Review of What the Health (2017) by Kirk P — 12 Oct 2017

What the Health is a 2017 documentary about the powerful connection between health and food. The documentary uses a combination of interviews with leading medical authorities and interviews with people who have been affected by their food choices, either for good or for ill. Sometimes, the documentary incorporates footage of animal feedlots or processing facilities. Occasionally, the film uses animation to illustrate a point.

Much of the focus is on why several leading organizations that are supposedly concerned about health, like the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association, give out food advice that runs counter to current nutritional science. This mystery is deepened by the refusal of executives of these organizations to talk about food on camera. Even the government appears to be involved in misleading Americans about what they should eat. The documentary is made by one filmmaker who is concerned about his own health and what he should be eating who sets off on a quest to unravel the mystery surrounding food.

The young filmmaker, Kip Anderson, looks like a lost surfer in his t-shirt and baseball cap, driving around in a minivan or taking the subway to his next interview. But despite its occasionally low-budget feel, the film is surprisingly polished and manages to make a compelling case that something very nefarious really is going on when it comes to food. Anderson has a soft-spoken interview style that is disarming, but his questions still manage to fluster some of his interviewees, like Dr. Robert Ratner of the American Diabetes Association, who abruptly tries to end the interview when the questions turn to food. Anderson may not always follow up with the perfect question, but he never loses his cool.

He also manages to interview some of the leading medical authorities who have been investigating the conflicting claims about food for years. These include Dr. Michael Greger , Dr. Caldwell Eselstyn, Dr. Michael Klaper, and several others.

The documentary comes to some conclusions that are sure to shock some viewers. Would you believe that money can pervert the agendas of organizations that pretend to care about people's health? Or that money can influence what advice the government gives people about food?

A few people who have watched this film have declared that it relies on scare tactics or that it is biased. These claims may be have some truth, but the reality that the film portrays is in fact very scary, and the facts, once you understand them, line up perfectly with the film's conclusions. Some people have resisted watching this film, perhaps fearing that it might force them to change how they eat. But the message of this film is not a message of fear, but rather a message of hope. The film fittingly opens with a quote from Hippocrates: "Let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food.".

This is a great documentary - one of the best of the year. For many people, it may be the most important documentary they ever watch.