Forks Over Knives (2011)

I recommend "Forks Over Knives" to anyone who is struggling with a specific disease. It explains a cure to almost anyone dealing with a disease. I liked this movie because it provided me with a lot of interesting facts, it can be great information to know for anyone who may one day possibly acquire a disease, and it is relatable to a large majority of the United States people! I highly recommend this movie because it is extremely informative and an important concept to become aware of for anyone. "Forks Over Knives" opened me up to a new perspective on the struggles of diseases throughout the country. I didn't realize that so many people had a disease or were considered overweight! This movie is extremely beneficial and important to know of. I loved the movie and it provided me with a new array of dietary facts and statistics. I recommend the movie to anyone.

Using misinformation, bad science and conspiracy theories this film is just bunkum. One of the problems with documentaries of this ilk is the low level of scientific knowledge that the general population has, when presented with material pretending to be science most people will just accept it as fact. This is especially the case in areas where the public can be misinformed for profit or influence, the vegan agenda is the influence here. I have no problem with someone who is or wants to be vegan, go ahead. However, to justify your choice and convince others of the validity of your choice don't feed me BS. Unfortunately that is what this film boils down to a lot of BS. The work of T.Colin Campbell, upon which a lot of this film is based, has been re-examined and been found to be extremely lacking in rigour. Have a look here for a very good critique of Campbell's work.http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/China-Study.html

Even if I was a vegetarian, I'd be dismayed by this film, which is a textbook example of propaganda -- think Leni Reifenstahl and "The Triumph of the Will" in Hitler's Germany. Such films have an agenda, and use cinematic techniques to promote that agenda, without balance or integrity or truthfulness. Truth plays a backseat to promoting the political agenda.Here the agenda is .... veganism. And not just general "it's good for you!" veganism nor even the "save the cute widdle animals" veganism -- this is a direct polemic stating that veganism -- and ONLY veganism -- will save your life, enable you to cure a whole range of diseases and live for a very long time, the whole while as a fit, buff triathelete or firefighter.The theories of Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Esselstyn are the most extreme of all eating regimes -- not even vegetarianism is remotely good enough here. This is the Pritikin or Ornish diets, on steroids. ZERO fats, zero meat, zero dairy products -- yup, folks, YOGURT will kill you. Milk, of course, will kill you -- even organic skim milk.What does this leave you to eat? Only vegetables, and more vegetables. Furthermore, they must be steamed or baked, as you cannot of course fry or stir fry, sauté or fricassee because remember -- ZERO fats. Yes, folks -- OLIVE OIL, now it's bad for you. Even Canola oil. No oils or fats whatsoever, in any form. SO this is a diet of steamed vegetables and only steamed vegetables, and nothing else.Needless to say, this very harsh diet is not too appealing to any normal person, nor is it a diet normally eaten by any human society on earth. It lacks a number of nutrients and vitamins, which must be taken by pill form (B-12 etc.). But of course, unpalatable as it is, it leads directly to weight loss -- and the weight loss to remission from obesity, Type II diabetes, coronary artery disease and cholesterol problems.I can almost accept that, though of course 99% of people cannot stick to a diet this horrible. You might as well say you can cure these things if you fast all the time, and live on water, but it does not translate that most folks can do that.But it goes off the rails when the filmmakers state you can CURE METASTATIC BREAST CANCER (and infer, all cancers) by eating vegan foods. Not prevent breast cancer -- not cure a primary tumor -- but cure breast cancer which had spread to the subjects spine, liver and bones. This is untrue, and a hateful, ugly promise to make to suffering cancer victims, which cannot possibly be true. Nor does the movie offer any PROOF, besides one elderly lady's anecdotal story (we do not even know for sure she ever had cancer, for starters) that this is so. Certainly any "proof" would involve thousands of patients with metastatic cancer over many years, and with double blind studies.It is shocking and horrifying that two physicians who call themselves "scientists" would promise such a thing. It proved to me, what I had been thinking silently through the rest of the film -- this is not science, this is RELIGION...the religion of veganism, which incorporates a hatred for all things pleasurable in the world (but especially food), a belief in eternal life (promised to you by eating vegan!) and the necessity to preach at and convert others. As such, it is frightening beyond any other type of diet hucksterism.NO matter what you eat, I assure you -- you are going to die sometime, and you will die of SOMETHING. No diet in the world can save you from metastatic cancer, and I am appalled beyond words at DOCTORS pushing a protocol on patients which involves REFUSING chemo and radiation (proven to help) and instead an unproven diet plan. (Note that cancer victims typically lose a lot of weight and have trouble eating; I can't imagine a worse thing that forcing them to eat tasteless vegan dishes and lose weight on purpose!)On top of this, the film is dry and full of statistics, along with simple-minded attacks on old filmstrips that show "the 7 basic food groups" or whatever, from like 1946. Also I noted that when the filmmaker himself is shown going on his diet, as well as other participants, they are very openly showing bags and boxes from the Whole Foods chain of stores (was it a paid advertisement?).In short, not recommended. This is religion, not science. It is a sad comment on society that we cannot discuss and debate issues about food and diet, without it becoming an attack on other people who eat differently than we do, or on other people's body types or habits.

I believe that the two most important indicators of good health are your BWI and your level of activity. You can't compare people who have good BWI and a good level of activity with people who do not and just compare their diets. These factors BMI and activity level, would have to be the same when you make comparisons of diets or you're creating more hype than science.Both bone cancer and arthritis have been found in many dinosaur bones. These diseases have been around forever. Insects have survived much longer than almost any other species. Maybe they should be studied. I'm sure they eat on instinct. If we can get our natural instincts to crave the healthy foods, maybe then we would have something that could help everyone.