grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by inframan grade 4 / 10

  Not much substance in this...

  This is like one of those pseudo-infomercials they play Saturday nights on PBS (to pace out the golden oldies shows with Nick Clooney & Peter Marshall). The few interesting points are not pursued to any depth, having mostly to do with the role of fiber enhancing the production of beneficial microbes that fight bad bacteria. OTW there's not much new here, same old stuff about how sodas & breakfast cereals are bad for you & vegetables are better than meat (but the only meat they show is always a big piece of something that looks like prime rib). Also annoying & borderline dishonest (IMO) are the gratuitous plugs (after Pollan has knocked Nutritionism) by nutrition propagandists: One raving about converting school kids/borderline delinquents into salad eaters without ever showing them in the act of actually eating lettuce greens. (I wanted to see what kind of sugar & carb-drenched dressing they used to wash the raw veggies down & if not that then what they used.) The other was some genius from Cornell who revolutionized high school cafeteria eating habits by putting healthy foods like raw carrots first in the cafeteria line so the kids would load up on those. (I just wanted to see what was left on the trays at then end of the meal.)Sorry if I seem cynical, but this is pretty lightweight stuff. Pollan seems like a likable guy & I'm sure he's very bright & has a lot of good ideas, but what come across here looks like a promo for a book. Maybe that's all it is.

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• Reviewed by mikejdesign grade 4 / 10

  Watch "What the Health" Instead

  Too many generalizations and not much science. The doctor that found TMAO in beef (which causes cancer) said that he still eats meat. Hmm...If you're already a plant-based eater, this documentary might make you frustrated.

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• Reviewed by luisoncpp grade 8 / 10

  Finally a nutritional documentary that doesn't feels like propaganda

  This is the forth documentary about nutrition that I found on Netflix and the first one that I don't feel it's propaganda. It covers a huge variety of topics, like the history of nutrition science, why fiber is important, why is important to eat many different vegetables, about omega 3 - omega 6 ratios, why saturated fats are dangerous, different aboriginal diets(other documentaries do the bold claim that there is an ideal diet of our ancestors, but this one just show how many diets can be good), a little big of politics(but not too much and without focusing in the conspiracy part that other documentaries do), and specially it focuses on the importance of whole foods. Don't get me wrong, this is not just a bunch of data, it does try to persuade you to do something: eat(whole) food, not too much and mostly plants.I don't agree completely with any of those statements, but I think all 3 have value and the way in which they are presented is very informative. I rate it 8 instead of 10 because, as other review said, if you are already digging into nutritional documentaries, probably you already know 90% of the relevant information of this documentary, but it's an easy one to recommend to anyone who is just starting to learn about nutrition.

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