The Magic Pill documentary

mntwindan
mntwindan Posts: 40 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Any experience/success with "The Magic Pill" documentary?

Replies

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You have to be careful with any "documentary"...in most cases (not just nutrition) documentaries have an agenda and they cherry pick data to confirm that agenda. In most cases you can watch another documentary that completely goes against the "facts" from another documentary and it will still seem all sciency and factual.

    Yes, always check to see who is funding the documentary or a study. In most studies the researchers have to declare things that might conflict with results.
  • mntwindan
    mntwindan Posts: 40 Member
    Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate your supportive input.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    edited March 2019
    I don't want to bash all documentaries as a whole. Outside of the health/food sphere, there are a lot of good ones. But ones related to food and diet tend to be filled with a particular amount of woo.

    If the claims made in these documentaries were published in medical journals, they would require verifiable evidence and be subject to peer reviews. They're made into documentaries instead because people can pretty much say whatever they want with no oversight or regulation.

    And Netflix will take just about anything, so don't think just because it is there that it makes it reputable.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    This might be the reason for the uptick in people asking about keto-vegan.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    This might be the reason for the uptick in people asking about keto-vegan.

    Oh no, if I'm contributing to the madness my sincere apologies! :o
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    This might be the reason for the uptick in people asking about keto-vegan.

    Oh no, if I'm contributing to the madness my sincere apologies! :o

    I will tag you into every keto-vegan thread that comes up from this point forward so you can explain yourself. :wink: :laugh:
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    This might be the reason for the uptick in people asking about keto-vegan.

    Oh no, if I'm contributing to the madness my sincere apologies! :o

    I will tag you into every keto-vegan thread that comes up from this point forward so you can explain yourself. :wink: :laugh:

    Wait, I dont deserve such severe punishment! It's not like I dragged in a reference to "The Paleo Way" or anything! :(
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    This might be the reason for the uptick in people asking about keto-vegan.

    Oh no, if I'm contributing to the madness my sincere apologies! :o

    I will tag you into every keto-vegan thread that comes up from this point forward so you can explain yourself. :wink: :laugh:

    Wait, I dont deserve such severe punishment! It's not like I dragged in a reference to "The Paleo Way" or anything! :(

    :tongue:
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    MikePTY wrote: »
    And Netflix will take just about anything, so don't think just because it is there that it makes it reputable.

    I'm a big old history documentary nerd (REAL history, not "Ancient Aliens built the pyramids" crap).

    I just realized a few months ago that Netflix has pretty much dropped all their reality-based documentaries in favor of conspiracy theory nutjobs. I'd say at this point that "Its on Netflix" has become a sign that a documentary is either a fringe, a conspiracy, or a MLM sales pitch.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    What...wha.....Hold on here. Are you saying that corn oil isn't really poison and that Dr. Jason Fung has it wrong? ;)


    I actually just watched part of this the other night. I couldn't make it through so much misinformation. The only truth that seemed to be in the show was by accident here and there.

    I really wonder what would happen if someone did a real documentary that had mass backing of true science and spelled things out for people. I think a lot of people would reject that you can have pizza and donuts and control weight while you are healthy.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited March 2019
    savithny wrote: »
    MikePTY wrote: »
    And Netflix will take just about anything, so don't think just because it is there that it makes it reputable.

    I'm a big old history documentary nerd (REAL history, not "Ancient Aliens built the pyramids" crap).

    I just realized a few months ago that Netflix has pretty much dropped all their reality-based documentaries in favor of conspiracy theory nutjobs. I'd say at this point that "Its on Netflix" has become a sign that a documentary is either a fringe, a conspiracy, or a MLM sales pitch.

    This makes me sad :disappointed:
    It's like the Discovery Channel. I used to be able to assume if it was on there it was at least semi-educational, now they air tons of cheesy, tabloid science type crap.

    I will acknowledge that I've watched more than a few episodes of Ancient Aliens, but totally for laughs :blush:
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Rarely give both sides of an issue in my experience.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    robertw486 wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    What...wha.....Hold on here. Are you saying that corn oil isn't really poison and that Dr. Jason Fung has it wrong? ;)


    I actually just watched part of this the other night. I couldn't make it through so much misinformation. The only truth that seemed to be in the show was by accident here and there.

    I really wonder what would happen if someone did a real documentary that had mass backing of true science and spelled things out for people. I think a lot of people would reject that you can have pizza and donuts and control weight while you are healthy.

    Nobody would watch it :( If there's no miracle cures or graphic illustrations of how not getting with the plan destroys your body, or products to buy to support your system, it's just too easy, and therefore must not be true.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,287 Member
    robertw486 wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    A good intellectual exercise would be to watch "The Magic Pill", followed by "Forks Over Knives", two diametrically opposed viewpoints, and analyze the the way they each use scare tactics, unproven health benefits and "appeal to authority" to present an emotionally compelling story.

    These types of shows aren't documentaries, they're platforms to sell books and products.

    What...wha.....Hold on here. Are you saying that corn oil isn't really poison and that Dr. Jason Fung has it wrong? ;)


    I actually just watched part of this the other night. I couldn't make it through so much misinformation. The only truth that seemed to be in the show was by accident here and there.

    I really wonder what would happen if someone did a real documentary that had mass backing of true science and spelled things out for people. I think a lot of people would reject that you can have pizza and donuts and control weight while you are healthy.

    Ironically, I think I lot of people would find it not science-y sounding (too simple), and not nearly magical enough.

Categories