Movie Recommendations

Average Joe on the Raw

Thirty-year-old Seth looked in the mirror and made a serious self-evaluation. He didn’t feel he was living up to his potential. Although he was feeling fine physically,he decided to make a radical shift in his dietary habits, and go fully raw for sixty days. This film documents the journey from start to finish. Like Joe Cross of “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead,” Seth went to the doctor before embarking on the change to get a baseline assessment. Many indicators were below normal levels, and his testosterone was so low that it qualified as hypogonadism. Seth wisely sought help from coaches and experts, several of whom appear in the film to offer support, advice, and culinary expertise. In addition to healthy eating, Seth also began a regimen of regular exercise. Even though the film has a home-made quality to it (Seth’s brother was the cameraman), it was nonetheless educational, entertaining, and very watchable. I was really interested to see what the test results were going to be at the end, and how his doctor was going to react. I won’t give away the ending! (Mark Eyer)

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Forks Over Knives

This excellent documentary examines the profound claim that “most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.”Lee Eisenberg says:

By now, there have been a number of documentaries about the health disaster that is the all-American diet. Lee Fulkerson’s “Forks Over Knives” makes the case that simply switching from an animal-based diet to a plant-based one is the best thing that one can do not only for himself but also for the planet. Much of the documentary focuses on the work of Drs. Caldwell Esselstyn and Colin Campbell, who have researched the health effects of different foods over the years. It should come as no surprise that the increased processing of foods after WWII led to more heart disease and cancer. The documentary doesn’t simply preach. It even has a disclaimer at the beginning noting that it should not be interpreted as a substitute for a doctor’s recommendation. It’s just a warning about the deleterious effects of the western diet, especially with all the chemicals and antibiotics pumped into the food nowadays. As Bill Maher says in some footage, “The answer is not another pill. The answer is spinach.”

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding that agribusiness produces food that is unhealthy, in a way that is environmentally harmful and abusive of both animals and employees. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser.

PBS featured this film on POV, saying:

“Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli — the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.”

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days

This is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, uncooked food in order to reverse disease without pharmaceutical medication. The six are challenged to give up meat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days. The film follows each participant’s remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this radical diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives.

The film highlights each of the six before they begin the program and we first meet them in their home environment with their families. Each participant speaks candidly about their struggle to manage their diabetes and how it has affected every aspect of their life, from work to home to their relationships.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope and the end of his hope. In the mirror he saw a 310lb man whose gut was bigger than a beach ball and a path laid out before him that wouldn’t end well- with one foot already in the grave, the other wasn’t far behind. Fat, Sick & Nearly DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body’s ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days.

Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle. While talking to more than 500 Americans about food, health and longevity, it’s at a truck stop in Arizona where Joe meets a truck driver who suffers from the same rare condition. Phil Staples is morbidly obese weighing in at 429 lbs; a cheeseburger away from a heart-attack. As Joe is recovering his health, Phil begins his own epic journey to get well. What emerges is nothing short of amazing – an inspiring tale of healing and human connection. Part road trip, part self-help manifesto, FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD defies the traditional documentary format to present an unconventional and uplifting story of two men from different worlds who each realize that the only person who can save them is themselves.