In this case, Andersen cherry-picks studies about nutrition and often exaggerates their findings or reports them out of context, to drive home his case for veganism. What the Health is part of a genre of food documentaries (and diet books) that selectively analyze nutrition research to demonize particular foods and praise a particular diet. What the Health cherry-picks and misreports studies to make the case for veganism It confuses what’s known in science and obscures the truths of nutrition that could actually help us live healthier lives. But with messages like “drinking milk causes cancer” or “eating eggs is as bad as smoking cigarettes,” this film isn’t going to right our health problems. Most of us could stand to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat and dairy, and a plant-based diet is a healthy choice for many people. He also seeks out a slew of vegan and animal rights–friendly health professionals rather than a more balanced roster of experts, and engages in silly gotcha journalism to suggest organizations like the American Diabetes Association intentionally hide the truth about diet. He mischaracterizes and overstates what we know about how particular foods drive disease, by offering a narrow view of the science with cherry-picked studies to support his views. And there’s no doubt we are in the midst of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease epidemics driven in part by the kinds of food we eat in the quantities in which we eat them.īut Andersen’s film fails on several accounts, and cranks the food fear sirens to irresponsibly high levels.
To be sure, Andersen and co-director Keegan Kuhn’s intention was to explain the link between diet and disease and help Americans make healthier food choices. Kip Andersen in the vegan-promoting documentary What the Health. Reflecting on a youth spent inhaling hot dogs and cold cuts, he asks, “Was this like I had essentially been smoking my whole childhood?” Meat, fish, poultry, and dairy are fattening us up, giving us cancer and Type-2 diabetes, and poisoning us with toxins, Kip Andersen, the film’s co-director and star, tells us. And it involves cutting all animal products from our diet. In the spirit of so many food documentaries and diet books that have come before, What the Health promises us there is one healthy way to eat. There’s a sensational documentary out on Netflix that seems to have a lot of people talking about going vegan.