Netflix released a documentary called “What the Health” in 2017. Although it has been released for a while, I hadn’t watched it until recently. The eye-opening documentary talked about how diet can and will affect disease and prominent health issues in America. The film focused on how animal products, like dairy and meat, can be extremely harmful to one’s health. It suggested that a plant based diet would help America with its rising obesity, diabetes and heart condition rates.

They also explained the link between dairy products and different types of cancer. The director of the film, Kip Andersen, described how the health associations in America are sponsored by many fast food chains, meat companies, and dairy companies so they cannot advise against those types of foods.

Organizations like the American Heart Association, Susan G. Komen, and the American Diabetes Association were attacked during the film because of claims that they are more interested in their sponsors than the health of the people they stand for. Andersen proposed that eating an egg a day could be just as bad for your body as smoking five cigarettes. The film claimed that one serving of processed meats per day can raise the risk of someone getting diabetes by 51 percent. The reoccurring focus of “What the Health” was that animal products are awful for one’s body and a plant based diet is the best route to go.

Overall, I thought the documentary was very informative and I learned a lot about the dangers of a bad diet. It’s very important to do what’s best for your body and take into account the foods that you consume. Unfortunately, there were many facts in the film that after doing further research, I found to be exaggerated. So although I won’t be adopting a vegan diet into my life, this film has taught me to be more conscious of what I eat on a day to day basis.