What the health?

Animal rights activists making up stories that meat causes cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, etc, etc.
Funny they don't just say eating a piece of meat will kill you on the spot.
They take data and screw around with it.

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Yeah, even as a vegan I can't reccomend this documentary. It's awful. That's not to say there aren't huge benefits to a plant-based or vegan diet, but I really really wouldn't rely on this as a source of information.

Strives4Progress wrote: »

OliveGirl128 wrote: »

There's been numerous threads about this 'documentary' already, (you can find them with the search option on top), but yeah-there's been quite a backlash from many vegans over this.

Sorry. I did try searching the forums first but nothing came up.

Weird, when I tried searching just now nothing came up either? Think the search option is being glitchy right now.

I just did a quick manual search because this topic has been floating around a lot lately, and here's the most recent thread about it

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10578059/netflix-what-the-health#latest

Strives4Progress wrote: »

Has anyone watched the Netflix "documentary", What the health? Any opinions on what they are advising?

I've seen quite a few different health/food docs and they all seem to contradict each other and induce scare tactics. It's hard to know what's good or bad for us anymore.

I watched it. If I recall (and I'm not splicing together food documentaries) there's some useful information in there about the unethical treatment of animals, how the industry bullies farmers, and just how poorly the chickens are treated.

It jumps the shark when it starts telling people that white meat chicken is as dangerous as smoking (it's not). In fact, those genetically-infused big-breasted chickens are pretty good for you.

Legitimate questions here, but telling outright lies isn't the way to get ask them.

.

New study out talking specificially about plant based diets, saying that people can eat an unhealthy plant based diet or a healthy one. Healthy plant based diets do result in a decreased risk of CHD, but unhealthy plant based diets have an increased risk.

Healthful was defined as containing whole grains, fruits/vegetables, nuts/legumes, oils, tea/coffee. Unhealthful was defined as containing juices/sweetened beverages, refined grains, potatoes/fries, sweets.

"Healthful and Unhealthful Plant-Based Diets and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in U.S. Adults", in Journal of American College of Cardiology, July 2017

http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/70/4/411?download=true&sso=1&sso_redirect_count=4&access_token=

Strives4Progress wrote: »

Has anyone watched the Netflix "documentary", What the health? Any opinions on what they are advising?

I've seen quite a few different health/food docs and they all seem to contradict each other and induce scare tactics. It's hard to know what's good or bad for us anymore.

This is because documentaries of any kind are biased towards their agenda...they're actually really crappy sources of information regardless of the topic. They can be interesting, but you have to take them with a huge grain of salt and seek out alternative points of view.

estherdragonbat wrote: »

It's behind a paywall. I'd be a bit curious as to how the study would consider someone who eats a bit of everything. Personally, I eat a mix of whole and refined grains, plenty of fruits, veggies, legumes, and oils, occasional nuts, seldom tea, never coffee. I've been known to cook with orange or apple juice, but seldom drink it. I don't have potatoes as often as I do rice, but I have them. And what's the context/dosage on sweets? Are we talking about a couple of hundred calories set aside for dessert, or that mythical strawman about subsisting on pop-tarts, fries, and Twinkies?

I'm seriously not snarking you. I'd just like some clarity on the parameters.

Yeah, my diet contains both beans and potatoes, coffee and refined grains. There's lots of vegetables, but I will also sometimes have chocolate.

Also found this write up on Satija et al's study...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/prevention/66674

Certain Plant-Based Diets Linked to Lower CHD Risk

""Our current analysis extends the potentially protective association with healthful plant-based diet index to CHD. Specifically, greater adherence would lead to diets high in dietary fiber, antioxidants, unsaturated fat, and micronutrient content, and low in saturated fat and heme iron content, all of which could aid in weight loss/maintenance, enhance glycemic control and insulin regulation, improve lipid profile, reduce blood pressure, improve vascular health, decrease inflammation, and foster more favorable diet-gut microbiome interactions thereby lowering CHD risk," stated Satija's team.
They noted that medical and health professionals should guide patients to "increase intake of healthy plant foods and reduce intake of animal foods and less healthy plant foods such as SSB for CHD prevention."
Writing in an accompanying editorial, Kim Allan Williams, MD, MACC, chair of the division of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, commented that the findings add to the growing body of evidence that a plant-based diet reduces heart disease risk. He wrote that while not all plant-based foods are healthy, whole grains, unsaturated fats, and an abundance of fruits and vegetables "deserve more emphasis in dietary recommendations."
Satija and colleagues used a baseline sample of 73,710 women from the Nurses' Health Study, 92,320 women from the Nurses' Health Study 2, and 43,259 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Exclusion criteria included having coronary heart disease at baseline, as well as incidence of cancer, stroke, and coronary artery surgery.
The researchers created food intake surveys to quantify dietary patterns into three graded plant-based diet indices -- overall, healthful, and unhealthful -- and analyzed how gradual reductions in animal protein consumption plus increases in plant food consumption influenced cardiovascular health.
All participants responded to a follow-up questionnaire on lifestyle, health behaviors, and medical history every 2 years for more than two decades.
Satija and colleagues found that people with higher scores on the plant-based diet index and healthful plant-based diet index were older, more active, leaner, and less likely to smoke than those with lower scores. Conversely, high consumers of unhealthful plant-based diet index were younger, less active, and more likely to smoke.
The proportion of people with a history of diabetes decreased with increasing deciles of plant-based diet index and unhealthful plant-based diet index, but increased with higher healthful plant-based diet index intake, they added.


When looking at all three food categories, the researchers found an inverse association for healthy plant foods and positive associations for animal foods and less healthy plant foods, with the results largely unchanged after red meat adjustment:
Overall: pooled HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.84-1.03; P=0.01 for trend
Healthful: 0.76; 95% CI 0.68-0.84; P<0.001
Unhealthful: 1.32; 95% CI 1.19-1.46; P<0.001

Additionally, the findings changed in expected directions with adjustment for sugar-sweetened beverages:
Overall: pooled HR 0.90; 95% CI 0.81-0.99; P=0.003 for trend
Healthful: 0.79; 95% CI 0.71-0.88; P<0.001
Unhealthful: 1.22; 95% CI 1.10-1.36; P=0.005

Similar results were found after modifying the healthful plant-based diet index to score fish intake positively (HR 0.74; 95% CI 0.67-0.81; P<0.001).
Satija's team concluded that future research should replicate these findings in other racial/ethnic, occupational, and socioeconomic groups. Additionally, they called for further exploration of biological mechanisms involved in the potentially cardioprotective effects of healthful plant-based diet index in order to create personalized clinical interventions and prevention therapies for CHD.
Williams agreed, but noted that a healthy plant-based diet presents both a challenge and an opportunity for cardiology: "Until recently, cardiologists have not delved deeply into nutrition, treating CVD's downstream effects rather than obliterating its roots, leaving primary and secondary prevention opportunities on the table. It is time that we educate ourselves on dietary patterns, risk, and outcomes, and focus more on 'turning off the faucet' instead of 'mopping up the floor.'"
Limitations included the observational nature of the study, as well as the potential for measurement error in diet assessment."

goldthistime wrote: »

Also found this write up on Satija et al's study...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/prevention/66674

Certain Plant-Based Diets Linked to Lower CHD Risk

""Our current analysis extends the potentially protective association with healthful plant-based diet index to CHD. Specifically, greater adherence would lead to diets high in dietary fiber, antioxidants, unsaturated fat, and micronutrient content, and low in saturated fat and heme iron content, all of which could aid in weight loss/maintenance, enhance glycemic control and insulin regulation, improve lipid profile, reduce blood pressure, improve vascular health, decrease inflammation, and foster more favorable diet-gut microbiome interactions thereby lowering CHD risk," stated Satija's team.
They noted that medical and health professionals should guide patients to "increase intake of healthy plant foods and reduce intake of animal foods and less healthy plant foods such as SSB for CHD prevention."
Writing in an accompanying editorial, Kim Allan Williams, MD, MACC, chair of the division of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, commented that the findings add to the growing body of evidence that a plant-based diet reduces heart disease risk. He wrote that while not all plant-based foods are healthy, whole grains, unsaturated fats, and an abundance of fruits and vegetables "deserve more emphasis in dietary recommendations."
Satija and colleagues used a baseline sample of 73,710 women from the Nurses' Health Study, 92,320 women from the Nurses' Health Study 2, and 43,259 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Exclusion criteria included having coronary heart disease at baseline, as well as incidence of cancer, stroke, and coronary artery surgery.
The researchers created food intake surveys to quantify dietary patterns into three graded plant-based diet indices -- overall, healthful, and unhealthful -- and analyzed how gradual reductions in animal protein consumption plus increases in plant food consumption influenced cardiovascular health.
All participants responded to a follow-up questionnaire on lifestyle, health behaviors, and medical history every 2 years for more than two decades.
Satija and colleagues found that people with higher scores on the plant-based diet index and healthful plant-based diet index were older, more active, leaner, and less likely to smoke than those with lower scores. Conversely, high consumers of unhealthful plant-based diet index were younger, less active, and more likely to smoke.
The proportion of people with a history of diabetes decreased with increasing deciles of plant-based diet index and unhealthful plant-based diet index, but increased with higher healthful plant-based diet index intake, they added.


When looking at all three food categories, the researchers found an inverse association for healthy plant foods and positive associations for animal foods and less healthy plant foods, with the results largely unchanged after red meat adjustment:
Overall: pooled HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.84-1.03; P=0.01 for trend
Healthful: 0.76; 95% CI 0.68-0.84; P<0.001
Unhealthful: 1.32; 95% CI 1.19-1.46; P<0.001

Additionally, the findings changed in expected directions with adjustment for sugar-sweetened beverages:
Overall: pooled HR 0.90; 95% CI 0.81-0.99; P=0.003 for trend
Healthful: 0.79; 95% CI 0.71-0.88; P<0.001
Unhealthful: 1.22; 95% CI 1.10-1.36; P=0.005

Similar results were found after modifying the healthful plant-based diet index to score fish intake positively (HR 0.74; 95% CI 0.67-0.81; P<0.001).
Satija's team concluded that future research should replicate these findings in other racial/ethnic, occupational, and socioeconomic groups. Additionally, they called for further exploration of biological mechanisms involved in the potentially cardioprotective effects of healthful plant-based diet index in order to create personalized clinical interventions and prevention therapies for CHD.
Williams agreed, but noted that a healthy plant-based diet presents both a challenge and an opportunity for cardiology: "Until recently, cardiologists have not delved deeply into nutrition, treating CVD's downstream effects rather than obliterating its roots, leaving primary and secondary prevention opportunities on the table. It is time that we educate ourselves on dietary patterns, risk, and outcomes, and focus more on 'turning off the faucet' instead of 'mopping up the floor.'"
Limitations included the observational nature of the study, as well as the potential for measurement error in diet assessment."

That's a bit more helpful. Personally, I guess, like many of us, I could improve a few things, but overall, I'm not doing too badly.

@windrunner
No, it does not make you look bad. I'm almost vegetarian myself and I admire those who are. It makes the animal rights activists look bad. People are smart, they know the difference.
This documentary was not about health at all in my opinion, it was just about trying to save the animals and saying anything to get the job done. I have a link up above about just some of the lies, lies, lies. Milk causes osteoporosis is my favorite lie in the movie, topping the one about meat causing cancer.