Food Choices | How Your Diet Affects Your Health | Health & Wellness | FULL DOCUMENTARY

(techno music with a strong beat) - [Voiceover] Our planet faces a lot of problems. But in some parts of the world, people live in a time of over-consumption, abundance of food, and an eagerness to be fit and healthy. The supermarket is overflowing with options. But despite that, we are Poorly advised in nutrition, and easily vulnerable to misinformation, and unreliable slogans, inaccurate health promises, and colorful tempting packages are cluttering our relationship with food, and risking our well-being. We are bombarded by conflicting information about food, diets And supplements. So how can we know what's best for us?

Which foods improve health, and which ones can potentially promote disease. I have struggled with these questions for a long time. And it has been a challenge to find a diet that would help me achieve my health goals. After trying several new diets over the years, I decided to change my lifestyle, by simply incorporating lots of plant-based foods into my diet. So far, it has worked for me. I lost 50 pounds, brought my blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol under control, And overall, felt really good. But it was a work in progress, and I still had

many questions and concerns about nutrition and living this plant-based lifestyle for the long run, especially now with a recent addition to our family, I felt that I really needed to find answers. So I decided to go on a journey, to search for the truth, and to uncover Many of the myths surrounding food. For three years, I traveled across the country, and interviewed the world's top authorities on the subject, as well as people that had experienced amazing, life changing benefits through healthy eating. All to explore the idea of what is the healthiest and most sustainable diet

for ourselves, Future generations, and our planet. So join me on this journey of shocking discoveries, and buckle up, because what you're about to learn might forever change the way you look at the food on your plate. (hum of airplane engine) - Well, there's a lot of difference of opinion about it, and there's A faction of people who insist that there are different diets for different people. But I think that the evidence is fairly clear that that's not true, and there really is an appropriate diet for humans, just like there's a best diet for cats, dogs,

elephants, and any other mammal. And the best diet for humans is one that is plant-based, almost all calories coming from four principle food groups, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. It's low in fat, high in fiber. Not very much processed food, none is great, but in today's world, I don't know how realistic that is. - What we have seen in Nutrition for many, many years, I must say, is a lot of confusion. You go and survey people, you know, outside of the science, and ask them what do they think that nutrition is, and you can

hear all kinds of comments. I eat this, and I eat that, and this is good, and this is not good. There's also confusion in the professions. You know, medical doctors are not trained in this field. And there's confusion in my own field. You know, about medical research. We don't get an opportunity, to tell, you know, the real science I think, the way it should be told. Because we're overwhelmed, with the corporate sector trying to sell stuff. - We are living in extreme times. Where we have 27% of people dying of heart disease, 25% of cancer,

10% of stroke, four or five percent from diabetes, the same number for Alzheimer's. I mean, these are, In many, many cases, diseases of nutritional ignorance, and diseases that are all based on our lifestyle choices. - There are a lot of different dietary theories out there, but I think one fact is kind of indisputable. Having a diet that is rich in whole plant-based foods, is truly a great way to get you to good health. - Everywhere I go around the world, there's not a single person I've met that doesn't know that fruits and vegetables are good

for them. We all know it. It's not about the knowing, it's about the doing. - There was a time when there was no heart disease. No colon cancer, no breast cancer, no multiple sclerosis, No inflammatory arthritis. Of course these days, in Asia, the Middle East, in Central America, and around the world, people have become rich. They have given up much of their starch, and they replaced it with meat and dairy. Throughout history, rich people, the royalty, the pharaohs, the Queens and the kings, the priests, the priestesses, the people that could afford to eat the meat.

They had artery disease, they had obesity, they were sick. Nothing's changed except for the number of kings and queens living in the world. - [Voiceover] A question kept coming to my mind. If plant foods are so good for us, and the consumption of animal products in excess appears to do us harm, how about the ancient populations of people that survived on diets based off mostly meat, eggs and dairy, and appeared to be healthy? After all, aren't we known for being hunter-gatherers? - All large, successful populations of people have gotten the bulk of their calories from

starch, rice, corn, potatoes, and other starches, breads and so on. Particularly when you live near the equator, as you move north and south in latitude, then you end up eating More animal foods. And if you get far north, like for example, the Inuit Eskimos, they are largely carnivores, because that's what's available. But that's a small population of people that exists on the extremes of the environment. That's the exception, not the rule. - We have become The most successful species on this planet. No one comes close to us. We share it with animals, and insects, and

microbes, and plants, but we're number one. And the way we got to number one was all about survival. We see in color, I believe, because fruits and vegetables are colorful. Our hand is perfectly Designed to pick, forge, grab and dig, peel, and feed ourselves fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds, plant food, food made by mother nature. - This idea that we're hunter-gatherers, is true, we're hunter-gatherers. But mostly, we've been gatherers. One of the problems Has to do with sexism. It has to do with the fact that the gatherers were grandparents, women, and children. The

hunters were men, and they got the glory. The people who really provided the bulk of the calories, for most of the civilizations, through all verifiable Human history, have been the women, children and grandparents. - [Voiceover] Even when I began considering the idea of eating mostly a plant-based diet, I was still hounded with many questions. How was I going to be able to live without animal foods? I didn't want to become nutrient deficient. And how about things Like protein, calcium, and omega 3's? In my head, I always associated these nutrients with animal foods. I needed to

find out if those were valid concerns, or simply myths. - It's almost impossible to design a protein deficient diet surrounding, you know, a variety of whole plant foods. - What people need to know is there's never been a case of protein deficiency ever described in the world literature, on any natural diet, that met the sufficient amount of calories. - You know, back to 1839 when protein was discovered, it had this incredible reverence Associated with it, and it just gained traction. But the evidence is very clear that humans do not need to eat a lot of

protein, and when they do, they get a lot of health problems as a result. I mean human protein needs are just a tiny percentage of calories, maybe two and a half, three percent of calories. And if you were to Eat the lowest protein foods, in the plant world, which would be foods like rice, you're at eight or nine percent protein. So you're not going to become protein deficient. But, the promoters of the low-carb diets, the promoters of the sports drinks, and the food bars, and All these kinds of things, insist and market to the public

that they absolutely must have more protein. It's just not true. In practical sense, and in reality, the way we humans operate, we get ideal loads of protein if we just get it from plants. When we consume animal foods, To get that protein, if you will, what we're actually doing, we're displacing, the consumption of those foods that matter. And foods that matter are plants. - The amount of animal protein we eat is the problem. You know, in rural China, And Japanese populations, and healthier places in the world, people eat a little bit of animal protein, but

for economic reasons, it's very, very, very tiny. They use one little piece of meat, they slice it up, and it seasons a dish for eight people. Here in this country, we have one gargantuan piece of meat, we put it on a plate, with a tiny little bit of vegetables, we call that a meal. The problem is that when you eat too much protein, of any type, you stress your kidneys, you stress your liver, and when it's animal protein, you increase your risk of cancer. And we see cancer is Geographically distributed. The more animal food consumed

in a society, the more cancer, more heart disease, you get. - And it's amazing all the animals that we choose in this country to eat for protein and calcium, are vegetarian animals. Where's the logic in that? And I always like To remind you, also, when you're eating your garbage, you never ask , "Where am I getting my protein, "and my calcium." It's only when you come into the healthy world that all of a sudden you're concerned with where it's coming from. - We're in the midst of this amazing protein push. Everywhere you look, the message

is clear. Protein, protein, protein. This idea that you need massive amounts of protein, to simply breathe air in and out of your lungs, you know, and to be healthy, or to perform as an athlete. - Prior to making this dietary change, Like my main nutritional strategy in a day was to see how many grams of protein I could get in, like about that, the only calculations I ever really did, I didn't count calories, I didn't count anything, was just like trying to get in exorbitant amounts of grams of protein in my day. Just because there

Are grams of protein on the nutritional content of something, doesn't mean that your body can actually process all of those grams. - Protein does some other things. It elevates blood cholesterol levels, which most people have not heard of. But that's about 100 Years old, that idea. And then repeated several times, but always ignored. Animal protein starts heart disease. It increases things like the production of so called free radicals, which are those highly reactive molecules that actually stimulate aging, and encourages cancer formation. It also stimulates the Production of the wrong kind of hormones. It tends to

increase the level of estrogens, for example, and one, which in turn, is associated with breast cancer. It changes the microflora in our intestine when we're consuming too much protein. I mean, it does all these things. - There's lots of things we have to worry about in the American diet. Fiber, 97% of Americans don't reach the daily minimum intake of fiber, 98% of Americans don't reach the daily minimum intake of potassium, for example. The nutrients of concern for most Americans are the ones that are found in plant foods. Mostly fruits and vegetables, and the ones that

we're getting too much of, in excess, whether it's calorie, sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, are found in processed foods and animal foods in general. - [Voiceover] Many people decide they want to improve their health, by staying away from red meat. And instead, they begin consuming more white meats, like chicken, turkey, and fish. I always wondered if certain types of meats were really better than others. - People think that they're going to be healthy By giving up red meat, and instead, eating poulty and fish. Stop and think about this for a minute. What are meat, poultry and

fish? They're muscles of animals. In one case, they have to move a limb, another case, they flap a wing, in another case, they wiggle a tail. They're the same. High fat, high protein, high cholesterol, no dietary fiber, high in the food chain, so heavily polluted. - From the standpoint of the effect of the protein and fat in those foods, and their effect on health, it really doesn't matter. It's dose dependent, not type dependent. So fish is not Healthier, in many cases, it has more fat, than chicken and pork. But you have other issues with fish,

too. In the ocean, you have this whole hierarchy of things eating things, that eat things, that eat things. And so you concentrate all the pollutants in the ocean including mercury, in fish like tuna, That are some of the favorite that we like to eat. So fish is really not healthier. Don't kid yourself in thinking that if you're eating fish and chicken you can eat more of it. Because one thing in common with these healthy populations around the world that do eat a little bit of animal food, Whatever type they're choosing, it's really a tiny, tiny

percentage of what they're eating in their diet. So fish doesn't get a free pass. A lot of people are being told to eat fish, by cardiologists, or to take fish oil. That's the other thing. By cardiologists who Say that if you do that, you'll increase your HDL cholesterol, and here's the problem with that. It's true, by the way. It just doesn't make any difference. Studies are pretty clear that in populations with very low incidence of heart disease, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol are very, very low. So that's the wrong reason to eat fish,

or take fish oil capsules, is to increase your HDL cholesterol. Work on getting all your cholesterol low. - [Voiceover] Since I was a kid, I always heard that milk was a very important food. And I consumed a lot of it. I also loved all kinds of dairy products, cheeses, butters, ice creams, yogurts, you name it, I had it all. It took me many years to begin realizing that perhaps that was not such a great idea. But I still wondered. How about calcium? Would I be able to get Enough of it from plants? - Well, we

have a lot of calcium in dairy. But it's never been a problem to have too low calcium in a diet. - An orange has a 110 milligrams of calcium. Alright, so if you're trying to take in 1500 milligrams a day, that doesn't sound like so much, but when you're only trying to get 500, It sounds pretty good as a percentage of your daily intake. - Milk is healthy food, for calves. For baby cows. I mean, milk is for babies, literally. I mean, we're the only species that drinks milk of another species, and then the only

species that drinks milk after weaning Into adulthood. Why is milk associated with increased prostate cancer risk, for example. Well, what is milk? Milk is a cocktail of growth hormones to get a little bovine animal, who's you know, who's susceptible to predation out on the African Savannah, to, you know, put on a few hundred pounds in a few months, right, Because they don't want to get eaten by a lion. And so it's engineered as this growth food for rapid growth, which is great if you're a little baby cow, but if you're an adult person, that extra

growth hormones is not a good thing. You know, one of the hardest things for people To give up is dairy, and they're sometimes really resistant to it, so one of the things I tell people is, "Well, why don't you look at the evidence "and then decide." Because I've always said taking control of your health, is not doing what I say instead of what other people say, taking Control of your health is looking at the information and making a conscious choice, about what you want to do. - Dairy products I describe as liquid meat. They're basically

just like red meat. High fat, high cholesterol, no fiber, in fact, they may Be worse than meat. - The casein that they use to bind the cheese is so full of chemicals. The chemicals are as addictive as heroin, that we don't have four stomachs like a baby calf, and unfortunately, it is in everything. They put cow secretions, I know you have other names for it, dairy, butter, ice cream, cheese. But it's really breast Milk from a cow. - The only reason people think we need extra calcium is because two decades ago scientists, they raised the

bar on how much calcium we needed. That in turn was influenced by the dairy industry. What they're really saying is, "We're not drinking "enough milk." Because that's what the dairy industry wants us to say. When in reality, if you look at the relationship between how much calcium that people consume, in different societies, as it relates to, let's say, osteoporosis, the bone disease, the higher the calcium intake, the higher the risk Of osteoporosis. No one wants to hear that. But that's what the datas show. - [Voiceover] What goes on inside an egg during incubation? Well, after

a week, the eye shows up clearly in the embryo, as the first external organ to develop. Gestation is much further advanced at ten days. The chick's outline Is more pronounced as other organs begin to form. At 14 days, you can see the shape of the chick. The contents of the egg provide nourishment during the incubation period. - [Voiceover] Most people can't imagine starting their day without eggs. It's the favorite breakfast option around the world. And eggs make their Way everywhere, in breads, cakes, candies, dressings, and even drinks. Eggs have played an important role in our

foraging ancestors creation and survival. Overall, eggs are regarded as a healthy food, rich in protein, minerals and fats. But in today's world, are eggs Really a good food choice? I was shocked to discover the mounting amount of scientific evidence showing that eggs and especially commercial eggs might not be the healthy food that we all once thought it to be. - Eggs are the most concentrated source of dietary cholesterol, in the average person's diet. And dietary cholesterol can lead to an increase in blood cholesterol levels, which is the leading risk factor for our number one killer

of men and women, heart disease. - Eggs have kind of the same issue as dairy in some ways, because commercial eggs are from chickens that are commercially raised, So, if you ever knew how they were raised, it's horrible, you would never go near it once. So, it's disgusting, but aside from the disgustingness of it, commercial chickens are fed antibiotics, to keep them bigger, it makes them bigger, cephalosporin, to be specific. They are fed feed that's Usually corn and soy, genetically modified, so BT toxin, corn, roundup ready corn, roundup ready soy. So those are effecting again

the bacteria and the microbiome of the chicken, and then, of you, because you're ingesting it, it's bio-accumulative. A commercial chicken leg is mostly omega 6, it's not omega 3, so it's a horrible polyetceteric profile, and that's you know, the least of the problems. Because, like I said, you've got the residue from glyphosate and BT toxin, and pesticides. - [Voiceover] The next nutrients on my list were omega 3 fatty acids. Who hasn't heard about Fish oil capsules? And their supposedly great health benefits. There seems to be a lot of controversy on this topic. I was curious

to find out how much of these fats we needed to stay healthy. And how would someone get them, if they didn't eat fish. - A lot of these silly dietary Fads become an industry. There's a lot of money to be made, making products that cater to them, and that sort of thing, and I'm convinced that's the omega 3 thing. Okay, so here's the deal. There are two essential fatty acids. Omega 3's and 6's. All the rest of them, your body synthesizes, Essential means must come from food. Alright, so we find omega 3 fatty acids in

foods like seafood, walnuts, flax seeds, some soy, alright. And then we find omega 6 fatty acids in land animals, chicken, pork, beef, and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. And so you can see What our problem is, we eat a lot of omega 6 fatty acids. And in fact the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids used to be between one to one, and one to four. You know what it is today? Between one to twenty five, and one to thirty. So this has led a lot of people to say, "My gosh, this is so out

of whack. "Omega 6 is up here, and omega 3 is down here. "Maybe what we ought to do is take "omega 3 fatty acid pills, fish oil pills, "and encourage fish eating to get that "omega 3 back up to that ratio that we have "been accustomed to as a population." Okay, there's no evidence that it works, in fact a large meta-analysis that looked at 89 studies showed that it didn't make any difference in health outcomes, but besides that, wouldn't it be better to lower the omega 6 Fatty acid in the diet, stop eating all those

land animals, stop consuming all that plant oil, and the ratio goes back to normal. So let's not supplement with omega 3, let's ratchet down omega 6, and we end up where we need to be. There's no money in the decreasing omega 6. There's a lot of money in selling people omega 3 pills. And getting them to eat fish. - In fact, when you take a supplement omega 3's, we've got some really good evidence now. Summarizing a lot of studies. The higher the use of omeg 3's, the higher is the risk for type II diabetes. And

even there's evidence that cancer goes up, too. It does exactly the opposite Of what people think it does. It's disgusting. It's one of those ridiculous things. - Early on, there was data suggesting that it might be beneficial, but now, the preponderance of evidence is that fish oil is useless, so there's this billion dollar industry that's Basically selling people fish oil as snake oil. - [Voiceover] For many guys, eating a diet rich in meat is seen as a reflection of their manhood, and associated with being strong and manly. I felt the same way for most of

my life. So I was really surprised to come across studies that showed that such a diet might actually Have the contrary effect in the long run. - Here they are eating the meat that's going to make them macho, right? It has the opposite effect. That's not being very macho to have erectile dysfunction. - It's all about blood flow, they even say it in the Cialis, and Viagra commercials. So, if your arteries are clogged, With cheese and dairy and meat, and bacon and all this bullshit, what's the main vein? Come on, it's simple science, man. -

It's unquestionable that men think that they have to eat a lot of protein and that eating a plant-based diet may not be really masculine. But I'll tell you what's Really not masculine, is erectile dysfunction. If you want to be virile, if you want to have a great masculine life, eat a plant-based diet. There is a great deal of evidence that erectile dysfunction is caused by diet in many instances. And the reason is, that if you have coronary artery disease, in one area of the body, You have it everywhere. So those very tiny blood vessels that

lead to the penis, are some of the first to get effected, and so erectile dysfunction has been referred to as the canary in the coal mine. It's the sign that something is terribly wrong, and you need to fix It, and at that stage, it's much more fixable than if you've already had the heart attack, or the stroke, or something really serious happen. - [Voiceover] Obesity is linked to more than 60 chronic diseases, and it is common knowledge that there is an epidemic of obesity around the world. Today, two thirds of Adults, and nearly one third

of children in America struggle with it. It seems like in the last 30 years, human waist lines have simply grown out of proportion. And if obesity rates stay consistent, by 2030, 51% of the American population could potentially be obese. - As far as dieting, Or losing weight, people take two approaches that don't work for the long term. And so of course they say diets don't work. One approach is they try and starve themselves, and be hungry all the time. These are portion controlled diets, typical diets that people follow. They don't work because You're hungry all

the time, you can't tolerate that kind of pain. The alternative is the make yourself sick diets. And those are the high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diets. - [Voiceover] Over the last few decades, there has been an explosion of commercial diets in the U.S. Most of them revolving around the idea that eating few carbs, and lots of animal protein helps with weight loss, all orchestrated by multi-million dollar, ingenious advertising campaigns and celebrity endorsements. As a result, nowadays, most people associate carbs with weight gain. For many years, I worked Really hard to cut my carbs, without

any long term results, and without fully understanding why I was doing it. I wanted to find out what the latest science had to say about these low carb diets. - Rob Atkins, some years ago, in 1973, published his first book, In which he argued that it's not the problem with the fat, it's not the problem with the protein, but mostly fat, he said that's not the problem, the problem is we consume too much carbohydrate. And he made that point, we should be consuming low carb diet, he said. And then many other people wrote the same

thing. The South Beach diet, Is only a copycat, for the most part, of the Atkins diet. The Zone diet is basically a copycat, different name. The Blood type diet in many regards is also a copycat. Good Calories Bad Calories, Dairy 12, same thing. Even Marco Paleo, and I have to say, Omnivore's dilemma. And the Paleo diet in this day and time is a copycat. They may give it different names, they may try to throw out you know, different types of arguments for why that's right, they're all wrong. - Everybody wants to hear good news about

their bad habits. So when you tell people you can eat all the lobster you want, you can have steak, and eggs, and you know, Some include dairy, some don't include dairy, but that's sounds good to people, because it sounds less restrictive. - This is written by people, I should tell you, who don't have experience in this field of nutrition research, period. Most of them have never even published A single paper into scientific literature. - Some of the people who are talking about low carb diets are little better than news reporters, and that's not to take

anything away from their skill at investigating things, but they cannot don't have the skills to evaluate scientific information. - Low carb diets, they make you sick. And as a result, your whole body gets sick, with artery disease, and kidney damage, liver damage and so on. They increase mortality, that's been shown over and over again in major studies. But they also make you sick in a way that you lose your appetite. The dieter goes, "Oh, I've finally found it." And then you go into ketosis, you lost your appetite, as a result, you're able to sustain yourself

without thinking about food all the time. Because you're sick. These diets are dangerous, and people should not be on them. - Well, you know, the Biggest lies in the world are the ones that have a little truth. We all know that. It's a great tactic. It's true, I happen to agree, that we should cut down on simple carbohydrates. You see, that's out of context to the whole. You know, sugar, white flour. That makes sense. So in that sense, There's a little truth. But they don't always point that out. They just say, low carb, low carb,

low carb. - Listen, forget about what you like and dislike, think about what your objective is. Alright, let's just acknowledge we all like eating junk food. If you put chocolate in front of me today, I'll have some, right, but that doesn't lead to health. - [Voiceover] I personally knew several people who experienced amazing healing and health benefits after adopting some kind some kind of a plant-based diet, including myself. But at the same time, I had also met others who are still experiencing health issues, or were struggling with their weight, after adopting this lifestyle, some for

many years. So it made me wonder. Was there a flaw in this diet? - First vegetarian that I knew well about 40 years ago, was actually a vegan he was a very strict vegetarian, He lived on Coca Cola and potato chips. He was fat, greasy, and unhealthy. So being a vegetarian means really nothing to me. - 90% of the vegetarians are still consuming dairy. 90%. And they also consume sometimes some fish, and sometimes some chicken, And eggs, and so forth. The nutrient composition of the vegetarian diet is not very different from the non-vegetarian. So, as

a result, if you compare the health of vegetarians, with non-vegetarians, you can't expect to see very much. - But somebody's decided they're going to be vegan, in other words eat no Animal foods, they've made a declaration as to their physical and mental strength, and their interest, and their willingness to work hard. After all, if you become vegan, you have to stand up to your mother-in-law, and your doctor or your dietitian, you have to, quote, risk protein and calcium deficiency, Even though that's not true. But the problem is that too many vegans they don't look good.

They're overweight, they're unhealthy looking. - I don't really like to use the words vegan and vegetarian because, that's not describing the kind of science I'm talking about. - I would call myself a Fat vegan when I first started out, that's exactly what I was, and I was trying to tell everyone how great this lifestyle is, and it saved me, and it reversed my heart disease. But yet, I was still walking around, about 75 pounds to a hundred pounds overweight. - Now why is Somebody a fat vegan? Not because they give up the animal foods. That's

a good thing, you need to give up the animal foods. But what they haven't given up is the oil. The olive oil, the other vegetable oils, the fat you eat is the fat you wear, whether it comes from a plant, or an animal. - So, I made the change. I removed the foods in my diet that were empty calories, the oils and the fats, the sugars, the processed foods, the food additives that kept me coming back for more, those companies add those things purposely to get us to not eat just one potato chip. We need

the whole bag. There's millions of overweight people in this country, and they're all struggling, trying this diet, or that diet, and they try this diet for a week, or that diet for a week, and they're spending a lot of money on all these different diet programs, and pills, and supplements, and adding things To their diet to lose weight, or to get healthy, and that's where we need to realize that a whole foods plant-based diet is free, there's no shakes, there's no bars, there's no powders, there's no counting calories, we eat until we're full and satisfied,

and stop. And that's it. - [Voiceover] As much as I liked the idea of eating exclusively a plant-based diet, especially since it had worked for me, I wanted this film to be very accurate with the latest science on food. So I wondered, if realistically, from a scientific perspective, could every person In this day and age eat a plant-based diet 100% of the time? - I can't say, and I don't thing science can say, that everybody has to be 100%. You know, all the time. I can argue the case, I think, for the vast majority of

people, we ought to be at least 90, probably 95%, we've got Good science for that. And in many cases, if people already have a disease, it's a good idea they should be 100% all the time. So that's my scientific argument. I have another practical argument, though on this question, concerning how far do you go. And that is that if we're going to adopt this dietary lifestyle, it's really important that we become accustomed to it. And we should go probably 100% if we can. And stay there. And don't tease ourselves with the other things. Because what

happens, we never become accustomed to this, where our taste preferences change. - If you do it right, there are no health issues. In fact, the side effects are you're going to lose weight, you're going to look better, you're going to have more energy, you're going to avoid most of the common degenerative conditions, most of the time, you're going to have a longer life, and a healthier, And a better life. You know, that's about what happens when you do this. So there isn't a downside. - [Voiceover] We often hear that the key to good health is

moderation, and it makes sense. But why then does it not seem to work for most people? - You know for some people, That's a really easy thing to do. But unfortunately for most, finding moderation is like finding a needle in a haystack. And, because others can do it, they feel lost, and they feel like an absolute failure because they can't. And the truth be told, most people can't find moderation, So they're actually in the majority and not the minority. But this minority few that are on television, that have never, ever been fat, never, ever been

sick, have genetics very much on their way, they're out there saying, "It's all about this, "and all about that." I mean, how are They going to relate to that poor person sitting at home, that's 350 pounds, that feels like their world is over? Now, I know what they feel like. I was 310 pounds. I was loaded up on medication for eight years. I understand, I can relate. I won't tell anybody That moderation's easy. Moderation's damn hard. Really hard. I still haven't mastered it. I'm a work in progress when it comes to moderation. But what I'm

finding is that I'm away from an extreme now, of 93% of my energy coming from this processed and fun part of Town, animal fat, I've now got this moderation up, I've now moved it up, and it's working. - [Voiceover] So how are people supposed to get all this information? Since everyday we're bombarded with TV ads, infomercials, news talking about the new food trends. How can we know who's telling the truth, And has honest and unbiased science behind their products? - The media always approaches things with the idea that if we're going to interview somebody about

diet, we have to let somebody with a different opinion give their opinion. Alright, so here's what happens. Someone like Colin Campbell, at Cornell University Writes this book, The China Study. It has hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of references, it represents decades of very meticulous research, work that he did, right? And so they're going to interview him, well then they go find somebody that's promoting a Paleo diet, or a low carb diet Because we have to have the contrary opinion. That person may have written a terrible book, that's a little more than a storybook, it's not

referenced, it has no credibility, but in the eyes of the public, now those two are equal, Colin has an opinion, and this other person has an opinion. So it confuses people, and it gains traction that way. - [Voiceover] We tend to look at the fast food industry as the big villain, responsible for all the havoc surrounding food choices. But these same companies that are contributing to the problem may also hold the key to the solution. It is a supply and demand issue, So if enough people begin demanding healthy, plant-based options, perhaps that could be a

good approach. After all, it is us the consumers who should dictate what the market has to offer. And not the other way around. - You can make better, cleaner, healthier products by incorporating more plant-based foods Into your products, and not to shy away from that. So, I don't take a negative approach like down with these fast foods. We need to make them understand that they can still make money, and they can still have a sustainable business, because there are people out there that want this food. We just have to make it available to them. -

[Voiceover] Most people rely on their doctors for information about diet and nutrition. But several medical school programs show that doctors get very little training on nutrition. Sometimes, none at all. - As I went through Medical school, and I went through residency, and I started after that, working on my own as a physician, after awhile, I became kind of a little bit frustrated with my inability to really, really help people. Because what I thought was happening, was that, I was just basically seeing patients, Asked to see them very quickly, and was really left with limited options

as far as what I could do. I really felt what I needed to do with the time that I had, was left to do, was just basically treat symptoms, instead of trying to get to the root cause of the problem, or the root cause of their disease. So, it left me basically Practicing I think the kind of medicine that the majority of people are practicing in the U.S., which is pharmaceutical based medicine, and I don't have a problem with medication. I think medications are wonderful, medications are great, they're necessary for a lot of people, they

are really the only option. For many people They're a good option. But I think what we're missing is that there's something else that's out there. - I was outsourcing my health, to somebody else. I was coming along saying, "Here's some money, "will you fix me, I'm busy over here." And when are you going to come up with a drug that's Going to like, cure me? - By using more chemicals to correct the imbalance, we're actually causing the imbalances to be even stronger. I found that people who've been on medications for a long time, are developing

a lot of side effects from those medications, where then are causing Other organs in their bodies to become diseased, their functioning is weakening, their overall health is weakening, their immune system is getting deficient, if something is destroying you really need to infuse that with something that's going help rebuild it. - So, if somebody Comes along and says, "You know, Doctor, I can take this patient, and by doing "these simple things, you know changing their diet, "getting them to eat a little bit differently, "more plant-based, getting them to exercise "a little more, do you realize that

I could make "this diabetes essentially, if you were "to test them again, virtually go away?" And a lot of doctors in this country, some may be familiar with the idea, but a lot of them, even to this day, would still say, "No, you know, I don't think "that would be possible." - The cause of most of our diseases and the cure is within anybody's reach Who gets the knowledge. The problem is, is they have to make some change. That's a small problem. The real problem is there is no money in doing the right thing. There's

money in selling you statins, and blood pressure pills, and powerful arthritis drugs, and laxatives, and antacids, That's where the money is. So that's where the education goes. - We have to shift the dollars, from expensive procedures, and shift it more towards education, teaching people, showing them about their disease, and why it's there, and teaching them the things that they can do day in and day out that would positively Impact that disease, and possibly even get it certainly improved, and maybe even reversed in some cases. - You can expect artery disease, to stabilize and reverse, and

the symptoms to go away, you can expect the type II diabetes, if it's really type II diabetes, to be cured 100% of the time with diet change and Associated weight loss. You can expect the arthritis' to improve, and go away and be cured, many times, with your inflammatory arthritis'. The bowel problems, all the way from indigestion, to constipation, to colitus, you can expect to cure when you direct your attention to the cause Of the problem and you fix it. - [Voiceover] On the supplement aisle is where things get really crazy. It seems like every product

can improve our health, in one way or another. Some support each of our different organs, others give us energy, stimulate our immune system, prevent colds, reduce appetite, Or promote weight loss. It makes me really confused. If they're all so good for us, should we even have to worry about eating healthy? - [Voiceover] Too tired, too often? Try Rybutol. If you, too, need extra amounts of thiamine and riboflavin, Rybutol can help you gain new strength, new energy Let just one person among thousands of users tell you about amazing benefits gained from Rybutol. - There's some products

out there that could be beneficial to our health, and there's nothing wrong with them, but I think the problem comes when people overdo or overuse that one product, And look at is as you know, the silver bullet, The thing that's going to cure all my ills. When people go to that extreme, I don't think there's a product out there like that. - I discourage supplements, most of the time. For most people. And part of the problem with supplements Is that supplements, drugs, procedures, they all have application for specific populations. So, the whole pitch, if you

will, is based on the idea that you can't get enough nutrients, from food, you don't eat the right diet, so you can somehow, make up for it, by taking these dietary supplements. So it's become a 40 billion dollar industry. The sales pitches worked, people are doing it. They're buying this stuff. And the people who sell it, they're hanging on for dear life, and they're not about to give into the scientific truth. But the reality is that all of the nutrients That you need are in food, and they're in food - in very specific and complex

combinations that we don't really even understand all of yet. And so when you extract a single nutrient and purify it, and put it in a pill, you're overloading your system with something That it's never seen before, and is really not adapted to deal with. Much better to eat smaller amounts of it, in the food, and again, I'll grant that there are exceptions, and in my office, I recommend supplements sometimes, but not to the General population. And that's the problem in medicine, too, we want to take everything, and sell it to everybody, because that's how you

make money. - A lot of people have done a lot of disservice to many, many people, trying to offer them a magic pill, or a magic this, Or a solution in five days, that's going to change your life. And the simple reality is, is that you can't do 20 years of damage, by ignoring mother nature's best, the fruits, the vegetables, the nuts, the beans, the seeds. You can't spend 20 years saying no to that, And then expect people in white coats to come up with something that's going to solve that, in five days. So what

we have to do is we have to see the error of our ways, which was turning our back on mother nature, and we have to turn towards her, for a solution. - Vitamin supplements for example, we've got a lot of data that, when you take them out of context, like that, and use them that way, in the short run, yeah, it looks sort of interesting, maybe they're looking good for a little while, especially in people that may be really low on them, but in the long run, no. You know, they don't work and yet we're

spending 32 billion dollars a year on nutrient supplements. - The most important supplement for those eating plant-based diets, is a vitamin B12, a regular reliable source of vitamin B12, it doesn't have to be supplements, but they have B12 fortified foods. This is very important, it's critical for everyone eating a plant-based diet to get a regular reliable source of vitamin B12. There's only two vitamins not created by plants. One is vitamin D, created by animals, such as yourself when you walk out into the sun, And the other is vitamin B12, not made by plants, not made

by animals either, it's made by little microbes that blanket the earth, so, you know, it might've gotten enough from drinking out of a mountain stream, or well water, but now we chlorinate the water supply to kill off any bacteria, so we don't get a lot of you know, B12 in our water anymore, don't get alot of cholera Either, that's a good thing. But because of the way we live you know, in our, you know sanitized, modern world, got to get B12 from somewhere. Our fellow great apes get it from you know, bugs during feces, but

I prefer a more sanitary route, which is one 2500 microamps of it once a week, cost less than Five bucks a year, or vitamin B12 fortified foods everyday. - [Voiceover] We spend more money on healthcare than any other country in the world. Yet we have some of the highest rates of chronic disease on the planet. Fortunately, it seems That some health insurance providers including Medicare, are beginning to embrace the concept of disease prevention through diet. Instead of spending millions of dollars trying to simply manage the problem, when it might already be too late. - So

Medicare now accepts for reimbursement Both the Dean Ornish Program, for reversing heart disease as well as the Pritikin Program. And this is out of a recognition that it's not only safer, it's not only cheaper, but actually more effective than kind of the traditional approach, which is very costly surgery, and a lifetime of drugs. And so, I mean this is great, from a whole, I mean, the most important things, is reducing suffering and saving lives, but from kind of a fiscal responsibility, I mean, it's so much, cheaper, so much more cost effective, that, and who's footing

the bill? Well, if it's Medicare, it's taxpayer, so they're saving money by making people healthier. - [Voiceover] For most people, it is hard to imagine that anybody could perform well as an athlete, without consuming any animal products. Not to mention being a world class athlete, Or even a world champion. - I am a professional triathelete, specializing in the Iron Man Distance. I'm also the Ultraman World Champion. I have been racing for triathlon professionally for 10 years, I've finished 66 Iron Man Races, and I love to train, And race all the time. - I'm an ultra-endurance

athelete, Most people have heard of an Iron Man, if you haven't, an Iron Man is a very long triathlon, during which, over the course of a one day period, you swim 2.4 miles, you ride your bike 112 miles, and then you run a marathon. While Ultra Man is essentially double that distance, and in 2009, I was the fastest American and 6th place overall in this race. - I do believe that last season, on a plant-based diet was my strongest. than I've ever been. I did a couple of Iron Man races, That were among the top

five, best performances in my career, and I was able to win the Ultra Man World Championship. - What you're also seeing are atheltes like MMA fighters, they're realizing performance gains they're recovering more quickly in between their workouts, You see NBA players, NFL players, NHL players, Olympic athletes, all kinds of athletes who are starting to experiment and explore this way of eating, and getting good results. I've been doing this for over eight years right now, I've never had a problem building lean muscle mass, I continue to get stronger, fitter and faster, and it's fine. - For

me now, the proof is in the pudding. I know that I am like stronger than I've ever been, without animal products, and so I proved it really, like, to myself and I've hopefully proved to other people that it can be done. - I'm a neurofibromatosis patient, I'm an ambassador for a couple Of organizations, that do philanthropic work for sick children. I'm an NPST cancer survivor. NPST is a rare sarcoma, It's one of the most aggressive and fast, infiltrating cancers that there is on the planet. I've had over 325 tumors removed from my body. I've lived

a very, very rigorous and painful last three and a half years, Battling for my life, and I had a decision to make. I'm either going to let this take me, or I'm going to fight. Like giving up wasn't an option, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm not going to die sitting down, or laying down, I'm going to keep my hands up, My head tucked, and I'm not going to stop swinging until it's over. And without a plant-based diet, I would not be here today. It kind of kept my cancer at bay, and

it's allowed me to thrive in ways I didn't know was possible. The insane mindset that animal protein is the key To being very healthy, you know, almost killed me. I'm not saying plant-based diets cure, or they're the end-all, be-all, but what I am saying is that if you're going through some type of health crisis, your odds are very, very much greater when you embrace a Plant-based lifestyle. Those are just the facts. And my life is the living proof. - In 2006, I attempted suicide, while I was on 250 milligrams of Zoloft, for what the doctors

diagnosed as major depressive disorder. And I was told I'd be most likely on it for the rest of my life. A week after that I went into a personal development course, and changed my beliefs. From there, I started to look at what I was putting into my body. And I started to look at nutrition, and nutritional healing, and what I could do. And it led me to going within, and back to nature. I stripped away all Of the processed food, I went back to just eating raw fruits and vegetables, and juicing, and green smoothies, and

I started to have a sense of a natural, natural happy high started to come into my body, and I was feeling better than I'd felt in many years. The symptoms of depression started to drop away, The heavy, sluggish, tired feelings that I couldn't cope, the chronic fatigue, the aches, you know, everything started to shift. And I started to feel my cells were transforming on some level. I'd made the decision that I didn't want to put ever again, the fear Of death and suffering of another life, and eating animals into my body. And that translated to

a shift for me, I cured my own depression. And I've never looked back. - [Voiceover] Eating tasty food is one of the biggest pleasures in life. So many people might argue that even though eating an unhealthy diet Is not good for them, they don't want to jeopardize the fun aspect of it. And therefore, they continue eating unhealthy things. But one thing that I came to discover is that when you transition into a healthier eating lifestyle, you do not have to compromise on taste. Yes, you will go through A transition period, but once your taste buds,

and your body's chemistry begins to change, you will start to crave and really enjoy these foods. It is important to find food you like, and once you realize that almost every dish can be made plant-based, you will see that it is not that hard at all. - There's such a stigma with the word vegan, I guess that people just get automatically turned off and just assume that it's going to suck. But it's like it doesn't. If anything, to me, and I mean, that was another big thing, why I do it, because it's better. To me,

I think food's just way better this way. I would say just try it. You know, you'll surprise yourself. - When you're becoming vegetarian, and you've given up the meat and the dairy and the eggs, the only thing you know for food, you think you're going to starve to death. You have to understand that Marinara sauce, and pasta, and lasagna, and bean burritos, and oatmeal, and hash-brown potatoes, and so on, things you love, that's where you get your calories and your protein and your vitamins and your minerals. - There are so many beautiful, wonderful amazing, delicious

plant-based foods out there. In fact, when I started to do this a whole world Opened up to me, and when you begin to eat these nutrient dense foods that are actually fuelling you, that are actually nourishing you, with all of these amazing vital nutrients and micronutrients, you start to feel good, your cravings change, and your taste buds change. You know, that cheeseburger, that you couldn't get out of your mind, suddenly, you're not thinking about that anymore, and you're actually craving that kale smoothie. And that's something that happened to me that I would have never thought

would have happened. - People think that vegan food just tastes like crap. And that's not true. I think that people think that being vegan might potentially be strange, that people are weird, that you have to be a hippie, or you have to embrace wearing hemp clothes, or something. - You want to have a burger, you can have a burger. You want to have spaghetti and meatballs, you can have spaghetti And wheatballs. You want to have fries, you want to have chocolate mousse, you want to have pumpkin pie, you want to have stuffing, you want to

have, you know, even hotdogs. - And so when you're looking at the idea of taking the leap, into this way of eating and living, Don't look at what you're going to be not eating, embrace and be excited about the adventure of all these new foods you're going to be bringing into your life. - [Voiceover] Eating healthy will not do you much good if you can't afford it. Or if it leaves a big hole in your pocket. So my next question was is it possible to eat healthy on a tight budget? - A common misconception is

that a whole foods plant-based diet is very expensive. I routinely post pictures of my grocery receipt, and I take my whole bounty that I bought at the produce market, and Put it out on the table so people can see, how much I end up with, and they're shocked. Whole grains that we buy in bulk, are very inexpensive. You're going to cut your grocery bills in half, from a typical standard American diet, in the beginning, it might seem like a lot of effort, But in the long run, you're saving all this money for all the new

clothes you're going to have to buy for the new slim you that is produced from eating this whole foods plant-based diet. - It's easy to go into those markets and say, "There's no way that I can do this." But the truth of The matter is that it doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have to be inconvenient, it doesn't have to be difficult, it doesn't have to be time consuming. And my experience is that it has actually simplified my life, and it's been cheaper than eating the other way around. - [Voiceover] At this point of

my journey, I already had seen enough evidence about the benefits and safety of a plant based diet for adults, but was this lifestyle also ideal and safe for children? - Not only can children grow healthy on a plant-based Diet, they'll grow healthiest on a plant-based diet. I mean, we have an epidemic of childhood obesity, and children raised plant-based, actually grow taller by about an inch, they grow about an inch taller than meat eating incumbents, and most importantly, They grow less in a horizontal direction, right? They don't have the same problems with childhood obesity, so Dr.

Benjamin Spock, the most esteemed pediatrician of all time, wrote one of the bestselling books in human history, recommended in his final Edition, the 7th edition of his book before he died in his 90's, that all children should be raised with zero exposure to meat and dairy. And he did this because he saw what you know, the older generations were dying from, and wanted to get them off on a good start. I mean the leading Killers of our children will eventually be, same thing. Heart disease, cancer, strokes, COPD, diabetes, hypertension. These are diseases that can be

prevented in many cases arrested, or even reversed with a healthy enough plant-based diet. - [Voiceover] As a new Father, I wondered, how could I get my daughter to eat healthy? Since getting her to eat anything at all can sometimes be a problem. There's so much junk being marketed to kids out there, and it is often difficult for parents to transition their children to healthier food options. - I would not be surprised at all That if in 15, 20, 25 years time, people will look back at the last 10 to 20 years, and they'll say, "How

did those people give that food "to their children?" - A big question that we get all the time is, "How can I get my kids to eat better?" I think every parent wants their kids to eat Healthy, and it's difficult, especially when everywhere you look, there's a fast food restaurant, or a processed food snack that is being marketed towards children. And the first thing that I always say is, "You have to lead by example." As a parent, you can't be eating lousy foods, and expect your Children to eat healthy, because you tell them to. So

you have to walk your walk, that's number one. The second thing is, I encourage all parents to make the preparation of meals and the shopping of food inclusive with their children. The more you can bring your kids into the fold, the more they're going to develop an emotional Attachment to where their food comes from, how it's prepared, and the impact that it's having on their health. - Really get inside their heads, and sort of think how they would think. Keep telling them what is good, what is bad, won't probably work, you have to interact with

them, you have to show Them what's possible. Get your hands dirty, get the kids to help you, and let them own what they're doing. If you always put something in front of them in a silver platter, and let them consume that information, you know, it'll only work for so long. What you've got to do, you've got to get them Involved, let them have the responsibility. The way I approach it is that I try to make it as fun as possible, use colors, use flavors, teach a little thing that they never knew about, use gadgets that,

normal people won't see, but I want them to go away with a feeling Of accomplishment, and something that they're eager to share to their friends. Hopefully their parents. I think that's the best part. It's like holding a bird. You don't want to hold it too tight, you're going to hurt the bird. You don't want to hold it too loosely, or it's going to fly away. That's something that each individual parent Has a specific knowledge of their kid. - I get the questions all the time. "What do I do, how do I start, "how do I

tell my kids, oh, they're going to be "so disappointed that they're not having "meat on their plates, that they're not having dairy." Try a vegan burger, it's basically the same thing, You just leave the meat out. That's great for kids, because why? You're going to put that burger on that bun, you're going to put all the fixings on that, whatever your kids like, you make it exactly the same, that's a great way to get started. - When I think with The younger generation, what's so exciting is, is that they get to start young, I mean,

I'm not going to have any regrets, but it sort of bums me out a little bit that I'm just now discovering this in my 30's because I wish I would have done this when I was younger, because just the thoughts of like the energy, That I would've had in college. - I think the other thing is to not have hard and fast rules, with your children, you can't eat that, and you know, you have to eat this. And instead, respect them as independent sentient beings, who have you know, the wherewithal to make conscious decisions for

themselves. So, at our home, we serve plant based foods, all the time, we don't Have any animal products here, but when my 10 year old daughter goes to a birthday party, she's surrounded by you know, Chicken McNuggets, and birthday cake and all of that, and we don't say to her, "You can't eat those foods." We say, "Have a great time at the birthday party, "and make the right Choice for you." And that doesn't mean that she always makes the right choice, that way you are empowering them, this is a lifetime we're talking about. This is

a long road ahead, so it's about getting your children to think consciously about their own choices, so that when they reach the age of maturity, they are informed and educated And prepared to be responsible stewards of the planet, and responsible stewards of their own bodies. - [Voiceover] I could not make a film about food choices and not explore the topic of organic, versus non-organic. It seems that everybody's obssessed with those words, and It's becoming increasingly adverse to foods that don't carry an organic label. Others fear that consuming more plant based food might be damaging to

their health, due to the increase of pesticides in those foods. But should this really be our biggest concern? - Fear of pesticides Should never keep anyone from maximizing their fruit and vegetable intake. There, you know, so there's been like chemic computer modeling studies that suggest that, so for example, if half of Americans ate a single more serving of fruits and vegetables a day, we'd prevent 20,000 cancer deaths every year. If just half the people, just one more serving, 20,000 people would not have died from cancer, would normally have died if they hadn't done that. So

that's how powerful fruits and vegetables are. But, because these were conventional, pesticide laden fruits and vegetables, they estimated that it would, that the extra Pesticide burden from all those extra fruits and vegetables would cause 10 extra cancer deaths. So in all it would only prevent 19, 990 cancer deaths. But that's what we're looking at a year, this tremendous benefit. Then a tiny bump in risk. So, okay, great, choose organic whenever you can, why accept any risk, Why not get all benefit? Sure, but we should never let concern about pesticides in any way dissuade us from

stuffing our face with as many healthy fruits and vegetables as possible. - If you're eating meat, and you're eating commercial meat, and you're worried about switching to plant-based diet, and worried about the pesticides in the produce, you're being ridiculous, Because you're getting a fraction of the pesticides by eating the vegetable, that you can mostly wash it off. Remember, you can wash, you can soak your vegetables and use a wash to get pesticide residue off. You cannot wash the pesticide off of the hamburger meat you're about to prepare. - I encourage people just to go ahead

and buy whatever produce they can afford, whatever produce looks the freshest that week in the grocery store, and whatever's on sale, so that's where they're going to save money, is not worrying about, "I have to buy organic bell peppers, "and they cost me four dollars each." That's not a sustainable lifestyle. - [Voiceover] Besides the health aspect related to our food choices, I also realized during the production of this film, that there was another very important factor, that is often overlooked, Ignored, or misunderstood. The connection between food choices, and the environment. I was really shocked after

reading the United Nations report on global warming. After all, it is hard to grasp the idea that the burger, or steak on our plates might be contributing to things such as global warming, water scarcity, Species extinction, the destruction of the Amazon forest, the depletion of our oceans, and even world hunger. I had a hard time understanding it at first, but once I began digging a little deeper, the connection became clear. - Now, it's seven billion people, What we eat, determines how the whole planet is used, and what's happening now is that, as we run out

of land, to grow these animals and the food for the animals, we burn down rain forests, to aquire more land. And the number one cause of all of that Is our food choices. - It's expected to have a 40% shortage in fresh water supplies by the year 2030. We have again, irreversible loss of biodiversity, ecosystems, and extinction of species faster than we've ever seen before, for the past 65 million years. We have a world hunger issue with a little less That a billion people on earth suffering from hunger, with about 350 children dying from hunger

each hour. - [Voiceover] You might be asking yourself, how is all that possible? And I had the same questions, because in fact, many of these issues are not only related to our food choices. Many are very complex problems, With several social, political, economic, and cultural variables. But here are some intriguing facts. 70% of our arable land is used to grow crops for animals and not humans. It takes on average 2400 gallons of water and 12 pounds of grain to make one pound of beef. Five million acres of rainforest are destroyed every year, so companies Can

graze animals and grow food for these animals. The excrements of 80 billion land animals killed every year for food are not treated. And go back into our water basins, and our oceans, creating a lot of pollution. And these are just a few examples. So when you consider these facts, It all begins to fall into place. - We need to focus more, and understand more what the footprint is, the complete life cycle analysis, ecological environmental depleting footprint is of that item is versus just how close it is to you. Or whether it's even organic or not.

It's much less of a footprint to eat something that was grown 1500 miles away, if it was plant-based, than it is to eat a food item that was slaughtered, that was an animal product, by your next door neighbor. And our largest footprint is, you know, across all sectors, our food choice specifically as it relates To eating animals. - [Voiceover] No matter how green, or eco-friendly we try to be, the truth is that by nature, we are a very destructive species. Almost everything we do has a negative impact on the environment. So many people often try

to minimize their footprint, By doing things like switching to more effective light bulbs, taking short showers, bicycling to work, using solar energy, or even buying an electric car. And those are all great things. But the question is, are these actions in fact the easiest and most effective when It comes to helping protect our planet and its' resources? - You look at the four major problems. We've got overpopulation, and we're adding about a million people every four days, net. Then you get to the way we live, and the way we consume stuff, all that stuff is

coming from finite resources Which we are steadily depleting. So those first two factors the overpopulation, and the way we live, are driving the third one, which is our dependence on fossil fuels. Look at the numbers. Since 1950, the line for consumption of fossil fuels have gone steadily up, Every year, and there's no end in sight. The fourth big driver, of all of these environmental issues, particularly global warming, is the way we eat, is our consumption of the meat, dairy, eggs and fish, and that keeps going up. It requires, per calorie, over 10 times as much

Land, 10 times as much water, and 10 times as much energy. And it ranges. But the average is well over 10 times, and that's a big number. Now the good news is, we can change what we eat, any individual over night. People say, "Wow, what would happen if everybody "changed at once?" Well, that's not going to happen. The bad news is, those first three items, overpopulation, over consumption, and dependence on fossil fuels, each one of those would take decades, if not centuries to fix. - [Voiceover] With more and more people embracing the idea of reducing

their intake of animal products, Or adopting some kind of a plant-based diet, it seems that things are moving in the right direction. But are they, really? - You know, I hear people saying, "Things are "are getting better. "You know, we see people putting solar "panels up, and more people are eating "plant-based, and There's vegan restaurants "going in down the street, things are getting better." Well, not really. And not even close. For every individual, that's moving in the direction of a plant-based diet, there's a hundred people moving in the other direction. We've got to double our

food production in the next 40 years, To feed the nine billion that we'll have by 2050. - [Voiceover] When it comes to global warming, the production of animals for food currently contributes to about 14.5% of the total global warming effect. A contribution larger than the entire global transportation sector combined. Livestock amounts to 53% of nitrous oxide emissions, 44% of methane gas, and 5% of the total carbon dioxide released in our atmosphere. - Raising livestock and eating fish, and also producing dairy is one of the largest contributing factors to climate change. And the public needs to

know this, and policies need to be enacted to help eliminate that. It's one of the easiest ways that we have to not just adapt to, but to mitigate climate change. And it can be done as easy as just changing out what you have on your plate. - [Voiceover] Organic Grass fed beef seems to be the new trend. And the idea sounds really appealing. Cows that live off grass don't take any antibiotics, and therefore supposedly provide a healthier food source for us, when compared to factory farmed animals. But is there a catch? - It's a very

large movement today, and I think what's happening is that there's been a shift because of more and more people being concerned about the humane raising of animals, and moving away from factory farms, they're moving toward grass fed operations, or pasture fed operations. It's a complete fabrication By the meat and dairy industries to continue perpetuating the slaughtering of animals, because even though some animal might be humane raised, they're still not humane killed, and all of the animals that are still placed on your plate have to be slaughtered in some manner, and so there's still a humane

issue there, But from an environmental standpoint, in many aspects, raising grass fed beef is less sustainable than factory fed animals, and the reason is, because it's so land intensive. It may require eight pounds of feed to produce one pound of an animal product, if it were beef, but in a grass fed situation, Sometimes, it's 10 times that much, it may be 70, 80 times from a grass fed to a grain fed beef. Additionally, from a climate change standpoint, grass fed cattle produce 40 to 60% more greenhouse gas emissions, meaning methane, carbon dioxide, land use changes,

Than a grain fed cow would. - [Voiceover] Another thing often taken for granted is the depletion of our oceans. We often think of fish as a never ending self replenishing food source, but the truth seems to be quite different. - Over 90% of all the big fish in the oceans are already gone. 80% of commercial fisheries Are over exploited, or depleted. The fishing fleets are chasing the last of the fish. And have to travel further and further away from the land and deeper and deeper into the ocean to catch them. I've seen illegal fishing in

Antarctica, and that's as far away From land as you can get. - When someone sits down at a table, to eat fish or seafood on their plate, what they're really doing is they're eating a target fish that's becoming depleted to the point of near extinction, but they're also eating baggage comes with it, And typically it requires about five to twenty times more other seafood, as by-kill, and by-kill is the term that relates to all those other sea life, living in the ocean that are killed in the process of trying to get that target fish to

your plate, whether it's with purse Seine type of fishing method, or long line or bottom trawling, or middle trawling, our oceans are expected to be completely devoid of all fish that we recognize commercially today by the year 2048. - The oceans are dying, and nobody wants to know about it. And if the oceans die, we die. It's as simple as that. And if you start destroying them, you're basically killing out the crew, and the life support systems going to collapse, and there won't be any air to breathe, and there won't be any food to eat,

and the climate'll be out of control, and, not a good thing. But we have to humble Ourselves and recognize that we need this diversity, we need these creatures, we need this interdependence, and if we don't see that, then our chances of survival are quite slim. My big concern is not that we're going to wipe ourselves out, out of sheer ecological stupidity, but that we're going to Take so much with us. - So much confusion, and so much debate. That it just boggles my mind that we can't think like third graders, and say, "Why not "just

address the number one cause here." You know, we got ten holes in the boat, the boat's sinking, which hole do we fill first? Go to the big hole. Fill that big hole first. - I mean, so often we're looking at just what we would like to eat, because it satisfies our taste preferences. Well, we're at a point in time, in order to save humanity essentially, save our species, which is not an overstatement at all, we need to start looking outside of self, And start looking at how our choices are fully effecting those around us, those

species that we share this planet with, and especially future generations. - [Voiceover] A couple years back, I saw a documentary called, Earthlings, that exposed the Conditions in which farm animals are slaughtered. It made a big impact on me. I knew that animals got killed for food, but seeing how it actually happened, and seeing the suffering, pain and terror that these animals go through, put things into a new perspective for me. I was already eating mostly plant-based foods At the time, but after seeing those images, I decided I could not contribute to the killing of innocent

animals any longer. So I became a 100% plant eater. I was not in a position to judge anybody, after all, I ate animals for over 30 years of my life. But I wanted to understand, how come in this day and age, Such a massive genocide was allowed. And how come us, the general population, government and corporations allowed for this to happen? - We love some animals, and eat others because we have been born into a invisible belief system that conditions us to compartmentalize when It comes to animals. It conditions us to think of certain animals

as edible, and other animals as inedible. And the invisible belief system that conditions us to eat certain animals, is what I call carnism. One way carnism remains invisible, is by remaining unnamed. If we don't name it, we can't even think about it, So we can't question it. When we don't see something, obviously, it becomes much easier to maintain this mythology that there is no problem, there is no atrocity. - [Voiceover] This is not just something to eat. This is beautiful love, joy, work, action. This is life. - You're think they're just animals? They have intelligence.

They have language signal. They have love. So when they are about to face deaths, in a death chamber, they fear, and they sad, and they anger. - You know, everybody talks about the Holocaust, what about the Holocaust we're Creating for the animals? Every year, we're killing billions and billions of animals, and you want peace on earth? Peace on earth is for all living entities, not just humans. People just got locked up in Utah for photographing a CAFO, a concentrated animal feeding operation. These people keeping the people ignorant, And it's sick, to make money. And if

the truth gets out, if people know where their food came from, or how their food was produced, they wouldn't eat that shit. - When you start to threaten the dominant paradigm of society, you're going to become a force to be reckoned with, and they'll do Everything they can to destroy you. And that's exactly, that's happening now. - There are still people who'll see that, and they'll be resistant, I mean, I was one of those people, you know, I grew up in Texas, eating beef all the time, and I loved animals, I always loved the companion

animals I grew up with, and you know, I never really thought much, I thought I was eating healthy. So I think a lot of the resistance that people feel is because we're so conditioned to eat these things all the time, we've been conditioned from a very young age. - And even if we make the intellectual connection, even if we say, "Yes, I'm eating a cow." We still don't make the emotional connection, because if we did, we would feel the empathy that would cause us to feel disgusted rather than appetized. - I couldn't pretend anymore that

was, eating that Chunk of chicken breast was the same as the broccoli next to it, it just didn't, I couldn't, I couldn't fake it to myself anymore. - And there's a reason why, you know, slaughter houses, and feed lots are not located in densely populated areas. It's not for lack of Space, it's because people don't want us to see it. Then those animals go on a long journey to the slaughter house, at night, usually. So we don't see a lot of that, and that's by design. - Who's to say which animals are to be tortured,

and killed? We've decided in America, in our part of the world, Cows and pigs, and lambs are to be eaten, but in some parts of the world, they eat dogs and cats, and in some parts of the world they eat snakes and monkeys. - Yes, it's true that people have eaten animals for thousands of years, but today, for many people in the world, There's absolutely no need to eat animals. You know, we are causing, as human beings, massive suffering, to other sentient beings, suffering that is completely unnecessary. When eating animals is no longer a necessity

for survival, then it becomes a choice. And choices always stem from beliefs. - [Voiceover] There is a Popular myth that perpetuates the idea that fish don't feel any pain. That makes it easier for people to consume it, since it seems to be more humane. But, is it really true? - Fish have proprioception, they have feelings. And so there are a number of researchers That would tell you very clearly that it's a very uncompassionate way to eat, you're slaughtering between one and three trillion fish per year, and all of those fish have sensory reception, they all

have feelings. - The industries depend on keeping these facts out of our consciousness. So for example, We learn to resist taking in information from those who may help us begin to question carnism. If you shoot the messenger, you don't have to take seriously the implications of their message. - So we need to educate our children the true meaning of What these animals really are, by showing, and by awareness about life of the pig or chicken is very much same as life of cat and dog. - [Voiceover] Our time on this planet is very short. And

change can sometimes be difficult. And slow. But by taking the right steps, we can point ourselves Into a better direction. As for myself, this was the most exciting journey I ever took. And I look forward to continue living a healthy, plant-based lifestyle with my family. And to keep empowering others with this information. - It's so important for us to take care of ourselves. for our own human health standpoint, but it really won't Matter how healthy we are if our planet isn't healthy. - You know what's unique about us? We are the only species out of

the millions that does not live in harmony with nature. - At least it's good to educate yourself and be aware, and then you can make the decision from there, because ultimately, It's your choice to make, you know. It's not like, "Hey, you know, you're the worse "person if you don't do this." No, it's not like that, but at least educate yourself, find out, you know, so at least you just know. I mean, you can make the choices on your own. - I don't believe there's An evil cabal of doctors and government people, I believe there's

a system in place, and the world is so asleep, and they've forgotten, intuitively that people just follow the system without thinking, without questioning, and it's because they're asleep. It's not because They're stupid, it's not because they're not motivated. - I mean, it's really insanity when you think about it. That we are sitting here, in the modern day, and we've got to talk about eating fruits and vegetables. You know, you go back in any time in history, past, say the last 100, 200 years, and it was just like Everyone was doing it. - If you want

to be a responsible steward of our precious planet, and its' dwindling resources, eating a plant-based diet really is the only solution. And by voting with your dollar, and eating a plant-based diet, you are saying no to animal agriculture, and all the devastation, All the havoc that it's wreaking on our planet. - I think that every human being wants to do good. I think that every human being, in their core, wants to do what's right. And I think that if we look at it, and we say, "You know what? "What is it that I can do

today, "to make the environment better, "to make my health better, "and to have compassion for animals, "for our fellow creatures. "What is it that I can do today? "I can start on the path to a plant-based diet." (soothing music)