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What the Health: The Startling Truth Behind the Foods We Eat, Plus 50 Plant-Rich Recipes to Get You Feeling Your Best
The definitive, stand-alone companion book to the acclaimed documentary—now with 50 plant-based recipes and full-color photos to help you start changing your health for the better
There's something terribly broken in our industrial food, medical, and pharmaceutical systems. What's going wrong? Can we really avoid the leading causes of death just by changing our diet? Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, creators of the revolutionary What the Health and the award-winning Cowspiracy documentaries, take readers on a science-based tour of the hazards posed by consuming animal products—and what happens when we stop.
What the Health will guide you on an adventure through this maze of misinformation with the same fresh, engaging approach that made the documentary so popular. Journey with Andersen and Kuhn as they crisscross the country, talking to doctors, dietitians, public health advocates, whistle-blowers, and world-class athletes, to uncover the truth behind the food we eat. With the help of writer Eunice Wong, they empower eaters with knowledge about the lethal entwining of the food, medical, and pharmaceutical industries, and about the corporate web that confuses the public and keeps Americans chronically—and profitably—ill.
Plus, discover 50 recipes to help you reclaim your life and health,
• Creamy Mac
• PB&J Smoothie
• Winter Lentil and Pomegranate Salad
• Mom's Ultimate Vegan Chili
• Black Bean Fudgy Brownies
• Baked Apple Crumble with Coconut Cream
If the film was a peephole, then the book knocks down the whole door, featuring expanded interviews, extensive research, and new personal narratives. There's a health revolution brewing. What the Health is your invitation to join.
There's something terribly broken in our industrial food, medical, and pharmaceutical systems. What's going wrong? Can we really avoid the leading causes of death just by changing our diet? Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, creators of the revolutionary What the Health and the award-winning Cowspiracy documentaries, take readers on a science-based tour of the hazards posed by consuming animal products—and what happens when we stop.
What the Health will guide you on an adventure through this maze of misinformation with the same fresh, engaging approach that made the documentary so popular. Journey with Andersen and Kuhn as they crisscross the country, talking to doctors, dietitians, public health advocates, whistle-blowers, and world-class athletes, to uncover the truth behind the food we eat. With the help of writer Eunice Wong, they empower eaters with knowledge about the lethal entwining of the food, medical, and pharmaceutical industries, and about the corporate web that confuses the public and keeps Americans chronically—and profitably—ill.
Plus, discover 50 recipes to help you reclaim your life and health,
• Creamy Mac
• PB&J Smoothie
• Winter Lentil and Pomegranate Salad
• Mom's Ultimate Vegan Chili
• Black Bean Fudgy Brownies
• Baked Apple Crumble with Coconut Cream
If the film was a peephole, then the book knocks down the whole door, featuring expanded interviews, extensive research, and new personal narratives. There's a health revolution brewing. What the Health is your invitation to join.
376 pages, Paperback
Published December 18, 2018
49 people are currently reading
1458 people want to read
About the author
Kip Andersen
5 books6 followersKip is an American film producer and writer. He is best known for producing movies What the Health (2017), Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014) and Sea of Life (2017).Andersen is from San Francisco, California, and studied at California Polytechnic State University.
He began his career in 2014, with the documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. The documentary, which was co-directed by Keegan Kuhn and executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, became an overnight viral success.
Besides being a film maker, he is also an entrepreneur and a certified Jivamukti and Kundalini yoga teacher. He is the founder of AUM Films and Media, a non-profit firm focused on creating movies that promote compassion and harmony for all life.
He began his career in 2014, with the documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. The documentary, which was co-directed by Keegan Kuhn and executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, became an overnight viral success.
Besides being a film maker, he is also an entrepreneur and a certified Jivamukti and Kundalini yoga teacher. He is the founder of AUM Films and Media, a non-profit firm focused on creating movies that promote compassion and harmony for all life.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 9, 2021
TL;DR - meat bad, in whatever quantities. Even fish meat, because mercury and bio-accumulation.
___
1980s scientific literature show that eating saturated fat, which is mainly found in animal products like meat, dairy and eggs, is more strongly associated with death than smoking cigarettes. We go out of our way to avoid cigarette smoke, but happily chow down on beef burgers.
People think heart disease, cancer and diabetes are inherited, when actually what they've inherited are the eating habits of their parents and grandparents.
Most medical schools, when teaching about nutrition, teach about deficiencies. But the issues of today are not issues of deficiency; they're primarily issues of excess.
The foods most clearly linked to the development of type 2 diavetes are processed meat, like bacon, hot dogs, cold cuts, ham, sausage. The particles of fat gum up the insulin receptors, preventing cells from taking up sugar, causing sugar to build up in your blood.
The most protective foods are whole grains.
Choosing chicken over other meats is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In any serving of chicken, there are more calories from fat than there are from protein. The number one dietary source of cholesterol is checkn, by dint of sheer volume. And this is in the lean part of the meat.
Animal proteins are very rich. Excess amounts of fats and proteins lead to diseases of dietary excess: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer.
Within minutes of eating animal products, your system receives a burst of inflammation that paralyses your arteries. This stiffened state continues for 5-10 hours before finally coming back to baseline. Then along comes lunch. Many of us live in a danger zone of chronic, low-grade inflammation, which can increase our risk of the chronic diseases.
Q:What can't you get in a plant-based diet that you can get in meat?
A from Dr Barnard: Cholesterol, heterocyclic amines, salmonella, E. coli.
If you eat from a variety of different plant foods (without actively planning what kind of protein you get from each), you will get your complete proteins. You do not have to eat all nine essential amino acids at a given meal. And getting your amino acids from animal tissue is unhealthy.
We are all producing tumours all the time. Most of the time, they don't multiply to levels where they cause problems. The promotion phase of cancer is reversible, provided the exposure to carcinogens is limited.
And based on surface area, our gut (thousands of square feet) is vastly more expansive than either our skin (20 square feet) or lungs (hundreds of square feet).
Milk is bovine breast milk, produced by pregnant cows.
60-80% of estrogens that we eat come from dairy products. The biggest chemical factory is the pregnant cow, so organic milk doesn't make a difference. Cow's milk is a major factor in why little girls can go through puberty at 7,8,9.
Milk, because of what it is (food for growing calves), makes things grow faster, and that includes cancer cells. Once you are an adult, there's a lot of growth you do not want to promote.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell - Cows' milk protein may be the single most significant chemical carcinogen to which humans are exposed. The risk of developing type I diabetes, for a genetically vulnerable kid who eats or drinks milk products, is greater than a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer.
Cow's milk protein is also one of the most allergenic foods in nature. Even mothers drinking milk or eating cheese and yogurt while lactating can affect the breastfeeding newborn.
Due to the principle of bio-accumulation, if animal food is a dominant part of your life, toxicity will be a dominant part of your life too. Such toxins can be dioxins, strontium-90, mercury.
Researchers who studied bone development in children found that kids who drink the most milk have zero protection from stress fractures. Milk does not build strong bones. A bull moose grows a full rack of antlers (weighing 80 pounds, more than twice the mass of a human skeleton) in 3 months, while eating nothing but green, leafy plant foods.
The simplistic dietary equation fish = omega-3s is false, because fish get their omega-3s from algae, and most fish now is farmed, so they do not eat algae. Fish is also the highest in cholesterol (50mg/100 calories), compared to pork (24), beef (29) or chicken (44).
To get omega-3s, go straight to the source, algae-based products, or plant-based like ground flaxseed, walnuts, dark green vegetables.
The famous Bang and Dyerberg studies (which suggested correlation between high marine fat diet of Inuits correlated with low incidence of heart disease) never actually measured the frequency of heart disease in the Inuit. They relied upon some public health records in Greenland, and also relied on hearsay. Because many of the outposts were so remote, 20% of death certs were completed without the doctor examining the body.
Protein overload is one of the reasons that formula milk is not optimal (human milk has 2.5g / cup, while cow's milk has 7.9g/cup). There is no stage of life where you need a pork chop, cheese, animal fat, or cholesterol in your food.
The actual Paleo diet was probably largely plant based (~80%), as hunting with stone age tools was mostly unsuccessful, and whatever meat obtained had to be quickly divided and eaten immediately before it started to rot.
If eating meat led to larger brains carnivores would be the most intelligent creatures on the planet. Yet the dog still drinks out of the toilet.
Before (East) Asians switched from rice to a Westernised diet of animal foods and oils, there were almost no overweight Asians. Historical records of civilisations show that large populations of successful people lived on starch-based diets. Even our saliva testifies to this starch basis- as the enzyme in it digests starch.
Most humans have a disgust response to raw animal tissue, because it is often loaded with pathogens. In cultures which eat raw meat (sashimi, steak tartare, etc), the meat is always cleaned (no gristle or hair), drained of blood, eaten as fresh as possible, and seasoned or mixed with things like onions, garlic, peanuts, citrus juices, and herbs and spices.
What we call 'seasoning' are plants and plant parts.
The only vitamin you cannot get from plants is B12. It's made only by bacteria. However many foods are B12-fortified.
Plant-based solutions aren't - yet - profitable to the medical and pharma industries. But they could be an incalculable boon to the insurance industry. Kaiser Permanente, one of the US's largest nonprofit health plans, began advocating in 2013 for its doctors to actively encourage their patients to avoid eating animal products.
Within 10-15 years of quitting smoking, your lung cancer risk approaches that of a lifelong non-smoker. The human body strives for health.
___
1980s scientific literature show that eating saturated fat, which is mainly found in animal products like meat, dairy and eggs, is more strongly associated with death than smoking cigarettes. We go out of our way to avoid cigarette smoke, but happily chow down on beef burgers.
People think heart disease, cancer and diabetes are inherited, when actually what they've inherited are the eating habits of their parents and grandparents.
Most medical schools, when teaching about nutrition, teach about deficiencies. But the issues of today are not issues of deficiency; they're primarily issues of excess.
The foods most clearly linked to the development of type 2 diavetes are processed meat, like bacon, hot dogs, cold cuts, ham, sausage. The particles of fat gum up the insulin receptors, preventing cells from taking up sugar, causing sugar to build up in your blood.
The most protective foods are whole grains.
Choosing chicken over other meats is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In any serving of chicken, there are more calories from fat than there are from protein. The number one dietary source of cholesterol is checkn, by dint of sheer volume. And this is in the lean part of the meat.
Animal proteins are very rich. Excess amounts of fats and proteins lead to diseases of dietary excess: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer.
Within minutes of eating animal products, your system receives a burst of inflammation that paralyses your arteries. This stiffened state continues for 5-10 hours before finally coming back to baseline. Then along comes lunch. Many of us live in a danger zone of chronic, low-grade inflammation, which can increase our risk of the chronic diseases.
Q:What can't you get in a plant-based diet that you can get in meat?
A from Dr Barnard: Cholesterol, heterocyclic amines, salmonella, E. coli.
If you eat from a variety of different plant foods (without actively planning what kind of protein you get from each), you will get your complete proteins. You do not have to eat all nine essential amino acids at a given meal. And getting your amino acids from animal tissue is unhealthy.
We are all producing tumours all the time. Most of the time, they don't multiply to levels where they cause problems. The promotion phase of cancer is reversible, provided the exposure to carcinogens is limited.
And based on surface area, our gut (thousands of square feet) is vastly more expansive than either our skin (20 square feet) or lungs (hundreds of square feet).
Milk is bovine breast milk, produced by pregnant cows.
60-80% of estrogens that we eat come from dairy products. The biggest chemical factory is the pregnant cow, so organic milk doesn't make a difference. Cow's milk is a major factor in why little girls can go through puberty at 7,8,9.
Milk, because of what it is (food for growing calves), makes things grow faster, and that includes cancer cells. Once you are an adult, there's a lot of growth you do not want to promote.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell - Cows' milk protein may be the single most significant chemical carcinogen to which humans are exposed. The risk of developing type I diabetes, for a genetically vulnerable kid who eats or drinks milk products, is greater than a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer.
Cow's milk protein is also one of the most allergenic foods in nature. Even mothers drinking milk or eating cheese and yogurt while lactating can affect the breastfeeding newborn.
Due to the principle of bio-accumulation, if animal food is a dominant part of your life, toxicity will be a dominant part of your life too. Such toxins can be dioxins, strontium-90, mercury.
Researchers who studied bone development in children found that kids who drink the most milk have zero protection from stress fractures. Milk does not build strong bones. A bull moose grows a full rack of antlers (weighing 80 pounds, more than twice the mass of a human skeleton) in 3 months, while eating nothing but green, leafy plant foods.
The simplistic dietary equation fish = omega-3s is false, because fish get their omega-3s from algae, and most fish now is farmed, so they do not eat algae. Fish is also the highest in cholesterol (50mg/100 calories), compared to pork (24), beef (29) or chicken (44).
To get omega-3s, go straight to the source, algae-based products, or plant-based like ground flaxseed, walnuts, dark green vegetables.
The famous Bang and Dyerberg studies (which suggested correlation between high marine fat diet of Inuits correlated with low incidence of heart disease) never actually measured the frequency of heart disease in the Inuit. They relied upon some public health records in Greenland, and also relied on hearsay. Because many of the outposts were so remote, 20% of death certs were completed without the doctor examining the body.
Protein overload is one of the reasons that formula milk is not optimal (human milk has 2.5g / cup, while cow's milk has 7.9g/cup). There is no stage of life where you need a pork chop, cheese, animal fat, or cholesterol in your food.
The actual Paleo diet was probably largely plant based (~80%), as hunting with stone age tools was mostly unsuccessful, and whatever meat obtained had to be quickly divided and eaten immediately before it started to rot.
If eating meat led to larger brains carnivores would be the most intelligent creatures on the planet. Yet the dog still drinks out of the toilet.
Before (East) Asians switched from rice to a Westernised diet of animal foods and oils, there were almost no overweight Asians. Historical records of civilisations show that large populations of successful people lived on starch-based diets. Even our saliva testifies to this starch basis- as the enzyme in it digests starch.
Most humans have a disgust response to raw animal tissue, because it is often loaded with pathogens. In cultures which eat raw meat (sashimi, steak tartare, etc), the meat is always cleaned (no gristle or hair), drained of blood, eaten as fresh as possible, and seasoned or mixed with things like onions, garlic, peanuts, citrus juices, and herbs and spices.
What we call 'seasoning' are plants and plant parts.
The only vitamin you cannot get from plants is B12. It's made only by bacteria. However many foods are B12-fortified.
Plant-based solutions aren't - yet - profitable to the medical and pharma industries. But they could be an incalculable boon to the insurance industry. Kaiser Permanente, one of the US's largest nonprofit health plans, began advocating in 2013 for its doctors to actively encourage their patients to avoid eating animal products.
Within 10-15 years of quitting smoking, your lung cancer risk approaches that of a lifelong non-smoker. The human body strives for health.
January 26, 2019
What the Health is an informative book with tons of studies on the nature (or rather epidemic) of our health as a nation. After reading several chapters in one sitting, I was left with - well what am I supposed to eat then?! - and lo and behold, recipes appeared at the end! While very informational and antidotal, I will say it's a great companion piece to the actual film...if you had to choose one, I would choose the film, which allows you to see the overarching views of how these studies affect the population. But overall, a decent companion book with recipes and more knowledge than you'll know what to do with!
Thank you #NetGalley and #WhatTheHealth for the free review copy!
Thank you #NetGalley and #WhatTheHealth for the free review copy!
December 2, 2018
Having seen the documentary of the same name, I was interested in reading the book as well. As expected, the information is the same. Diet has a huge impact on our health and in these pages, we find plenty of information and references to support that fact. This is a great accompaniment to the documentary.
Thank you to BenBella Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to BenBella Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
March 9, 2025
A truly excellent book. They lay out the research and the nefarious practises of the food industry, as well as all of these associations that are supposed to be helping and protecting us. The food industry is only concerned about making money, not about our health!
March 9, 2019
I started out really excited to read this book. I have taken numerous nutrition classes in high school and read about it frequently. However, this book seemed to go downhill.
An exorbitant amount of time is given to bashing chicken. With all the crap people eat, chicken. The author is under the impression that the same diet is best for everyone. I disagree. I went vegan for awhile and also took a multi vitamin as well as b12. I felt terrible on it. I gained weight so quickly and my face broke out and I was lethargic and felt like I was dying. I grew more depressed every day and my anxiety was through the roof. I ate lots of fruit, veggies, beans, seeds, nuts, with some whole grains and tofu. I was not eating crap. It got so bad I was preparing to make an appointment to see about getting on meds for depression. Around that time I thought whatever I will just add meat back. I was too exhausted to continue making meatless meals for me. When I added eggs back to breakfast and chicken for lunch or dinner, something magical happened, I started feeling more like me. My brain was clearer and I was happier. Over time I lost the weight I gained and my skin returned to normal. I realize this is not everyone's experience but it was mine and is worth noting that not every one responds the same. I also was eating my steel oats with fresh berries in the morning instead of usual eggs when pregnant with my third and ended up with gestational diabetes. When I had to go lower carb (around 100 grams a day) I felt worlds better and no longer had blood sugar issues. My body doesn't seem to handle carb loads well at all. Even from healthy carbs.
I also just don't trust all of the studies cited. Not all studies are created equal and they are many that are plagued by poor design. I have seen other reputable studies find the exact opposite is true of some of his conclusions.
Statistics...people, don't trust them without your own research. They are often used as scare tactics. Pancreatic cancer is referred to and I believe chicken increasing risk by 72%. First off, the risk is only 1% to begin with. But that is the risk of the average person who likely eats meat so say the non meat eaters risk is 0.75%. That would put eating meat up to a risk of less than 1.5% still. Just seeing 72% you may think wow, I'm doomed but it isn't as much of a jump as they make it seem like. I did not check the reliability of the study so whether it is reliable or not, I'm not sure.
These things really annoyed me about the book. There were some pluses though. When the author didn't come off as a pushy salesman, it was easy to read and very simplified for readers new to this subject. I would have actually liked more data on the studies to be honest. Also there were at least studies cited. I shudder just thinking of how many authors I have seen state stuff without any kind of resource or study whatsoever. I feel like the author put a lot of work and heart in it but I couldn't recommend it when my own experiences seem to be contrary to some of its important premises.
An exorbitant amount of time is given to bashing chicken. With all the crap people eat, chicken. The author is under the impression that the same diet is best for everyone. I disagree. I went vegan for awhile and also took a multi vitamin as well as b12. I felt terrible on it. I gained weight so quickly and my face broke out and I was lethargic and felt like I was dying. I grew more depressed every day and my anxiety was through the roof. I ate lots of fruit, veggies, beans, seeds, nuts, with some whole grains and tofu. I was not eating crap. It got so bad I was preparing to make an appointment to see about getting on meds for depression. Around that time I thought whatever I will just add meat back. I was too exhausted to continue making meatless meals for me. When I added eggs back to breakfast and chicken for lunch or dinner, something magical happened, I started feeling more like me. My brain was clearer and I was happier. Over time I lost the weight I gained and my skin returned to normal. I realize this is not everyone's experience but it was mine and is worth noting that not every one responds the same. I also was eating my steel oats with fresh berries in the morning instead of usual eggs when pregnant with my third and ended up with gestational diabetes. When I had to go lower carb (around 100 grams a day) I felt worlds better and no longer had blood sugar issues. My body doesn't seem to handle carb loads well at all. Even from healthy carbs.
I also just don't trust all of the studies cited. Not all studies are created equal and they are many that are plagued by poor design. I have seen other reputable studies find the exact opposite is true of some of his conclusions.
Statistics...people, don't trust them without your own research. They are often used as scare tactics. Pancreatic cancer is referred to and I believe chicken increasing risk by 72%. First off, the risk is only 1% to begin with. But that is the risk of the average person who likely eats meat so say the non meat eaters risk is 0.75%. That would put eating meat up to a risk of less than 1.5% still. Just seeing 72% you may think wow, I'm doomed but it isn't as much of a jump as they make it seem like. I did not check the reliability of the study so whether it is reliable or not, I'm not sure.
These things really annoyed me about the book. There were some pluses though. When the author didn't come off as a pushy salesman, it was easy to read and very simplified for readers new to this subject. I would have actually liked more data on the studies to be honest. Also there were at least studies cited. I shudder just thinking of how many authors I have seen state stuff without any kind of resource or study whatsoever. I feel like the author put a lot of work and heart in it but I couldn't recommend it when my own experiences seem to be contrary to some of its important premises.
April 6, 2019
DNF. Full of loaded language and histrionics. It might have good information, but I can't get past the hypochondria.
March 19, 2019
I would like to thank BenBella Books for providing me with a free – temporary – electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Although I required their approval, the decision to read this book is my choice and any reviews given are obligation free.
Okay, this review is going to actually be quite short and sweet for me. You see, I watched the documentary ‘What the Health’ and found a lot of it quite interesting, so was intrigued by the book of the same name. On Netgalley they clearly state that it is a companion book to the documentary, so I knew what I was going to be reading.
So, no surprise, the book ‘What the Health’ was basically the documentary… in book form. But what I really liked was that in the book, when they are citing specific reports and texts, there are citation numbers you can look up to find the source and look into the original report further – if you so desire. And I really like doing that sort of thing as, being a part-time student myself, I love reading scholarly texts and trying to find a way to use them in my essays to help prove my point. As, you know, there can be quite a bit of wiggle room when it comes to interpreting academic and scholarly texts – and making them fit into your side of the argument. So it was good to be able to follow up on the documents ‘What the Health’ cited so that I could read the originals for myself and weigh up how it matches those quoting it, as well as my own opinions on the subjects explored.
What? You’ve just realised I am a book nerd? Noooo – really? Please, where have you been living? :-D
Please don’t see my need to fact checking as a sign I didn’t believe or enjoy ‘What the Health’, as this is not the case at all. I mean, yes, I can’t say I agreed 100% with all of it… but it was still a good documentary and companion book. It’s also a good topic to practice your critical thinking on. ;-)
The layout, formatting and usual technical stuff was a little clunky and crowded in places, but still easy to read and navigate. And, no, I didn’t get around to trying the recipes in the back, though some looked quite yummy to try.
Would I recommend this book to others?
I would, but probably only to those who had watched the ‘What the Health’ documentary. I mean, although Netgalley states it is a stand-alone book and as well companion to the documentary, I really feel this book on its own might not grab the reader’s attention as much. As the clunky layout, citations, and length gave it a rather heavy text book feel to it. And I don’t think I would have enjoyed slogging through reading it all if I’d not watched the documentary first.
And I do think that those who enjoyed the documentary would really enjoy the book as it gives you all that important and interesting information discussed in the documentary, plus the citations, recipes, etc.
Would I buy this book for myself?
Perhaps. I mean, I enjoyed the documentary and would love to have this companion book to refer to when talking to people about health, our food choices, etc. But, as I don’t agree with all of what is said, I don’t know if I would want to own it or just want it available via my local library any time I want to look something up. Face it, ‘What the Health’ advocates veganism as the ultimate way to eat… and although I agree that it can be an excellent short term body cleanse, I am an omnivore and fully believe in a high plant based diet that still includes some animals and their products. So it shows me that ‘What the Health’ is not for me. I have nothing against respectful vegans and veganism; it is just not my personal choice.
In summary: A good companion book to the documentary of the same name. If you liked the documentary, you should enjoy this too.
Okay, this review is going to actually be quite short and sweet for me. You see, I watched the documentary ‘What the Health’ and found a lot of it quite interesting, so was intrigued by the book of the same name. On Netgalley they clearly state that it is a companion book to the documentary, so I knew what I was going to be reading.
So, no surprise, the book ‘What the Health’ was basically the documentary… in book form. But what I really liked was that in the book, when they are citing specific reports and texts, there are citation numbers you can look up to find the source and look into the original report further – if you so desire. And I really like doing that sort of thing as, being a part-time student myself, I love reading scholarly texts and trying to find a way to use them in my essays to help prove my point. As, you know, there can be quite a bit of wiggle room when it comes to interpreting academic and scholarly texts – and making them fit into your side of the argument. So it was good to be able to follow up on the documents ‘What the Health’ cited so that I could read the originals for myself and weigh up how it matches those quoting it, as well as my own opinions on the subjects explored.
What? You’ve just realised I am a book nerd? Noooo – really? Please, where have you been living? :-D
Please don’t see my need to fact checking as a sign I didn’t believe or enjoy ‘What the Health’, as this is not the case at all. I mean, yes, I can’t say I agreed 100% with all of it… but it was still a good documentary and companion book. It’s also a good topic to practice your critical thinking on. ;-)
The layout, formatting and usual technical stuff was a little clunky and crowded in places, but still easy to read and navigate. And, no, I didn’t get around to trying the recipes in the back, though some looked quite yummy to try.
Would I recommend this book to others?
I would, but probably only to those who had watched the ‘What the Health’ documentary. I mean, although Netgalley states it is a stand-alone book and as well companion to the documentary, I really feel this book on its own might not grab the reader’s attention as much. As the clunky layout, citations, and length gave it a rather heavy text book feel to it. And I don’t think I would have enjoyed slogging through reading it all if I’d not watched the documentary first.
And I do think that those who enjoyed the documentary would really enjoy the book as it gives you all that important and interesting information discussed in the documentary, plus the citations, recipes, etc.
Would I buy this book for myself?
Perhaps. I mean, I enjoyed the documentary and would love to have this companion book to refer to when talking to people about health, our food choices, etc. But, as I don’t agree with all of what is said, I don’t know if I would want to own it or just want it available via my local library any time I want to look something up. Face it, ‘What the Health’ advocates veganism as the ultimate way to eat… and although I agree that it can be an excellent short term body cleanse, I am an omnivore and fully believe in a high plant based diet that still includes some animals and their products. So it shows me that ‘What the Health’ is not for me. I have nothing against respectful vegans and veganism; it is just not my personal choice.
In summary: A good companion book to the documentary of the same name. If you liked the documentary, you should enjoy this too.
October 27, 2022
I am about to turn 53 years old. I am morbidly obese but working on the problem (and other problems). I had lost 100 pounds primarily via intermittent fasting… but then developed some problems and now have gained some of the weight back and am having trouble getting back on the weight loss track.
After reading this book, and from other readings, I think I am going to give the vegan diet/lifestyle a try. It will be very difficult to give up animal products like beef, chicken, eggs, etc. But I am hopeful I can resume my weight loss efforts and improve my overall health if this works as well as they say it does. I remain skeptical but since I am not currently healthy, I think I will give the vegan lifestyle and diet a try.
After reading this book, and from other readings, I think I am going to give the vegan diet/lifestyle a try. It will be very difficult to give up animal products like beef, chicken, eggs, etc. But I am hopeful I can resume my weight loss efforts and improve my overall health if this works as well as they say it does. I remain skeptical but since I am not currently healthy, I think I will give the vegan lifestyle and diet a try.
January 2, 2019
Interesting & well writen, good examples of people who, for health reasons went vegan. Good examples for everyone. Recipes sound good & will be trying some of them.
April 9, 2019
My firm wish would be for everyone to read this book! It's an absolute must if you want the truth and to be informative about what is the healthiest way of eating. The movie is a must watch as well!
April 21, 2020
Informative
December 19, 2020
This book had me feeling sick throughout and I was almost in tears by the end. If you read only one book in 2021, let it be this one.
August 2, 2021
I thought the book was quite a bit more interesting than watching the documentary. Very informative and a all in one case for plant based eating.
October 8, 2021
Revelatory and life changing for me. The push I needed to really look at how i eat as it relates to me overall health & longevity.
November 28, 2021
Wow, just wow!
November 2, 2025
2018 Lifestyle is more important than smoking. Low fat plant based diet is best. Fecal contamination is 80-90 % in meats.
January 14, 2019
Received a copy from Goodreads Giveaways.
Well researched with plenty of references. Quite an eye-opener. I will never look at a glass of milk the same way. Does make one stop and thing about what we put in our mouths. I thought it was very well written. Definitely will be looking at more plant based recipes. Will be trying some of the recipes as well as looking for more.
I highly recommend. Well worth the read.
Well researched with plenty of references. Quite an eye-opener. I will never look at a glass of milk the same way. Does make one stop and thing about what we put in our mouths. I thought it was very well written. Definitely will be looking at more plant based recipes. Will be trying some of the recipes as well as looking for more.
I highly recommend. Well worth the read.
May 30, 2019
This book is full of studies and interviews with doctors and health practitioners on the wide and controversial topic of nutrition i.e. what is good for you and what is not.
Have you ever wondered if gluten and dairy are actually bad for you? Have you ever questioned if lean animal protein is actually good for you?
Most probably, you have. (All humans have.)
This book tries to uncover if any of these nutrition "facts" are based in science.
The book was well written and was engaging, despite the authors mentioning a new expert and a new study every other page.
There is a documentary to go with the book which I haven't watched.
The book ended at about 50% on my Kindle and the next 14% was recipes. After the 64-65% mark, it was notes and bibliography. Just a heads up.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to use food to live a better life. That means everyone. So go ahead and read this one.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
Have you ever wondered if gluten and dairy are actually bad for you? Have you ever questioned if lean animal protein is actually good for you?
Most probably, you have. (All humans have.)
This book tries to uncover if any of these nutrition "facts" are based in science.
The book was well written and was engaging, despite the authors mentioning a new expert and a new study every other page.
There is a documentary to go with the book which I haven't watched.
The book ended at about 50% on my Kindle and the next 14% was recipes. After the 64-65% mark, it was notes and bibliography. Just a heads up.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to use food to live a better life. That means everyone. So go ahead and read this one.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
December 10, 2018
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book had some good informative information on the issues that plague American made food. The author specifically targets meat, dairy and a little about health care in general. The author reveals that many of these foods are high in toxic chemicals and are a leading cause of cancer, diabetes and other life threatening diseases. This book is clearly written with the intend of pushing the reader to consider a plant based diet by emphazing the toxicity of other food. While I agree with many of the points indicated, I felt the author failed to explain that many of the fruits and vegetables grown in the US also carry toxic chemicals due to pesticides and other chemicals added to the plants. Even organically grown plants still carry some kind of pesticide. And then there's GMO that even if you buy non GMO you can never fully be sure your produce was not contaminated.
Unfortunately, American grown food has toxins that we can't avoid but that doesn't mean we shouldn't d minimize the things we know in large consumption is hazardous.
I thought this book had some good informative information on the issues that plague American made food. The author specifically targets meat, dairy and a little about health care in general. The author reveals that many of these foods are high in toxic chemicals and are a leading cause of cancer, diabetes and other life threatening diseases. This book is clearly written with the intend of pushing the reader to consider a plant based diet by emphazing the toxicity of other food. While I agree with many of the points indicated, I felt the author failed to explain that many of the fruits and vegetables grown in the US also carry toxic chemicals due to pesticides and other chemicals added to the plants. Even organically grown plants still carry some kind of pesticide. And then there's GMO that even if you buy non GMO you can never fully be sure your produce was not contaminated.
Unfortunately, American grown food has toxins that we can't avoid but that doesn't mean we shouldn't d minimize the things we know in large consumption is hazardous.
December 3, 2018
I want to start off by saying that I am a huge fan of the WHAT THE HEALTH documentary. I saw it last year in 2017 and it literally changed my life. Needless to say, I was super excited to gain access to this wonderful resource in book form. I immediately learned that the book does not disappoint. However, the one thing I love about the book is the same reason I find it daunting; knowledge overload. I desired an easy to read and follow self-help book in a sense. But when reading it, it feels more like a reference book or encyclopedia. There is a monstrous amount of information provided and it can become overwhelming trying to take it all in. Indeed, all the information is essential and so needed but this is not a book you can read in a few days...not even in a few weeks even. They do an excellent job breaking it all down and you have to just slowly take in the information and marinate on it. Worth every penny.
January 4, 2019
I absolutely loved "What the Health"! The film by the same authors was lifechanging and this book is fantastic as well. (I knew it would be.) I highly, highly recommend reading Andersen and Kuhn's extraordinary book.
April 23, 2019
I'd watched the documentary when it hit Netflix a while back. It was very interesting and I really trusted the presentation of data. It was done in a very matter of fact, no hype, no nonsense approach and that really spoke to me; made me believe they had no hidden agenda other than to help people just be healthier. When the opportunity to read the book & try some recipes presented itself I jumped at the chance. The book goes a little further into the data and research that was done and gives you many delicious recipes. It's an excellent companion to the documentary and I highly recommend it. I am currently on my way to an exclusively vegan diet, I found that animal products are part of what is causing my inflammation & digestive issues, especially dairy. This book does a great job of explaining things so you're not feeling talked down to, not being made to feel bad if you still eat meat and helps ease you into changing your lifestyle so it's not such a shock and you actually feel better. The recipes are excellent as well, easy to make with ingredients that aren't hard to find. This is a great one for anyone that was contemplating a plant based lifestyle and not sure where to start.
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