Georgia Stucki

Nutrition 1020

Laura Holtrop Kohl

December 4, 2019

Why Americans should consider the Art of Plant-based Cooking

Forks Over Knifes is a documentary produced in 2011 and directed by Lee

Fulkerson. The documentary follows two profound physicians who both, in different

ways, found that animal-based and processed foods were accelerating or causing

chronic diseases over periods of time. Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell

Esselstyn hypothesized that the consumption of a whole food, plant-based diet could

reverse or control chronic diseases. The documentary also introduces you to several

patients who are trying the diet to see if they are control or reverse the chronic

diseases they have been diagnosed with. Dr. Campbell and Dr. Caldwell both took

different paths to comes to the conclusion of “Let food by thy medicine.” The reason

I chose this documentary was because I was interested in the benefits of a whole

food, plant-based diet when it comes to health. I was under the impression, like

most people interviewed in this documentary that animal-based products contained

protein that was necessary for our health and nutrition. The documentary proves

that the protein found in animal-based products can also be found and replaced

with plant-based products.

Lee Fulkerson, the film’s director, admits that at the beginning of this

documentary he had no clue what he was getting into. “I haven’t always lived the

healthiest lifestyle, and I’ve eaten more than my share of fast food.” (Fulkerson, Lee

04:41-04:45) Fulkerson gets introduced to Dr. Matt Lederman and Dr. Alona Pulde
Georgia Stucki

Nutrition 1020

who help him make the connect between his bad eating habits and his health. Dr.

Lederman and Pulde specialize in a whole plant foods nutrition plan that Fulkerson

undergoes through the documentary. Lederman and Pulde prove that they are the

experts when they help Fulkerson and many others in the documentary lower their

chances of getting cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The two physicians help

their patient by preparing foods correctly and introducing them to new recipes. At

the end of the film, Dr. Lederman reads Fulkerson his results and all his levels went

down from his blood pressure, resting heart rate and LDL cholesterol. Since the

filming, Fulkerson has stayed on the plant-based diet and has even tried to get his

mom to start the diet.

The documentary was produced in 2011 and since then many ideals are still

applicable today. Organizations across the country are striving to bring their

customers more plant-based meals. According to foodrevolution.org, an

organization striving for “healthy, ethical and sustainable food for all people.” (Food

revolution network) Whole-based and plant-based diets are becoming more and

more common. Athletes, families, older and younger people are all starting to eat

and live the vegan lifestyle. Four main factors are brought up now when talking

about veganism: health, environment, human rights and the animals. Forks Over

Knifes focuses on the importance of a plant-based diet for our health but didn’t even

get into what is happening behind closed doors to the animals we are consuming.

Abuse, inhuman violence, unhealthy diets and poor living conditions are what some

see when eating animal products. The higher demand of meat makes the treatment
Georgia Stucki

Nutrition 1020

and quality of the animals diminish. The earth is suffering as much as the animals

while animal agriculture takes up more space for growing production needs and

greenhouse gases rise. The environment and humanity are only going to worsen if

animal products are still being mass produced at the growing rate they are.

The textbook talks about the recommended daily intake of each food groups

and what is needed, the food pyramid. Vegans have a food pyramid, but it excludes

every animal sourced product including all dairy. The spaces missing the animal

sourced items are replaced with leafy green vegetables, high-fat whole foods,

legumes and whole grains. Fruit and vegetables are the main ingredient of vegan

diets and lifestyles. Instead of having milk or soda as a drink they would choose

orange juice or any other fruit juice. The second thing that the textbook hits on is

animal sources of cholesterol that are bad for you. HDL and LDL cholesterol are only

found in animal products and the highest-cholesterol foods are eggs, cheese,

shellfish, pasture-raised steak, organ meals, sardines and full-fat yogurt. Not eating

these food items will decrease the cholesterol intake therefore letting the HDL

cholesterol go back to the liver and remove some of the LDL cholesterol away.

Finally, the textbook talks about the places with the best diets and lifespans when it

comes to health. Forks Over Knifes also stresses this point by showing that people

who engage in veganism live happier, healthier lives because they start putting an

effort into their health which is something most people lack awareness of.

The information that was provided by the documentary and by this class

were acronical. The research makes it impossible to look at the results and not see
Georgia Stucki

Nutrition 1020

the correlation between how you eat and how healthy you become. What we put

into our body fuels our bodies to be the best, the best type of food will prove to have

the best results. Veganism always sounded unimportant because of the falsehood

that we need protein from animal products. However, when it comes to protein, we

can get our full protein amount in plant-based foods without having any animal

products. The idea that we can get all our nutritious from the plant-based foods that

we eat is an easy concept, making the food and eating it is another. I can’t promise

that Forks and Knifes changed my entire outlook on the way that I eat but it made

me think about my risks of getting certain cancers and diseases and a sure way of

reducing and reversing my risks.

Georgia Stucki

Nutrition 1020

Works Cited

“About Us.” Food Revolution Network, 7 Aug. 2019,

https://foodrevolution.org/about/.

Fulkerson, Lee, director. Forks Over Knifes. 2011.

Wardlaw, Gordon M., et al. Wardlaws Contemporary Nutrition: a Functional Approach.

McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.