Food Matters (2008) Reviews

• pseudoscience that is very dangerous

  Mamune2013-02-05

  A very dangerous film. DO NOT LISTEN TO IT. I am a REAL Biochemist (degree and all) and I can say for sure MOST OF this film is a lie. Yes certain things are true such as B3 and depression but 11,500mg of B3 (Niacin) a day is NOT HEALTHY. The movie leads you on to believe that the person needs it because they are deficient. The truth could actually be that the person is actually not deficient and that the receptor in the brain for B3 is genetically hampered and doesn't respond well (or even none at all of which the next part wouldn't matter) to B3 unless massive doses (high molarity) is present which will decrease the Kd (dissociation constant). You could end up killing your family member doing this by OVER DOSING them. People have to understand that Niacin is a CHEMICAL and like all Chemicals they have side EFFECTS, so lets review them shall we? Primary side effects contain (hey we've seen this before right?) Blotching, Fever, dryness (Psoriasis), muscle damage, and hepatoxicity (liver damage to the extent of failure). also if you don't believe that you can always check an accredited medical site such as Mayo Clinic. Thank god the person listened to their psychiatrist and stopped that ludicrous regimen. Why its not healthy even though the movie people say it is. The thing is when you have a high molarity of anything other reactions in the body can and will take place. This can make things very dangerous, and also the reason why many nutritionists have no idea what's going on in the human body. Nutrition is mostly PREVENTIVE and slightly CURATIVE. Medicine is the opposite and that is why people who get cured get sick again because they don't learn the PREVENTIVE MEASURES or decline to do them. There is a Biochemist I know in fact that takes Lipitor to reduce their cholesterol even though they know healthy eating would be better just cause they hate exercise and wants to eat what they want despite knowing and admitting its bad for them. That is also quite shameful and a poor example to others. The whole thing about vitamin C and cancer is true to an extent. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and can prevent cancer (notice preventive!), so why don't we eat more of it? Because it can cause cancer at HIGHER MOLARITIES. There are hundreds of accredited documented papers that discuss this. They are hard to find (but they are there) because of all the science Jargon that I'm used to but It has been shown in: Podmore ID, Griffith HR, Karl HE, Mistry N, Mistry P & Lunec J (1998): Vitamin C exhibits pro-oxidant properties. Nature 392, 559–560. Cai L, Koropatnick J & Cherian MG (2001): Roles of vitamin C in radiation-induced DNA -damage in presence and absence of copper. Chem. Biol. Interact. 137, 75–88. Guidarelli A, De Sanctis R, Cellini B, Fiorani M, Dacha M & Cantoni O (2001): Intracellular ascorbic acid enhances the DNA single-strand breakage and toxicity induced by peroxynitrite in U937 cells. Biochem. J. 365, 509–513. What happens is metals such as iron can be reduced, oxidized, and then re-reduced, in a process called redox cycling that can generate reactive oxygen species and THOSE ARE BAD. Don't read the ones by Linus Pauling as they are biased (obviously) and were even cited as an embarrassment by the National Cancer Institute. Linus Pauling (discussed in this film) who was pretty much the founder of megadosing vitamin C took around 12,000mg of vitamin C A DAY and DIED of PROSTATE CANCER. If it was so miraculous why didn't it save him? Because it doesn't work. Now the film also states that modern medicine and scientist didn't try megadosing. Well, that's not true either. The Mayo Clinic which is a NONPROFIT organization tried to replicate Linus Pauling's work with megadosing and cancer and found that they COULD NOT REPLICATE the results even with THREE subsequent trials. Source: Cabanillas, F (2010). "Vitamin C and cancer: what can we conclude--1,609 patients and 33 years later?". Puerto Rico health sciences journal 29 (3): 215–7. Everything you eat causes cancer because of the superoxide anion radicals (O2*-) formed in the mitochondria, but is also reduced to H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) and other reactions with OH and so on and so forth. Now Vitamin C pulls away those oxygen radicals. That's how it works to SAVE you, but again too much is not a good idea. Anyways, all foods have certain effects that negate one form of cancer and cause another. The trick is a BALANCE. Even grass fed beef while known to cause colon cancer and testicular cancer in men, prevents a slew of other cancers, diabetes, and other problems with its Conjugated Linoleic Acid only found in grass fed beef not corn fed beef. Again balance is key. Eat but in moderation. In conclusion this film is trash and an abomination to real scientists and again if it was so true then why at the end of the credits do they pretty much say, "DO NOT DO THIS!" It is insulting, dangerous for the average viewer, and full of lies and worst of all false hopes.

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• Pseudoscience destroys a good message

  rocketsmith2009-12-25

  The overall message of the film- that our food supply is in bad shape and that our dietary habits are contributing to our current health crisis - is one that I believe in whole-heartedly. However, making that argument with a bunch of new-age mumbo-jumbo pseudoscience mixed with a sprinkling of real facts as this film does is counterproductive. It just makes it that much easier for the giant corporations, medical establishment and public at large to dismiss these questions and continue destroying the world's farmlands and our collective health. Go watch "Food Inc." instead if you wish to find out what is wrong with the world's food supply and what can be done to fix it.

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• Poorly made, and just as poorly founded

  bosonichadron-581-3795112013-01-14

  Don't waste your time. Aside from being a poorly made, tedious documentary, I can't seem to find any evidence supporting the very outlandish claims that the people interviewed make--I can, however, find plenty of evidence that contradicts these claims. And I don't know about you but I'm going to need a good amount of evidence that someone lost 15 lbs in one day and didn't die, and that Vitamin C can cure cancer. They do make some points that seem okay like eat vegetables, take your vitamins etc. but who didn't already know that? What little evidence that does come up is not verified by the documentary at all, the viewer is left on their own to find it, and for all the major points that the doc makes I cannot find anything(with the exception of Linus Pauling's study on vit c done back in 1968, but it has been contradicted many times since (see the citations on the wikipedia pg of Linus Pauling) and Pauling's study was found to be bunk anyway. (ibid)). Also, I can't seem to find credentials on anyone interviewed here (well, not any credentials they would want to brag about anyway, like how Dan Rogers got his MD from a University in Mexico). Andrew Saul does write the occasional paper in the journal he mentions but he only has a small handful of citations and only then because he cites his own papers. There are also many logical fallacies. For example, Andrew Saul is being interviewed and says "Doctors say you shouldn't take vitamins". (or something to take effect) But I've never heard of a doctor doing that. Classic Straw-man fallacy. After all, if that were true how could Centrium claim that it's the "#1 Doctor recommended". All the doctors I've spoken to recommend multivitamins, with few reservations. Alright so to sum it up. Very strong, outlandish statements, and no evidence to back them up, not even if you look for it.

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• You are what you eat. Change your lifestyle for a happy healthy life

  karian_tb2010-10-05

  I am inspired. I am motivated. I love watching this documentary, even though it's the fifth time I've seen it. Watching this has been on my to-do list for a long time. And, am I glad I saw it! I showed it to many of my friends and we all wholeheartedly agreed that this is a documentary we want to see a few times a year. It's that good! Every time I see it, I hear something new. And for the stuff I've already heard, it just further ingrains it in my sub consciousness and I feel myself internalizing its details more and more. I walk away feeling strong, smart, and empowered about my lifestyle decisions, albeit a bit frustrated at times because not enough people know this information. I pretty much hang on every line of Food Matters. I love the discussion of vitamins and the vital role vitamin C can play in helping fight illness at various quantities. It was fascinating to learn about the therapeutic effects of niacin, and its history as a cure for depression with the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. There is so much more that I could write but you should see it for yourself. It's fantastic!

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• Food Matter's was very insightful!

  hannahmarie-gordon1112015-02-26

  Food Matters was a very intriguing and interesting documentary. It gave me an additional viewpoint on the development of modern medicine. Most Americans have no idea what's behind the scenes in this field, but this documentary uncovered some of the mystery. The health experts that were featured in the documentary gave an insight on many controversial issues such as cancer, vitamins, and the lack of nutrition knowledge in today's medical field. I personally enjoyed hearing about how organic methods are rarely considered when treating an illness or disease. The health experts gave us specific cases in history that retained to organic methods of healing being more beneficial than the "pill for an ill" approach that medical doctors are being trained to apply in their practices in today's society. It really opened my eyes hearing about how major medical industries are hiding the fact that vitamins and organics can be just as effective in body system healing as the medicinal methods. The health experts produced facts and statistics that proved this and it made me want to look more into the motivation of modern medical industries. In this documentary, the health experts repeatedly told their viewers how today's medical industry is very money driven. It is almost like they value the money over the actual health and well- being of the population. I was bewildered to hear that most medical schools do not thoroughly teach nutrition to their students, and this was said to be a big problem. It is a huge problem because the root of a lot of current illnesses and diseases lie in what the patient's daily diet consists of. I am a strong believer that a healthy, well-balanced diet is detrimental to stay healthy and active, so hearing this small fact from the documentary was no shock to me. In all, this documentary was very insightful and I recommend it for anyone interested in delving deeper into today's medical motivation's and uncovering how Orthomolecular medicine can impact the population in a beneficial way.

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