Forks Over Knives

Forks Over Knives is an upcoming documentary that focuses on the idea that heart health can be obtained by consuming a whole foods, plant-based diet. The main storyline in the documentary details the respective works of researchers Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn.

Dr. Campbell co-authored with his son, Thomas M. Campbell II, M.D., the best-selling book, The China Study, which follows a twenty-year study on the effects of eating habits in rural China. Based on the results, he concluded that a diet devoid of meat was a healthier choice to decrease the risk for health problems such as heart disease, obesity, and cancer.

Dr. Esselstyn shares a similar plant-based diet mindset in his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Esselstyn was motivated after growing tired of colleagues treating patients with drugs and surgeries instead of devising methods of prevention for these diseases. A major turning point for Dr. Esselstyn was finding that many of the diseases he treated were unknown in parts of the world where meat was rarely consumed.

Forks Over Knives also follows the effects of a whole foods, plant-based diet on patients with chronic problems who were advised to make a change.

Unfortunately urban areas in China see an alarming increase in obesity due to the abandonment of a traditional plant-based diet. Even first generation immigrants from Asia became vulnerable to the metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, high glucose levels, high BMI and large waistline, as a result of adopting fat-meat diets and sedentary lifestyles. Needless to say, the second generation, like any typical group of U.S. kids, is into the fast food culture. We highly recommend this documentary film.

Forks Over Knives begins its theatrical run in May, including parts of the Bay Area on May 13th and May 20th. For more information on the documentary, visit www.forksoverknives.com.

Nearby showtimes for Forks Over Knives:
Bridge (Landmark), 3010 Geary Blvd. at Blake, San Francisco, CA 94118 (Begins May 13)
Shattuck Cinemas (Landmark), 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704 (Begins May 13)
Regency 6 (Cinemark), 280 Smith Ranch Rd, San Rafael, CA 94903 (Begins May 20)
Cinearts @ Pleasant Hill (Cinemark), 2314 Monument, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 (May 20)
Santana Row (Cinemark), 3088 Olsen Drive, San Jose, CA 95128 (UPDATE (5/20): Viewings at this theater have been POSTPONED)




Pictured above: T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. (Left), and Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. (Right)

Food For Thought And Heart Health

A study found that 82% of people who keep to the plant-based diet recommended by The China Study experience huge improvements in cholesterol levels and arterial blockages. Convinced by this information, former President Bill Clinton switched to the diet and lost 24 pounds in about five months.

On January 7, 2011, Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times published a long overdue book review of The China Study (BenBella Books, 2006), authored by father-son team of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, nutritionist, and Dr. Thomas M. Campbell, M.D. While both the publisher and the topic are seemingly obscure, the surprise best-seller sold 500,000 copies and caught public attention last fall when former President Bill Clinton praised the book. For better heart health, the president has reportedly given up dairy and meat, occasionally eats fish and lives primarily on beans, vegetables and fruit.

The China Study distills a 20-year lifestyle survey in China and Taiwan to conclude that a plant-based diet (devoid of beef, fish, milk and poultry) will promote long-term health. While the diet may not be familiar to most Americans, the health benefits far outweigh any initial inconvenience and uncertainties.

For anyone who wants to learn more, go see the upcoming film, Forks Over Knives, opening in March 2011. The research-based documentary tells Dr. T. Colin Campbell's story as well as Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's heart disease reversal study.

(For the original New York Times book review of The China Study, follow this link: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/nutrition-advice-from-the-china-study/)