This week, we got really into watching some food documentaries. Let’s go back a bit….for years Pete and I have talked about changing our diet, eating healthier, eating less fats and sugars…blah blah. Yet, we haven’t changed..to this day! He’s wanted us to go on a juice fast…he’s wanted us to go raw food…and I’ve been like sure I’ll try it…but not like super excited. So, we never do. Back to now…we noticed a lot more documentaries have loaded onto Netflix and we decided to watch some food related ones together…because again we started talking about changing our diet and exercising and all that.

The specific documentaries that we watched were:

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead – This was about an Australian guy that decided he needed to change his lifestyle because he was overweight, had a lot of health issues (including an autoimmune disease), and was on his way to being nearly dead. His idea – kick start a healthy living lifestyle by doing a 60 day juice fast. Just take fresh vegetables and fruits and juice them…and drink that for each meal. He was under a doctor’s watch. He lost weight and got off all his medications and no longer had his autoimmune disease! After the 60 days he went on to eat a diet of mostly vegetables and fruit and whole grains….and maintains a healthy lifestyle with exercise. He also met a guy that was more overweight than him that also had the same autoimmune disease…and changed that man’s life! He lost a lot of weight…convinced others of the lifestyle and is all around happier and healthier and stronger! It’s really amazing… no one says you have to do the 60 day juice fast…but jump start with a 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, etc…it just helps to cleanse the body when you change to a more vegetarian diet. I have to say…this show convinced me! Pete and I are going to do a juice fast starting Monday…and a friend of mine has wanted to do one for a while … so she’s doing it also (from a distance).

Food Matters – This was all about nutrition and how beneficial it is for us to eat a diet that is at least 51% vegetables and fruit…and how curable heart disease and diabetes are. This show really made me upset thinking about how important nutrition and the foods we eat are, but how its never really relayed to us in such terms other than, “eat your veggies you’ll grow up big and strong” “eat your veggies it’ll cure what ails ya” “change your diet if you don’t want to take these pills”. Yep broad terms like that don’t get anyone to change. Cuz we hear “in moderation” and how this and that are needed. I had no idea how rich in protein a lot of plants are…that we don’t need to eat meat! What! Well, uh this show convinced me to make a change toward AT LEAST 51% diet of vegetables and fruit…and maybe one day going toward vegetarian or vegan…one day.

Forks Over Knives – This one was again about nutrition and the health benefits of eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It really went into scientific data about how a diet like this can actually stop and reverse cardiovascular disease and diabetes! I mean, I’ve heard about reversing diabetes with food, but…cardiovascular disease…holy wow! The veins actually repair themselves and grow back strong! It also said, it has been shown that cancer patients changing to a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains….no animal protein/products….actually can reverse cancer! Cancer cells shrink and go away! Is that not incredible? Also, this show focused on how big industry has a huge say in what is healthy for us. It talked about how milk has been pushed at us as being needed for its calcium, but it showed that for all the calcium we drink…we still have a huge percentage of people that get osteoporosis…said what happens is because of the animal proteins…our body actually fights it..and fights it with the calcium in our bones. There’s a lot of calcium in leafy greens. I have to say again I felt angry that no one had explained this to me before in so many words. We have to seek it out if we want to know…we have to learn on our own what they mean. OMG! You have to watch this..if you do not watch any of the others.

A lot more research and reading has to be done…and a lot of learning…and a lot of recipes found to keep the food interesting! But first…a 3 day that may turn into a 5, 7, 10 day juice fast! We’re going to see how it goes at each of those intervals and if we feel good enough to go on…we will! If not, on to veggies and fruits (on day 4, 6, 8, or 11).

*All can be found on Twitter and Facebook by their very titles. 🙂