? Yes. Did you make sure that you bought wild caught instead of farm raised? Sure did. Well, the sources we hear from in the documentary advise that nearly all fish contain high amounts of mercury, saturated fat and cholesterol. Also, they possess PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls), industrial chemicals that were once manufactured for decades, have since been banned, and have shown to negatively affect our health in terms of exposing us to cancers and other immune diseases.

Ultimately, we're advised that we should just leave all fish under the sea where we found them because they're simply exposed to too many chemicals and far too much waste. As an avid seafood lover, I've wrestled with this claim because I've always seen fish as a good source of nutrients (omega-3 fatty acids ring a bell?) based off of what was once told to me. Now, I just don't know what to believe. Seems fishy…

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4. Bacon

OK, I get it. If I stay away from regular pork bacon and replace it with turkey bacon, I'll be fine right? Wrong again. Turkey bacon is still a processed meat as well, so based off of the World Health Organization's 2015 review that eating processed meat does increase the risk of colorectal cancer, it's gotta go. This one is heart-wrenching because unless you burn it to a crisp, there is no way you can mess up bacon. When I traveled to Toronto last year, I had the glory of eating some Canadian bacon dripped in maple syrup. Let me tell you—that bacon tasted like it came straight from the heavens. Every time I think about the bacon prototype, I think of that exact dish. Before watching the documentary, I thought I did well by trading in the pork for the turkey, but ultimately, I played myself. Even though I can survive without it, the love for what was once one of my favorite foods will always be there.

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5. Dairy

The film shines a light on the dairy industry and how we shouldn't be tricked into consuming it as much as we do. We're told that 73 percent of African-Americans are lactose intolerant (seriously?) and that the intake of dairy leads to many autoimmune diseases that could be avoidable. Also, they tell us that livestock and animals that are the main sources of dairy tend to eat the most genetical modified organisms (GMOs). From the filmmaker's perspective, we're supposed to see that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) encourages people to eat and drink dairy in order to help keep the lucrative business going for farmers. Additionally, we're shown videos and snippets of how the milk and cheeses we so love contain mixtures of saturated fats, salt, cow pus and other non-pleasing toxins to our body. Lastly, the film even addresses the continuous discussion about whether milk positively or negatively affects bone strength. Overall, I think we can all agree that the images and videos we see depicting the startling conditions livestock are housed in on farms nationwide have already made us question our dairy intake, but with dairy allegedly being labeled as the number one source of saturated fat, any viewer feels inclined to get rid of it entirely.

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6. Eggs

Due to the links to high cholesterol, eating an egg a day is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes. For real?

I steer clear of the tobacco industry, so never in my life did I think I'd be guilty of causing harm to my body that's just as bad as smoking. Like doctors tend to suggest, I view breakfast as the most important meal of the day. For years, I've loved waking up on a nice Saturday morning to cook some eggs and bacon, drink some orange juice and watch some TV before tending to my day. But because of this statement, I'm bound to question if I should keep eggs around or not. Numerous articles and reviews of the documentary have gone on to say that this falls in line with the other absurd claims, but with the never-ending debate about egg yolks, egg whites and everything eggs, I may just have to let it go.

Overall, these six items emerge as the main foods targeted in What The Health as they have served as cornerstones of our typical diet for most of our lives. Despite the back and forth of what truth there is to the many claims and facts stated throughout the documentary, we should all strive to eat healthier for the benefits we can provide to our health and futures in the long-term. As stated at the start, I definitely don't take everything I saw in the film as a fact, as I believe that there is much more valid and concrete information to be found out there. However, I'll continue taking strides to eliminate common foods that I've eaten before simply because it's all I've known. As we get older, we all have to make changes to our diet in order to maintain our health and positively impact our chances of living longer lives. The question is: Are you down or nah?

what the health

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