The documentary In Defense of Food, is based on the best selling book of award winning journalist Michael Pollan. The book came out in 2008 and the documentary followed in 2015. Pollan narrates majority of the documentary himself along with views and opinions nutritionalists and health experts. Michael Pollan explores the ‘Western Diet’ most of us have adapted to(lots of meat, white flour, vegetable oils and sugar) which has been shown to cause many health problems we suffer from today.
In Defense of Food focuses on the idea of “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. There are so many topics that it covers from, the dangers of processed foods to different cultures ways of eating. I thought that I had a bit of knowledge towards which foods were healthy and which foods weren’t. I was shocked to see what was hidden on labels to appeal to the buyer, I know packaging and fat free signs would usually get me every time.”Processed foods should be called edible food like substances”, this sentence really hit me. fresh produce doesn’t have health claims or lists of unknown ingredients, they generally just have an expiry or best before date. It is pretty clear that the audience they’re aiming towards is people interested in the health and food industry.
The most alarming part to me was the terrifying growth of type 2 diabetes, especially in young children. Michael Pollan explains how sugar is linked to this. Soft drinks are generally cheaper than water making it easy option for kids. It isn’t just soft drinks, over eating carbohydrates can be a problem too. Carbohydrates turn into glucose once digested which causes our blood sugar levels to rise, the pancreas then produces insulin, which is a hormone that prompts cells to absorb blood sugar for energy/storage, the levels in the bloodstream begin to drop.
One of my favourite parts of the documentary was the Hadza Tribe from Tanzania. Hunting and gathering has been the way of life for the Hadza tribe. They figure out how to use what nature has provided them with, from roots to honey. Honey is the only source of sugar they have and sometimes have to climb trees just to get handfuls at a time. What I also found interesting was the low rate of cancer and diabetes among the tribe. So what does this tell us? A plant based diet with non processed meat really does effect the way our bodies work.
Overall this documentary has been a huge eye opener for me. I never realised the real dangers of processed foods and the impact they are having on our lives. With the rapidly growing type 2 diabetes rate, (mainly in children) we need to do something about what we eat and educate those who don’t know how. I have barely even talked about all the topics In Defense of Food goes over so I would highly recommend watching this documentary. Everything in the documentary is backed up by research or facts. I’m now prepared to really take control of what I eat and chose what to fuel my body with.
Georgina Leggett 