Scientist fact-checks New Netflix Diet Documentary: Vegan vs Omnivore Twins
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- Опубліковано 12 тра 2024
- The New Netflix show on diets is creating a ruckus, with some applauding it and some calling it "biased" and "propaganda". It's called "You are what you Eat" and it covers the Stanford Twin Experiment. Let's examine some of the claims and messages and their scientific foundation.
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References
Stanford Twin experiment:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...
Casomorphins:
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Dairy & Cancer:
www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-pr...
acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wil...
Climate & Food System:
science.sciencemag.org/conten...
Bifidobacteria & Human Health:
www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Disclaimer: The contents of this video are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor to replace medical care. The information presented herein is accurate and conforms to the available scientific evidence to the best of the author's knowledge as of the time of posting. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding any medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of information contained in Nutrition Made Simple!.
#NutritionMadeSimple #GilCarvalho
0:00 New Netflix doco
2:29 Scientific claims
4:30 Unreliable communication
6:51 Environmental issues
8:03 Results
9:04 Body composition
9:43 Arousal
11:02 Cognition
11:36 Microbiome
12:13 Rate of Aging
13:17 Cholesterol & Insulin
Great point about unreliable communication. Something I feel strongly about, as well.
One of the biggest challenges over the years has been how to point out inaccuracies without antagonizing people so there's dialogue and collective improvement rather than "diet wars". A learning process...
You two are going to have your hands full for a hot minute dealing with this Christopher Gardner gem 😉.
An informative and interesting review of the Netflix series. One of the things that really struck me when I watched it was the insistence that both the vegan and omnivorous diets were healthy, yet the vegan arm were provided with ultraprocessed food (fake sausages, cheese etc) which are known to be bad for health. This seems most bizarre.
Indeed, good remark. Most of the vegan alternatives that look like meat are UP foods that need to be avoided.
How are they "known" to be bad for health? I'm not doubting you, I just haven't come across this. I love my vegan sausages, eat them 5-6 times a week. LDL is still dropping. Anecdotal, I know.
@@amybethhurst You people just know NO LIMITS.
I didn't notice this, but it's a good point. I myself am clearing as much UPF as possible, out of my diet atm. Vegan four years and I started off eating lots of whole foods and lost 30lbs. As I have added processed foods, like sausages, burgers and cheese back into my diet, the weight has started going back up. So, it's back to the potatoes and veggies for me. 😅
@@amybethhurst They are processed, that's how.
I couldn't even begin to bother with a show like this. First of all, the vegan diet doesn't tell us what someone is eating; it only tells us what they don't eat. The same is true of the omnivore diet. Either one could be a relatively healthy or unhealthy diet depending on what the people on each diet are eating.
The study showed how each diet was designed and what they consisted of. Both are considered to be quite healthy, centered around whole plants, basically diferentiated by whether they contained some meat or not. The study is quite interesting (I haven't watched the documentary). The channel Plant Chompers just released a great video about it, interviewing the scientists behind it. I highly recommend you check it out! Here: ua-cam.com/video/t24BCuXIlZI/v-deo.htmlsi=zcqUaYGyuuGEbAjE
i haven’t seen the show, but the scientific study was excellent.
Excellent!!! Thanks so much for this nuanced, honest review of the Netflix series. I have been happily vegan/plant-based for over 10 years now, but even I, after all these years find myself "put off" by unsubstantiated claims made by so many of the well respected and well meaning leaders in the movement. I've had to come to my own conclusions, digging for valid info in the literature as a non-scientist. I am so glad to have come across you and Chris MacAskill at Plant Chompers!!! ❤
Totally agree! I am also happily plant based (starting my 6th year) and I also find it hard to find reliable evidence-based sources of information. I first started with How not to Die and the Nutrition Facts, but I later realized this is not a un biased source🙈 I am also much more nuanced in my stance towards health benefits of plant-based eating and I am no longer pushing this lifestyle as the holy grail. Also share your appreciation of this channel and the Plant Chompers!❤
Indeed I like this channel and plant choppers as well. But when the book of dr Greger came out you see that they did an interview : from the format you see that there are both (Chris and his wife) big fans. Thus this was not an objective evaluation like in the other videos. It’s my perception and it’s maybe not true but when I read the book « how not to age », it’s the same direction during 600 pages : plants are good and animal products are bad.
If you are vegan it reinforces your beliefs. If you are not (my case), you have a feeling like : ok it’s surely better to eat plants (and I was impressed by the power of plants) but there must be some positive things somewhere about eating chicken or eggs or fish ? And as it’s never mentioned, you wonder if there is no cherry picking.
I solved this issue by telling myself that the aim was to eat more plant based even if I still ate animal products. And I will try to replace the easy things eg bake cakes without eggs, make creamy dishes with cashews or silken tofu, learn to cook something with tofu and tempeh that my kids accept to eat ….
My thoughts exactly! Best wishes.
Body integrity results are what matter.
Plant chompers excellent
Not kidding, I believe I would have given up on finding fact based information on nutrition had I not come across your channel. Please never give up the fight....It's a difficult one and will never end. Just know, you make a difference to so many.
There's another UA-cam channel called "Plant Chompers" that I personally like. The author is a vegan, though one doesn't have to be a vegan to enjoy the content. I'm not a vegan and am only interested in facts and I think that channel (like this one) shows how a lot of health "experts" mislead people. Also, there's a podcast called "Sigma Nutrition" that I highly recommend. They don't have a UA-cam presence, but you can find them on various podcast-streaming platforms.
I wish channels would list their top ten other channels to watch.
@@karlhungus5554
@@karlhungus5554plant choppers is a nice guy but he is still heavily biased.
Great review and I agree 100% that selectively presenting evidence is sure to backfire and only harms the credibility of whatever case you're trying to make.
The advocates of the "EAT THIS WAY OR ELSE" type of diets too often "cherry-pick" data that supports their views while ignoring that which contradicts or is ambiguous. I appreciate your candor and objectivity. I trust science because of those qualities, it's the most reliable vehicle we have to unveil the truth.
Dr. Gil is one of the few sane people on here, in my opinion. About half of the doctors on here, have no business giving advice about nutrition to anybody. It's like all they care about is getting more clicks. For example, who but a nutcase would suggest eating a carnivore diet is healthy? Also, people suggesting that diabetes is a condition that's mainly about eating too many carbs, and so the best treatment there is, is eating less of them, is offering overly simplistic advice. It's never a good idea to make important health decisions based on the advice of a stranger on UA-cam, and not seeing a medical specialist. Dr. Nicola Guess is a far better resource, to me. My protein target as an athlete, is high enough that it's hard for me to get enough without protein powders if I don't eat animal products. I have added more nuts and beans over the years and am currently at about 50/50.
So true, the big issue these days is you have to check the study reports and protocols for yourself, money influence so much of what is called "science" today
I think it's fair to say the producers of the series were hoping to portray plant-based diets in a very positive light and they did not hide the muscle loss in the vegan group. They deserve respect for that.
These are the secrets to living more than 116 years from spanish María Branyas, the oldest person in the world:
1. Eat without getting completely full. Eat small amounts of food. This habit consists of eating only what we need, without overdoing it. There is no deprivation of any food, but you do consume those that are less healthy on rare occasions.
2. María eats yogurt every day, but natural, nothing sugary.
3. Stress management. A quiet life. María indicates the need to get closer to people who give us good energy and positivity, and stay away from those who bring the opposite.
4. María has not had any major illness in her 116 years, and she overcame Covid-19 without major consequences.
I am vegan and I agree with everything that you said in your rant. I want to know the actual facts, and it's so hard these days with each side spouting their propaganda, and then having those narratives parroted online.. There are numerous legit reasons to go vegan, we don't need to be spreading misinformation or half truths.
As a vegan, I also agree. However it seems that propaganda works, so I say fight fire with fire if that's what it takes. I think unbiased high quality work will never make it to the mainstream, especially in a tv format. This hopefully brings exposure for others to do some digging and reflect on their choices.
What is your opinion on veganism bringing more profit to companies?
What legit reasons?
@@alexkwak7146 Climate friendliness for once (especially if you cut out lamb and beef), also if you have a tendency to eat junk food, people may tend to eat less because of limited choice :)
That's among others for sure, just the ones that matter to me.
@@alexkwak7146if we are talking from a health based point of view, there's an amplitude of studies that show alot of benefits if one follows a diet that's whole food and plant based. From lowering cholesterol levels, to overall artery health, to better gut microbiome due to the diversity of veggies consumed etc. Ofc I can't mention everything, but this channel has a lot of videos that study different meta-analysies that have come out surrounding nutrition, so I'd say maybe take a look!
Ofc, veganism isn't only about your dietary choices. Veganism is the effort to try to minimize animal suffering and exploitation. Therefore, it's to not pay for animal products in food or clothes or cosmetics, and to actively try to help animals in any way you practically can. It's all about the effort to live a life where animals suffer less because of your choices! So, if you want to get a better understanding of veganism, I would suggest the channel Earthling Ed, he's a very eloquent fellow that would explain such a consent better than I ever would! Hope this helps!
Been there. done that. Vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, Keto, etc etc etc. In the end I am healthier on a diet of variety and eating food that is the least adulterated with chemicals and processing as possible. I culture and ferment, cook from scratch as much as I can, choose brands carefully by research and simply reading labels. I am 75 and “oddly” in spite of having Sjögren’s from 8 years of stressful caregiving for my Alzheimer’s mother, I am amazingly healthy physically and mentally. I also liberally use alternative medicine when the research supports it and don’t bow to pharmaceutical bullying by doctors but do extensive research to get to the real facts. So far, this approach is working well for me. Also mental and emotional health can’t be underestimated. So my motto is Live, Love, Laugh and always be kind.
I have been one of the people who complained about you "attaking" the "good guys". I see now that you're right. Thanks for that.
I think that it’s very nice of you of posting that comment. Because it’s rare for people to reflect on their past actions and saying that they could have done something else. 👍
@@virginiemazy7054 thanks☺
@@virginiemazy7054Agree!
I've eaten an omnivore diet for the first 17 years of my life and then switched to a vegan diet. I'm now 54. I can honestly say there's room for improvement in both ways of eating. I had issues when I ate meat and in the first ten years as a vegan. Eating whole foods and drinking filtered water is best while also making sure you're getting adequate omega 3. Stay away from sugar and processed carbs. Also, I've found that eating plenty of fermented foods will keep you regular, more so than increasing your fiber intake. Lastly, exercise is also important. Lots of walking and either free weights or machine work is necessary to maintain your form. That's about it.
Don't forget the main objective of Netflix documentaries is not to inform, but to entertain and profit. Obviously, controversial topics are very lucrative, regardless of the quality of the evidence presented.
You are right and I agree with you. However, Dr. Gil also told the same during this rant.
And the problem with it that there are many people who aren't into health and nutrition that much, unlike most subscribers of channels like this one. Those less interested people base their opinions on one or two popular Netflix documentaries and maybe one or two short articles in lifestyle magazines like Cosmopolitan.
There is so much science supporting that plant based diets lead to better health. And I’m living proof. When I was eating g the SAD I had so many issues. I’m so much better. That’s all the truth I need. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, do your own homework. Try it yourself. The proof is in the vegetable. 🥦
Dr. Gil, Thank you for remaining committed to presenting scientific data. It can't be easy when you see almost every other well respected healthcare professional becoming a for profit ad for various wellness products. I'm sure you are aware of the $$$ involved. Please know that you have a community of followers who appreciate the fact that you remain true to presenting scientific facts with no loyalty to any product or specific diet. You are a breath of fresh air in this time of distorted information. Muito obrigada from the Algarve.
BRAVO Dr. Gil! If you could see me, you would see I am giving you a standing ovation. So right about "half-truths" they are dangerous and will cause people like me to not believe anything you say and turn you off. This is why I love your channel; you based your decisions/statements on science not on your personal biases. Thank you!
The problem with only-science-based decisions is that one can harm a lot. I think that first comes philosophy and morals and then science
Well said! You have a great way of communicating complex scientific problems to the masses without over-complicating it. Another great quality of yours is you aren't egotistical in relaying your message. Other people seem to want to make themselves sound smarter, rather than relay/explain a point. Thank you!
I started watching the show and was immediately disappointed by how persuasive it was. I didn't finish watching it.
I was impressed that the results were not overwhelming a vegan win, but they still went through with it. Obviously better numbers for vegans, but the real benefits are cumulative over a lifetime. That can't be captured in the format of a Netflix show.
What has dieting got to do with slim fit young'uns?
... including an elevated risk of degenerative diseases over those long periods. The picture is never just all roses or all thorns. That's why truthful and comprehensive details are so important in health sciences / nutrition.
It's not about veganism really, it's about emphasizing whole plants as the centerpiece of one's diet. That said, one can eat the healthiest variety of foods for all his life and still succumb to a banal infection on his 37th birthday; no habit is magic, genetics and luck will always be factors., yet it's still better to shift the odds in the right direction.
Just not true. When you get to wake up everyday and take a massive dump.. satisfying..
Meat gets you backed up and constipated..
It was also only done over a short period of time
All I know is that I was in Keto for years which I did perfetly, my health plummeted, I had problems scratching my entire body until it bled, for example. I had trouble walking. Then I found Dr. Esselstyn. What great health I have now. You have to manage your health yourself, you can't depend on traditional medicine--this taught to me by an esteemed MD I once worked for known round the world and former CHief of Staff at one of the largest teaching hospitals.
Histamine overload probably. I also get that if I abuse nuts and fermented foods, because of my double MTHFR gene mutation. So yes, hear the science but don't be afraid to steer in another direction if it doesn't work for your specific case.
Thanks. I'm a vegan. I very much appreciate your insistence on rigorous argument. I must often defend myself against aggressive argument by people who expect me to justify my decisions while they don't feel any responsibility to make a coherent argument to back up their "normal" choices. Top tip: do not ever utter the word "tofu"!
Just say "The T word!' lol
I'm not vegan but tofu is awesome, it's sad that a traditional Asian staple food is only seen by Westerners as "vegan chicken" or whatever.
I am just wondering if you know if it is true that in order to grow vegetables and fruits to feed a huge population, that millions of birds need to be killed? Is it true that in order to make a fertilizer for strawberries use animals?
Truth is Mike it goes both ways trust me. I hear ya though. Some people are just so into there diet lifestyle choices that they see everyone who is not apart of it as morally bankrupt.
It goes both ways. Aggressiveness arises from both sides.
Every time I see one of your videos, at a certain point, I need to pause the video and comment: I really love the way you analize a topic. You don’t leave anything to the case and try to cover every little aspect of the whole thing.
You are a true mentor to me!
Filippo, young MD from Italy 🇮🇹
Well done! I love a non-biased review and your level headed conversation!
A coverage of what omnivores ate..(SAD diet,junk food, ultra processed etc), vs vegan (did they eat vegan-or did they add the “fake” meat and cheese and ultra processed vegan “food”?) would be interesting.
Fascinating subject..I was vegan (stopped 3 years ago) for almost 30 years and find this sudden flood of documentary-type shows intriguing. I look forward to more on this subject!
Thank you for your steady hand in dissecting the details we all need to see. The wizard of oz, was after all, just a man behind a curtain.
I thought the idea for the experiment was really interesting and it was also good to see how people got on and follow along for the duration of the study. Having said that, this documentary I found pretty annoying at a lot of points because it just kept going way off topic with things completely unrelated to the study, episodes 2 and 3 was almost completely irrelevant.
Imho it would be better to half the length and actually stay on topic
It was all about virtue signalling rather than an experiment that's why. Just like many other documentaries on netflix. It was nonsense.
It’s called filler and modern documentaries seem to have a lot of it
I felt the same way like he could have been done a lot quicker but it was cool having multiple stories going on at the same time. While a lot of it seemed off track it did all tie together in the end enough for me to feel good about it when it was all said and done. Hopefully you feel good about it when it was all said and done.
@@VeganLinked Honestly I think it made the whole viewing experience worse and makes the whole documentary seem more in the "Vegan propaganda" category so people may be more likely to disregard all the positive findings for a plant based diet.
Maybe it's because I've seen most of this before, land of hope and glory, dominion, cowspiracy, what the health, gamechangers etc. one thing I will say though is that I found the story about the chef really interesting, especially as I really like going to vegetarian restaurants that use real vegetables as the food instead of all these meat substitutes, went to one a few days ago and the mushroom bourguignon was amazing. (Btw i have been Vegan about 7 years)
You said: "(...) this documentary I found pretty annoying at a lot of points because it just kept going way off topic with things completely unrelated to the study, episodes 2 and 3 was almost completely irrelevant."
I have to respectfully disagree with this point.
I strongly believe that we need to have a more holistic perspective on our food choices. People tend to choose food either from taste preference or health. But I really applaude the initiative to help people widen their understanding of how food choice impact the world. People need to be less selfish, and the only way to do this is to enlighten people about the ripple effect from certain consumer patterns. Especially since the implications of the standard Western diet are so negative.
I would love to see the results of this study done in a controlled environment (bootcamp style, with controlled meals and workouts). I wonder if, in that case, the loss of muscle mass in the twins with the vegan diet be so significant.
I have an issue with the study due to it being funded by beyond meat. That taints the entire thing for me. I wouldn't expect a study funded by the dairy industry on whether or not cheese was good for you to show cheese as bad.
I don't think the study was funded by beyond meat, it was just that one of the researchers had some previous funding from them. I could be wrong, though
It wasn't funded by beyond meat. It was partially funded by a guy that also happened to invest in beyond meat. If beyond meat funded it you'd think they would have put beyond meat in the study which they either didn't or they didn't say they did.
Gil has covered funding before. The source of the funding isn’t necessarily a problem. You have to look under the hood to make sure they are dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s. I haven’t heard much about this argument from reputable sources online in a while so I think it is becoming a thing of the past for modern day studies because there are so many who WILL call you out for it. But time will tell.
As Dr. GIL has pointed out in the past if the data has not been selective and the study is methodologicaly rigorous then it doesn't matter who funded it. Researchers can easily spot a "gamed" study.
It wasn’t funded by beyond meat…
I could not agree with what you said more. Especially about the part where statements are exaggerated from "the vegan side". I am shouting this from the rooftops for years now in the animal rights community. And still I am hearing claims like "xyz-animal product causes cancer, kills the plantes etc..."
As always, appreciate your focus on evidence over dogma. So refreshing, and so necessary!
And about your 'rant': when you rant, you are about as aggressive as some other UA-camrs when they sleep (a certain 'Professor' comes to mind) ...😂
And, lastly, audio is clearly improved. I also have a Blue Yeti, but I feel that yours sounds better than mine. Gotta play around with that some more.
Cheers
Mario
I literally couldn’t wait for u to make video after seeing the documentary myself on Netflix :D I m so glad u did this vid.
I'd love to hear your opinion on the Mastering Diabetes channel, and their advocacy of a whole foods plant based diet to reverse type 2 diabetes. Haven't seen anyone in your field take them up on it and as a T2 of 20 years am interested in knowing the truth.
Knowing the truth, I mean I know the truth for me because I tried it. Two weeks into going vegan I dropped my BP pills for good and I can now play sports for hours without getting blurry visioned. I've been mostly plant based with occasional seafood for almost 2 years now.
Try it for a 2-3 months and see what changes it makes for you.
Any diet that creates a calorie deficit is going to bring very similar weight and health benefits. Macros make subtle differences but don't on their own cure diseases.
The weight loss was so small (−1.9 [0.7] kg; 95% CI, −3.3 to −0.6 kg), it's unlikely this caused the drop in LDL and the lengthening of the telomeres.
Excellent points! Especially the part about unreliable communication. Having a very high integrity about factualness is crucial for trust in the field (or person) in the long term and seems to be often forgotten when people are so eager to promote something, even with the best of intentions.
Because the intake of dairy foods may lower the risk of some cancers and possibly increase the risk of others, the ACS does not make specific recommendations on dairy food consumption for cancer prevention.
Regarding colorectal cancer risk, it is lower with dairy consumption, as you mentioned, likely driven by protective effect of calcium. With respect to breast cancer risk, the evidence is mixed. Some studies show increased risk and some show decreased risk. That seems to be related to the type of dairy, with fermented dairy lowering the risk (ER-/PR- breast cancer risk) while non-fermented dairy increasing the risk (ER+PR+ breast cancer risk)as per a 2020 Clinical Nutrition paper by Joana Kaluza et. al. The positive effect of fermented dairy seems to be related to presence of probiotics bacteria. For women though, there seems to an increased risk of ovarian cancer with dairy consumption.
I think that this comment should be top.
I did found the documentary to be interesting and well-intentioned, however some of that was overshadowed by the heavy bias.
I think both arguments can be true but the presentation needs to be 100% objective.
“It’s been real guys” 🤣🤣 still laughing
The study was fine. It is sad how these documentaries muddy the results of the study for the general public.
I agree. The show actually did a disservice to the Stanford study, by providing fuel for those who want to discredit the study due to illegitimate reasons.
I think calorie restriction (meaning: not overeating or binge eating) is most important. Any particular diet is just added improvement.
Kind of, sometimes/to some degree. A diet does have an effect on the amount of calories consumed (so caloric restriction or overeating or binge eating), it's not something independent of the diet that you do. You don't apply force of sheer will or something, you don't only and completely CHOOSE how much calories you eat. No, the calories consumed are controlled by the content of your diet (some foods more filling than others, some modulate your hormones to feel hungry all the time thus making you more likely to eat more , some are small and calorie dense and can't fill you up easily unless you eat big quantities which means you go overboard on your calories, etc. etc.) and various other factors.
lmao calories in calories out is whats important. All you really have to do is watch out for trans fats and don't eat an excessive amount of sugar
There is good evidence that fiber can be satiating, plus I believe that an elimination of some foods that I overate keeps me from overeating, but it doesn't work for everybody. I went whole food-plant based and eliminted a whole slew of foods I tended to overeat occasionally.
It's also nice to have a way of eating that doesn't involve hurting others like abusing animals, creating violent jobs, being toxic is running communities, creating zoonotic diseases, deforestation, desertification, dead zones, chronic reviews, chronic reviews, chronic diseases, etc.
@@mitkoogrozevI think it's about forming good habits, and "dieting" is a bad habit. Work out a nutrition plan that works for you, then when you are active, you will drop some bodyfat, being over-active can be a bad habit too, as can underactive. Fuelling fat loss is important. Won't be any quick results
One of the very rare gems on UA-cam that try to be scientific and objective at all cost, when most all others are unscientific and subjective.
If calories weren't equated then you remove the most important variable immediately. Many many health benefits are seen based on lower calorie diets when weight loss occurs regardless of what is eaten, there's a plethora of studies showing this. Weight loss is usually the initial driver of improved health, you're markers improve. (like the Twinkie diet experiment). Correlation vs causation
If they equated calories and the Vegan diet still comes out on top, then you can deduce that a Vegan diet is likely better
The lower calories were when they chose what to eat though. The vast majority of vegans eat less calories than omnivores on average because vegan foods tend to be lower calorically dense and higher fibre so you feel full with less calories. It's hard to control for this variable when people are able to choose their own food. Almost impossible.
People lose more weight on a vegan diet because the fiber makes them feel satiated, so they eat less calories. It's a feature, not a bug.
Even that would not be enough. It would also have to be the same protein amount for example. Also a huge problem is the fact that your previous diet influences the results. If you previously always eat a certain way, for example lots of cheese, then you will not lack nutrients that are high in cheese, but lack nutrients in foods you consume less of. A change to the vegan group will provide you in short terms with a greater food divercity and with the currently lacking nutrients. But following this diet long term might lead to other nutrient deficiencies, so you will benefit by going back to cheese and vice versa. The short duration of the experiment is just a huge problem to predict long term results.
Gardner's experiments are usually to see how real people handle a diet in the real world.
Forcing the calories equal would be the complete opposite of the aim of the experiment and would make the experiment less relevant to real world application.
If you follow two diets without counting calories and one diet gets you to SPONTANEOUSLY reduce your calories that's an important experimental result.
You wouldn't find that information if you forced calorie to be the same.
We can go back and forth on the soundness of each diet whether it be plant based or omnivore based but ever since the ADA ( the body that certifies nutritionists)issued the statement that a well planned vegan diet is appropriate for all stages of life from pregnancy to elderhood- I think the bigger question is why are we still strengthening these inherently violent systems when we objectively do not have to….
I felt like this could have been two completely separate shows. I was super interested in the experiment but when it started shifting towards vegan propaganda, I lost interest pretty quickly - I’m very interested in going plant based but just don’t like some of the dishonesty around it.
I believe Gary Fraser (on the proof with Simon Hill) found dairy milk increased risk of breast cancer, and may have suggested that it might be bovine hormones in dairy milk that increased risk of prostate and breast cancer, such that yogurt and cheese might not have same effect as hormones are lowered during the process of making yogurt and cheese.
Another possibility is that fermented milk products like cheese and yogurt contain probiotics and/or postbiotics, both of which provide health benefits that outweigh any potential downside of consuming milk products.
Great breakdown of the show. However, you’ve had Chris Gardner on your channel a bunch, I was honestly a bit surprised that there’s as much criticism of it in lieu of that.
I just want to say, thank you. You are the only MD I have found that is actually not biased. You call out both sides when they are being shady.
A fair percentage of the UA-cam Drs. who talk about nutrition are chiropractors.
@@kitefan1 I am aware of people like Eric Berg. Thanks for informing though.
@@kitefan1😂 Sadly, those chiropractors do not limit their spread of misinformation to just nutrition, many of them also talk about disease management like they were actually MD 🤦🏽♂️
Don't apologize! I love your "rant" and am completely on board with you!
I hope people can look at the Stanford twin study, and understand the makers of this documentary are adding their narrative on top.
That should be taken with a large grain of salt, but shouldn’t take away from the actual study.
I liked this video, you have summed it up perfectly for less versed but interested people in a short video in a concise and easy-to-understand manner.
I just hate the "only eat this way" advocates evangelizing with half truths. (Even if they advocate my lifestyle. ESPECIALLY if they agree with me, in fact.) A half truth by conscious omitment is worse than any lie. And dr. Greger whole knowledgeable, I've listened/watched several of his podcasts and he is way biased and constantly cherry picks information which is a bummer.
There is other weaknesses with this documentary on top of the ones mentioned by you: it is way too unfocused and barely presented solid data. Imo it should have focused on the Stanford Twins Experiment or at least on nutrition. (An unbiased view would be a plus while am unrealistic expectations from a show).
2) The show presented (parroted) information from previous Netflix shows like Seaspiracy and The Game Changers (lazy much, creators?).
3) Finally, another fact regularly omitted by vegan (or other lifestyle) evangelists is the fact that industrial vegan alternative food production just as destructive as industrial meat production of not more so. Additionally on land, meat production is less damaging compared to industrial fishing. And the worst environmental pollutants by far is shipping and transportation industry, followed by big oil. Yet they rarely mentioned.
I am pretty sure the cheese I buy locally produced by either local artisans or the huge cheese factory with huge output and international presence but happens to be located in my town (using local milk and water) is way less completed to if i buy a vegan cheese alternative mentioned in the docu, produced in the US, or anywhere else abroad.
Sorry for the long rant. If you have read this far I am happy for you and have a nice day! 😊
Edited some typo, sorry for the ones left in.
Nice summation, totally agree with you.
The fact they dropped the doc before the study itself has been published / peer reviewed is a bit of a red flag for me tbh. Cart before the horse
Thank you so much for being so straightforward about nutrition. Much appreciated.
Well done, Dr. Keep up the great work educating on facts and science.
You are the ONLY Doctor I subscribe to on UA-cam. Every other doctor I've come across is a paid shill with a vested interest to promote a certain product or a particular kind of diet. You are the ONLY genuine doctor I've found on here. Please DON'T CHANGE and I cannot thank you enough for what you do here!! All my best wishes for you Doc!!
You should check out medlife crisis then, he is the other genuine doctor.
My favourite (unbiased) nutrition channel!
Most annoying was that they included the actual twins in the docu. Who cares what they say or do or look like?
I study health and nutrition a lot. I’m a huge proponent of regenerative agriculture including farm animals, of eating primarily plants and fungi, and restricting ultraprocessed foods in favor of whole food. While I thought it was educational seeing the disgusting state of the factory farms, and I think it’s awesome to grow mushrooms instead of that, the entire series was slanted. This is just the sort of show my meat-eating friends will use as another example of bad science and propaganda, and they will be right. All the photos of meat were hamburgers or hot dogs. There is much evidence to suggest that dairy yogurt and cheese are actually healthy. The data revealed at the end weren’t even corroborating the statements made throughout the series.
It surely is a biased show, but it doesn't mean all science is bad. Out of curiosity, what statements are you referring to?
More than half the population suffers from digesting lactose. You can't make the blanket statement that dairy and yogurt are healthy for people.
You seem to have embraced some healthy skepticism which is far more interesting and helpful to listen to. Looking forward to more critical thinking.
I love the channel man, you are amazing. Keep up the great work doc!
As someone who was vegetarian for 25 years, and who was addicted to Mac n cheese and pizza, but who has been vegan for over two years now, I do believe casomorphines are addictive. I feel much better now and my health has improved. Giving up dairy is definitely a renunciation, not unlike giving up other addictions.
lmao as someone who has suffered from extreme addictions its actually disrespectful that you say this. To compare dairy to drug and other addictions is crazy especially when the evidence says that they are not addictive in humans. Keep living your life the way you want but just know your probably experiencing placebo
Maybe your body was craving the nutrients in the cheese you were eating.
I think more has to do with the combination of fat and salt
I think you’re right about the natural morphine in dairy especially cheese. I have noticed that too.
I believe there is something addictive bout some foods and avoiding the foods we eat too much can be a solution for some people.
Snow day at work so I finally get to make the first comment ;-)
Edit: Re unreliable information rant, the lack of reliable sources of information for people who don't have time, energy, or skill to do literature reviews on any topic that they want to learn about, is why channels like this are so valuable. I am capable of doing fairly solid research into what the current state of knowledge on a given topic is (I have a Ph.D. in an unrelated field), but I am not going to make a full-time job of studying nutrition. For me personally, if I catch a few problems, that don't get corrected in an appropriate way, I stop watching the content. Dr. Greger (you showed his picture) is a good example. I watched some of his videos a few years ago, because I like to hear good news about things I already support, but he is more of a salesman than a purveyor of reliable information, which, as you point out, makes him a bad salesman. I would rather get solid information.
mmh how does it snow at work?
@@stefanbuttigieg3750 Work was cancelled due to the snow (which I didn't find out until I had already driven to work in the snow ;-)
Amen. I know many of the experts -- especially in the first episode -- are great. But if you saw them only in this egregiously biased series, you might be suspicious of anything you saw them say. The political allegiances are so obvious. Deeply off-putting.
I believe PlantChompers pointed to some kind of evidence that salt and fat combos are especially addictive. This would clearly apply to cheese. And the salted pistachios he could not get enough of. Maybe have a word with him? My personal experience says cheese is addictive.
Agree 100%
I think foods that combine fat and salt are usually very palatable, which makes them more alluring. I do think that every food can be addictive though. But I also believe some foods are made to be hard to resist (crisps/chips, ice cream, etc). That can explain why cheese is considered addictive by many people. However, a bit of nuance, cheese is rarely eaten on its own. It goes into dishes such as pizza, mac & cheese, pasta, cheeseboards together with sliced cured meat and fruit, etc. That makes me question it. If it was that addictive, many more people would be eating cheese on its own right?
I never personally cared much for cheese. Salted pistachios sound really good though.
To be honest, Dr Greger does talk in his videos (not in the documentary) about a lower colorectal risk in people who consume dairy and how scientists are investigating if it's the Calcium.
Great review. Very funny! I do hope you NEVER get cancelled :)
The problem with studies into the effect of diet and cancer is that they're all short term in relation to the the lefe cycle of cancer, most breast cancers taking 25 years from first abnormal cell to clinical presentation. I am concerned about the role of bovine mammary virus in breast cancer stimulation, - do you have any thoughts on this Dr Gil?
You are so right in your rant about cherry-picking information/data - thank you for pointing it out
Well, this is surprising to me: a good friend of mine who is a gastro-enterologists who is specialised in nutrition says that while indeed there is a negative correlation between dairy intake and bowel-cancers, the is a higher risk of breast cancer for people who consume more dairy. I'm not a doctor, so I wouldn't know where to look, but this does confuse me a bit. Two doctors that I tend to trust giving an opposite answer on the breast cancer topic.
I m plant based... though in the future I wouldn t mind sneaking a couple oysters or mackerel a month in the future. 4me its about longevity (cut out smoking & alcohol, more exercise, quality carbs and fats (whole foods & lower saturated fats) and environmental effects. Everything else is icing on the cake
Excellent rant. Although I eat mostly plant based, I was highly annoyed by the propaganda in the Netflix show.
Would you prefer “propaganda” that was in favour of murdering innocent animals and destroying the planet?
also plant based, despite carnivores insisting I am required to have a "V" title ! ! !
So sad to see all that money and time and energy being invested in a documentary/series that yet again lacks accuracy, honesty, integrity, objectivity, nuance, science, and further pushes emotions, ideology and confusion. Can't wait for all the folks like you picking the claims apart and settling some of the confusion. Thanks!
Thank you! I felt the same way watching this series. I’m a self-advocate of eating ‘mostly plants’ but my inner-skeptic was blinking “cherry-picked” and “anecdotal” throughout much of this ‘documentary.’ I think its editorial feel did a disservice to plant-based diets by adding to the ‘noise’.
I made it as far as the woman saying that if we don't consume carbs, the body will eat its own stomach lining. She made no distinction of what type of carbs might be protective of the stomach lining, so I googled it to see if she meant prebiotic fiber or what, and the first result said bone broth was highly protective of the stomach lining. Interesting she didn't mention that. She just used the buzzword "carbs" to make her point that we need carbs. Disappointing since I probably would've agreed with a lot of the other points in the documentary. I also see a lot of people here mention Plant Chompers. I've watched several of those videos and I have to turn them off when he gets snarky. I much prefer Gil's style of humor to the snark.
Loved the rant - spot on. And the rest of your analysis of course.
Gil, could you make a video about nutrients such as trace elements and minerals? Here in Germany for example there seems to be an endemic iodine deficiency and vegans or those who follow an almost strict PBD may run into iodine deficency. Seems that only B12 gets mentioned mostly.
Seaweed has iodine and you can overdose on it. One person died of overdose of iodine supplentation. Its micro nutroent not macrl
Is iodine not added to table salt in Germany?
Eat some seaweed! Dried and shredded Wakame seaweed is a great option for natural iodine intake on a plant-based diet 😬
You have to buy iodized salt. 1g of iodized salt covers roughtly 13%, so you would need 8-9g of salt (6g is recommended). Thus, too much salt to dependent upon.
This fortification has probably been done for omnivore diets, as their diet contains some iodine from animal products already, so iodized salt would round up their diets. @@pomberry3591
@@trevorpatterson8712Yeah I know. Could try it in the future my main focus was just to hit iodine. So I bought VEG1 yesterday which contains iodine and is a bit more cost-effective than just seaweed I guess?
I was 495lbs. I had NAFLD diagnosed by my doctor both with blood work and using an ultrasound. I kept eating what my doctor told me, I exercised and I kept getting fatter and fatter and more metabolically unhealthy. I was on the list to have gastric bypass surgery but because I was so high risk I was told I needed to lose 80lbs in order to have the surgery safely because I was a walking heart attack. Imagine that, being told to lose weight to have surgery to help me lose weight. Anyway, that is when I turned to High Fat Keto and it changed my life. I didn't even count the calories. I ate until I felt full but kept my carbs to 20gr a day and ate unprocessed foods. The weight fell off like magic. I combined this with intermittent fasting with a 6 hour eating window and I completely reversed my Type-2 Diabetes, Insulin resistance, high cholesterol, high triglycerides and I'm no longer obese 7 years later. All with just changing what I ate. No surgery, I came off all my medications. I now do OMAD instead of the 6 hour eating window and I feel amazing. I'm so thankful because as luck would have it I slipped and fell and ended up with a spinal cord injury which left me mostly paralyzed from the waist down and due to my chronic pain from the injury I'm very sedentary and can't do much in terms of exercise but I have been able to manage my weight quite successfully with my Ketogenic ultra-low carb diet. So that there should stand as an example that we are what we eat and while exercise has many benefits for health and I'm not denying that, you CAN be metabolically healthy without it through diet alone because I am proof of that!
Maybe the mention of dairy being associated with higher prostate cancer risk and the omission of dairy being associated with lower colorectal cancer and breast cancer risk is due to the fact that in the case of prostate cancer risk the association is very strong (and there's little you can do to mitigate it if you are consuming dairy), while the association with lower breast cancer risk is very controversial, with many studies showing no significant association and some suggesting higher risk (it probably depends on what you substitute dairy for. If you are substituting dairy for meat, it may be protective, but if you study a vegetarian population, milk is associated with increased risk - see the Adventist Health Study-2, for example), and in case of colorectal cancer risk, the association is mainly thought to be explained by calcium intake, which you can easily get from other foods. As you said in the video: it is a docuseries. They don't have the time to go over all the details, and it would be a disservice to present the "mixed" evidence as if the evidence pointing to positive health benefits is as strong and significant as the evidence pointing to negative health benefits. It would just get people confused, which is exactly what the industry wants. Remember the motto of the tobacco industry: "doubt is our product".
Totally agree with your belief in honest and complete information.
Thank you for non sensational reporting. Great channel!
Every single time I see auch studies, I think of my grandmas and grandpas who lived until very old age. They were omnivores, all of them, but they produced the food they ate, very seasonal, mostly plantbased during summer, spring and beginning of autumn, mostly animal based in winter. They moved a lot a s worked a lot. Longevity imho is a combination of factors, not only diet. Vegan or omnivore, to each their own, I don't think anything excessive is good for us. Moderation, movement, stimulating your mind, human connection. I think these are the most important things.
Nice video though, you keep me curious :)
Hi Gil! Plant chompers had a great interview video about hiperpalatable foods, and how they affect our brain and food choices, if i remember that right, cheese was among them (as a lot of other foods of course). That was an interesting topic, amd thanks for this video!
@@Beatrice-nx5ld im a licenced dietitian, i have these infos, but thank you. Its great, that you dont overeat cheese, unfortunately i have a lot of patients with this problem. In the documentary they said that it is addictive, and Gil said that there are no human studies in that area, thats what i reflected on from another aspect and i think that study was very interesting. It worths a watch 😊
@@Beatrice-nx5ldDairy is not necessary at all. If you need something to drink drink water or hibiscus tea or plant milks. You're not in a tribe trapped in the elements of Africa depending on a herd of goat while barely surviving in the desert
@@Beatrice-nx5ldthere are plenty of plant foods that are more nutritious. Tens of thousands of edible plants to choose from.
Hyperpalatablity is a fairly novel concept attributed mainly to ultra processed foods (or "edible substances" I should say), given how they're engineered and artificially manufactured to maximise profits on a given UPF product. Cheese may indeed be highly palatable as an effect of its natural formation, but it's not been engineered by food scientists to be "hyper-" anything. (Although UPF cheeses would fit the hyperpalatable definition moreso)
@@tomoakley760yeah I think it's more artificially palatable foods. Once you become a good cook and good grower, harvest and cook immediately, when you eat some of this hyperpalatable food, you know it's no way near as palatable as proper food
Thank you. You have the voice and understanding of reason.
Another fantastic video Gil 🤙
Great! You being honest and critical about the show is great. Some health influencers are just not honest and I definitely see that as a big red flag!
I totally agree that facts and evidence is important...otherwise, it turns ppl away. Thanks for your constant vigilance 🙂
It's sad that they threw away the opportunity to making a compelling piece of communication by introducing demonstrably misleading statements into it like the prostate cancer link omitting the breast and colon cancer info.
I'm a supporter of the experiment, and shifted my own diet from Omnivore to vegetarian based on the published paper, but I found myself rejecting claim after claim in the Netflix show because I didn't trust the source.
I had the same issue with the game changers. Such a wasted opportunity.
Remember, even though Gil's criticism is valid (which I agree with), it doesn't mean that all statements in the show are wrong.
Always reminding me why I’m subbed to your channel. Nice nuanced discussion
Fantastic. You rock! We need more people with your attitude towards ”the truth”. Love ya!
Gil, great breakdown information as usual.
No cancel....humor is good.
I dont think there's ever been a good, evidence based, common sense documentary on nutrition.
Cause it would be boring : high quality score protein, healthy fats, whole grains + a reasonable amount of treats and you're good
there was plenty of evidence that eating more plants is good for you. it’s too bad they exaggerated claims and shared half truths. it does undermine the integrity of information and taints the entire show. the muscle loss of the subjects who ate a vegan diet was concerning. the show made me want to increase my intake of vegetables, eat less meat and be more selective about my meat. but maintaining and building muscle is important to me to maintain my metabolism and strength while aging. and meat and dairy is an easy way to add protein. so a hybrid diet seems reasonable. i’m considering changes like meatless monday and cutting meat in recipes in half and substituting beans
They weren’t even assigned randomly- they were given their less preferred diet choice.
A good idea to stop being so naive. Not just with animal products but the same goes with plant products as well. There seems little focus on the chemicals being used on plants, the modification of plants, the degradation of soils through overproduction and of course the defence mechanisms of plants themselves. It is incredibly naive to see all the harm done by animal food producers and then assume that all plant food is therefore OK or that it doesnt matter because they think it is better than animal products. People should be made aware of healthy/unhealthy food no matter how it originates. Otherwise it will just keep getting worse.
Thank you! We need to have more truth around the facts to have intelligent discussions in society. When two sides of a polarized issue can't even agree on the facts, it makes discussions impossible
After watching the first episode it became clear that this is a clear example of propaganda. Vegan propaganda. We were interested in the human story so we forwarded through the filler fluff which we knew already from Netflix ‘What the Health.
Disappointing that they couldn’t just stay with the twins.
Oh interesting. I’m an identical twin. I was a vegan for three years. I’m also an athlete (dancer) for my profession. She eats whatever and is not an athlete for her career… however we are genetically lean and athletic and we don’t over eat. So we are the same size… im just the stronger, more toned version.
That being said, I look and feel better than her. I am no longer vegan, but when I was my skin was literally glowing. I quit being vegan out of convenience. I travel a lot and was sick of trying to find quick vegan options.
I think any diet when done right can be effective. Chips and beer are vegan. If that’s what you’re living off of you will look and feel awful. Also when I was vegan I always stayed away from meat and cheese alternatives. They looked disgusting and are not good for you. I was a very healthy vegan who stuck to fresh Whole Foods.
My advice is to just eat a variety of organic quality foods and to stay away from processed food. Tale as old as time.
Can you please fact check some of the points in dr greger’s how not to age such as how much protein to eat and whether coffee is beneficial? Thank you
Im vegan but I thought that the study in this doc was meh. I didn’t really care. But as you point out, how we produce food and the impact on the environment was the most interesting part by far. Thanks for your review.
Can you cover nutrition 2.0? I’d love to hear your take one day. Thank you for your nuance content!
i thought i couldn't give up cheese but once i did I don't really like it anymore
Kinda like an addiction?
Now go look up the definition of addiction. Liking cheese is not it. Next, try actual outcome data from human studies and cheese. Healthy and not addictive.
@@robertusga Outcome data! 🤣 What do you have?
We’ve got plenty of health outcome data that shows those who abstain from dairy entirely have better health outcomes. So, it’s definitely not as clear as you assume.
@hardcoreherbivore4730 lol, that's not hoe science works buddy. All you have is anecdotal stories. Same as every other diet tribe who have improved their health. That doesn't mean any of them are "the best". Hard outcome data from randomized control trials and systematic reviews as quoted by Dr. Carvalho is where it is at. You have none. Unless you have some to share with us that all experts have missed. Please share.
Personally i thought the setup was interesting, but i would have liked it more if it was about the science and the people themselves. But it was a bit to hard on the propaganda if you ask me.
I don't think they took pictures of their genitals. Rather, I believe that used thermal imaging (wavelengths outside human visual range). They did appear to create thermal images, which appeared to be blurred in the show.
I'd like to see more follow-up on the Adventist study that seemed to indicate that mostly plant based with a little animal protein had a slightly better results than 100% plant. I don't like how we are pushed to join to join a 100% tribe on either side.
I hate that too. Not everything from the one side is good and all from the other side is bad. It's just an imaginary and unnecessairy line drawn which has nothing to do with a perfect diet considering health. Not every plant in every amount is good and healthy just because it's a plant, and the same is true for meat and dairy. There are good and bad sides for every single food. Why would you want to exclude something just because it's part of a virtual group? It's the moderation and variety combined with your specific nutrient requirements and specific intolerances that makes a good diet. If you're overweight a lower caloric diet is the way to go - vegan is one option there. If you are extremly slim and recovering from a surgery your body has huge needs for calories and protein, so the better amino acid profile of animal protein and higher caloric density of cheese might help your body to recover faster.
The problem with studies like this is they compare the plant based diets with "everyone else", which of course includes the vast majority who eat the standard American crap diet. Of course they are going to look better.
In terms of longevity, the pure plant based Adventist do the best. Not sure what you mean by "slightly better" but it certainly isn't longevity.