Carly Barton

HLTH 1020

Professor Megan Bowman

July 28, 2019

Exaggerated Health Claims

What the Health is a nutrition documentary by co-director, writer, and star, Kip Andersen. He

first addresses himself as a former hypochondriac. Andersen doesn’t present himself with any

medical background or research credibility but has many claims from various national health

organizations that he believes contradict claims from other organizations. Andersen brings these

contradicting claims to the surface throughout this documentary.

The claims presented are mostly centered around the dangers of diet with chronic heart

disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Many of these diseases run in Andersen’s family, making it

an even more personal matter. He claims processed meat is causing an increase to all of these

chronic diseases in the United States and eating one piece of meat a day is poisoning consumers

with toxins. The goal of Andersen’s documentary was to help American’s make the connection

between diet and disease which would hopefully lead to healthier food choices. To achieve this

goal, Andersen and co-director, Keegan Kuhn, used bias and overexaggerated testimonials from

health professionals. Every heath professional featured seemed to be a vegan and animal-rights

activist. A more balanced panel of health professionals and researchers may have given us a

different perspective. This would have forced Anderson’s claims to become less bias and more

credible. Andersen used claims and quotes found online and published by the World Health

Organization out of context. This changes the claim being made while distorting the research to

match what Anderson wants people to think.

 The first exaggerated claim Andersen highlights is the World Health Organization’s 2015

review of processed meat and caner. Andersen states WHO has proven processes meats such as

hot dogs and bacon are equal to cigarettes and asbestos when it comes to causing cancer. When

reviewing this available research, it seems WHO does claim processed meat increases colorectal

cancer, but the health effects are not nearly as large as Andersen suggests in the documentary.

The World Health Organization did not equate eating meat with smoking. Rather, they

determined the strength of the evidence linking processed meats to cancer to be similar to that of

tobacco and cancer (Hartl,2015). Thus, there is a correlation with eating processed meat daily

with colorectal cancer but there is no claim suggesting consuming meat is equivalent to using

tobacco or smoking cigarettes. Our text book recommends including eggs, meat, and milk in the

diet to provide selenium and other good sources of complete protein. These recommendations

come from My Plate and The Journal of American Medical Association (Wardlaw, 2015, p.353).

The documentary references another claim regarding a link between processed meats and

diabetes. In the systematic review of the relationship between diabetes and processed meats, the

Andersen states a daily consumption of processed meat is associated with a 19 percent increase

in type-2 diabetes. This was a relative risk increase. Andersen neglected to ask if there were

patterns of different lifestyle habits in those following a vegan diet versus a diet with meat. These

lifestyle differences could contribute to the increase in type 2 diabetes far more than meat

(Tuomilehto et al., 2009) Nutrition science can show a correlation not a causation. Diabetes is an

insulin-resistant disease. Research has shown the best diet for diabetics is a high fat, high protein,

low carbohydrate diet. Eliminating meat from a diet does not aide in lowering carbohydrates

from the diet. Fat and Proteins are needed in order to fuel the body without carbohydrates. Meat

is a good source of both of these macronutrients (Wardlaw, 2015, p. Appendix B).

 Andersen advises consumers to stay away from all fish because they contain mercury,

antibiotics, and other chemicals. Mercury is a risk of consuming fish. However, research has also

pointed out that eating fish does come with health benefits such as omega-3 fatty acids. Our text

book points out that not all fish are created equally. Some fish do have more mercury than others

which is why some fix are recommended more than others (Wardlaw, 2015, p. 606). Eating fish

with lower amounts of mercury allows consumers to get omega-3 fatty acids in their diet and

limiting the amount of mercury. Our text book recommends pregnant or breast-feeding

consumers be extra cautious about this (Wardlaw, 2015, p. 645).

Before taking this course, I wasn’t as aware of the differences each age group requires

when it comes to nutrients and calories. Each phase of life requires a very specific way of eating.

There is so much we can do to improve our overall wellbeing and health by simply being aware

of your intake and feeding your body the nutrients that it needs. There is no such thing as the

perfect diet. Our bodies are designed to tell us what they need and how much we need. It’s our

choice to listen and be aware of what we are lacking in our diets.

My pregnant sister of 5 months has asked me a lot of questions regarding what she should

be doing to improve her health and her baby’s health. She recognizes that nutrition is vital to her

and the baby in this critical time of development. I’ve been able to study with her about what is

good and isn’t good for the baby in regard to supplying proper nutrition. As a nurse, I can see

how a knowledge of a balanced diet and the metabolic system will allow me how to better serve

the patients that need my help. This class is beneficial for those in and out of the medical field.

The biggest thing I’ve learned in this class is how critical it is to take control of our own health

and be aware of what we are doing to give our bodies what they need. Pairing a balanced diet

with exercise and physical activity has many more benefits than weight control. This duo is what
can prevent many from chronic and temporary diseases such as diabetes, cancer, even the

common flu can be prevented when our bodies immune systems are ready to fight them off. Our

nutrition and physical activity effects our immune system, our endocrine system, and our

digestive systems. This concept became much more concrete and logical as I studied throughout

this class.
Source

Härtl, G. (2015, October 29). Links between processed meat and colorectal cancer. Retrieved

from https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2015/processed-meat-cancer/en/

Wardlaw, G. (2015). Contemporary nutrition (5th ed.). 2 Penn Plaza New York, NY 0121:

McGraw-Hill Education. Doi: July 28, 2019

Tuomilehto, J., Lindström, J., Eriksson, J., Valle, T., Hämäläinen, H., & Ilanne-Parikka, P. (2009,

August 20). Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Changes in Lifestyle among Subjects

with Impaired Glucose Tolerance | NEJM. Retrieved from

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm200105033441801