Tia M. Palmer
Brown Mackie College
COM1102 M1
March 3, 2016
Abstract
Pros of a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet After a recent review of the documentary Forks over Knives, it has been shown through research and studies of individuals that a whole-food, plant-based diet can be beneficial to a person’s health and can prevent and possibly reverse certain diseases. Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition” (as cited in Corry, 2011). This film recommends a vegan diet while stressing the avoidance of processed foods and animal protein leading us to believe that a whole-food, plant-based diet …show more content…
This particular way of eating focuses on plants, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes. This diet does not include the consumption of meat products, processed or refined foods including bleached flour, refined sugar, or oil. Over the last decade, the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy has risen dramatically. Protein was considered an essential nutrient to the body. The word protein seems to be synonymous to animal protein when polling the general public. Foods that offer convenience for our fast paced lifestyle started becoming available in the 1950’s which drastically changed the way we eat. According to the documentary, the popularity of processed foods has led to epidemic rates of obesity and diseases. This has been a continuing problem over the last decade among Americans as food is the central focus of our daily lives. Lee Fulkerson, the writer and director of Forks over Knives states, “The United States is facing a massive health care crisis. No less than 40% of Americans today are obese and approximately one half of us are taking some form of prescription drug. This is possibly the first generation in the United States to live less than one’s parents” (Corry, 2011). This information is quite staggering especially as the films suggests that one million Americans die sooner than expected from some of these leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and high blood pressure, and are plagued by other various illnesses. According to the film, nearly one-half of those deaths could have been