The visually stunning film, narrated by Rich Roll, tells Oakes’ remarkable story—from losing her right kneecap in high school to setting three Guinness World Records in 2013—and follows her as she competes in one of the most extreme races in the world, the Marathon des Sables. The six-day race requires runners to trek 156 miles through the Sahara in 120-degree heat, carrying all their food and supplies on their backs.

We reached out to Kuhn to learn more about the physically grueling production process and the genesis of the film.

How did you first hear about Fiona Oakes, and how did you decide you wanted to make this film?

When Kip Andersen and I were doing our crowdfunding campaign years ago for our film Cowspiracy, Fiona and Martin (her partner) reached and asked how they could support the film. I was peripherally aware of Fiona … but when I looked her up I was blown away by her achievements. … I wrote back and said, “How can I support you?!” I felt immediately that her story would make for a great film, because she is one of the most under-reported ultra-athletes in the world. She has done so much on so little and embodies what a life of service looks like. My motivation as a filmmaker is to tell untold stories, and I wanted to elevate Fiona’s story to a place I think it deserves.

How did you film the Marathon des Sables scenes?

Filming the Marathon des Sables was a big challenge. About half of the course is accessible by 4×4 vehicle, and I was lucky enough to team up with an amazing 4×4 driver, Mohan Ouhassou, but the other half of the course is only accessible on foot. Mohan would drive me out to the middle of the desert and point out a mountain and say, “If you hike over that mountain and go across the valley, you will see them running.” So I was climbing mountains and running 7 to 15 miles a day with about 30 pounds of gear on me, sleeping in similar tents as the runners. … Since I filmed the entire (marathon) solo, it was hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Did you do physical training to prepare?

I started running every day for about six months before I started filming. I also started eating only one meal a day.

What surprised you about Fiona?

Her genuine humbleness. Fiona could easily and understandably have a giant ego, as an athlete with four world records, elite marathon wins, and a 2:38 marathon time, but Fiona seems to have no ego. She seems to not think much of her racing achievements, but more focuses on the successes she has had in inspiring people to change their diets and view of non-human animals.

Why should non-runners see this film?

It’s an inspiring film not just for athletes but for all of us, (pushing us) to dig a little deeper and try a little harder to make the world a better place. Fiona Oakes’ dedication and passion are infectious, and she shows that a plant-based lifestyle doesn’t hold you back from achieving anything; in fact, it might be the reason she can do what she does.

The post Vegan Ultrarunner Fiona Oakes Stars in Keegan Kuhn’s “Running for Good” appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

I wish people wouldn’t look at “What The Health” as doctors promoting a vegan agenda. There was no meeting of vegans where an agenda was planned for world domination.

Rather, we are physicians that, after years of research, reached the conclusion that Western medicine’s lack of emphasis on the importance of nutritional science has left the public at the mercy of industry and snake oil salesmen.

We are physicians that have realized, after ignoring the dogma we are fed, and after scrutinizing the science, that a plant-based diet is the best preventative medicine available.

Believe me, there is no money in this “vegan agenda.” None of the doctors in the film are profiting in any way. We are not getting paid by “Big Kale.” We weren’t paid to be in the movie, and our book sales are either donated or don’t amount to much at all.

This film should be looked at as physicians who have found a way to prevent the most common Western diseases and want to share it with the world. When I found out that I had high cholesterol, hypertension, and fatty liver, I decided to dive deeply into the research because I felt medicine couldn’t be the answer. What I found blew my mind. I thought I had come across some secret answer and all I needed to do was share it with the world. Little did I know that the world didn’t want to learn.

The strangest “insult” thrown our way is that we are vegan and therefore biased. We are vegan because we believe strongly what we say. We walk the talk.

In the end, a plant-based diet is the best diet to prevent and treat disease, and I can back that with tons of science. It also happens to be the best diet for protecting our environment from pollution and CO2. Finally, it has the added benefit of preventing the senseless torture of billions of sentient animals. If this is my secret agenda, then I guess I am guilty.

The post Are Vegan Doctors Promoting an Agenda in “What the Health”? appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Where it differs is in its focus on the relationship between government, big business (the pharmaceutical industry and Big Agriculture, in particular), and our country’s largest health organizations. “What the Health” argues that as a result of those relationships, resources are being misallocated away from prevention and vital diet and health information is being kept from the American public. Here are seven key takeaways from the film:

1. Virtually all major chronic diseases are heavily influenced by diet.

“When you look at chronic disease risk, and all of the things that we walk around worrying about—actually dietary choices trump smoking when it comes to those risks,” says Michelle McMacken, MD, near the beginning of the film. McMacken, a Forks Over Knives contributor, is a proponent of a whole-food, plant-based diet. In 7 Things That Happen When You Stop Eating Meat, she explained how you reduce inflammation, blood cholesterol (a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes), and your chances of developing type 2 diabetes simply by adopting a diet based mainly on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes.

2. Carbs are actually good for you.

We’re talking about the carbs as part of whole foods, of course, not the added kind you find in Twinkies. And whole-food carbs don’t cause diabetes, which is more a function of too much dietary fat. “Diabetes is not and never was caused by eating a high carbohydrate diet. And it’s not caused by eating sugar,” explains Neal Barnard, MD. “The cause of diabetes is a diet that builds up the amount of fat in the blood. I’m talking about a typical meat-based, animal-based diet. You can look into the muscle cells of the human body, and you find that they’re building up tiny particles of fat, which is causing insulin resistance. What that means is the sugar that is naturally in the foods that you’re eating can’t get into the cells where it belongs. It builds up in the blood, and that’s diabetes.” For more information on carbs and diabetes, read Dr. Barnard’s article, Conquering Diabetes with Carbohydrates, and watch our video.

3. No one wants to fat-shame, but …

As a nation, we’re too fat. “Obesity. It’s a death sentence,” says Garth Davis, MD. “You’re at much higher risk of getting cancer, you’re almost certainly going to get diabetes. No one wants to fat-shame, and we all want everybody to be comfortable with our bodies, but this movement to be comfortable with our bodies has made us comfortable with being sick, and that’s a huge problem.” Indeed, scores of people who have shared their success stories with us experience a leaner body as their chronic conditions are reduced or go away.

4. The dairy industry distorts the science.

The case for milk and strong bones is weak. In “Forks Over Knives,” Harvard professor Mark Hegsted’s 1986 paper was cited, showing the inverse relationship between calcium intake and hip fractures. In other words, more calcium intake, the source of which was mainly dairy, was associated with weaker bones. In “What the Health,” Dr. Barnard cites the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which followed over 72,000 women over an 18-year period. The study concluded that milk drinkers had no added protection from fractures. The evidence against milk led renowned Harvard scientist Walter Willett and David Ludwig, of Boston Children’s Hospital, to write, “Humans have no nutritional requirement for animal milk, an evolutionarily recent addition to the diet,” in an article published in 2013 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. For more information on the issues with dairy, read 7 Ways Milk and Dairy Products Are Making You Sick.

5. The egg industry tries to exaggerate as well.

Michael Greger, MD, reveals how the USDA had to mandate that eggs cannot legally be labeled (in any government-funded promotion) with over a half-dozen terms—including safe, healthy, nutritious, low fat, part of a balanced diet, or good for you—because they’re not true. He dives deeper into this topic in this Nutrition Facts video, which includes references.

6. The missing link.

The country’s largest health organizations (e.g., American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, and Susan G. Komen Foundation) appear to be unaware of how diet can often prevent, halt, or reverse the very diseases they’re trying to cure. Indeed, Robert E. Ratner, MD, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association, abruptly walks out of his interview with filmmaker Kip Andersen when pressed to discuss the role of diet in diabetes or look at peer-reviewed studies showing the effectiveness of a low-fat, plant-based diet in controlling the condition. Other organizations declined to be interviewed for the documentary. Yet the evidence for such a connection is deep. For a presentation of one year’s worth of peer-reviewed studies showing how profound the link between diet and major disease are, please watch Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death.

7. Your genes are not your fate.

The good news: “Even if you’ve been dealt a bad genetic deck, you can still reshuffle it with diet,” says Dr. Greger. Just as in “Forks Over Knives,” we meet several severely health-challenged individuals—like 51-year-old Amy Resnic who juggles heart, pain, and depression pills and has been told she’ll probably have a heart attack within 30 days. Her conditions dramatically improve after just weeks on a whole-food, plant-based diet.

“What the Health” is making people question what they’re eating and why, many of them for the first time. If you want to learn more about the power of what you put on your plate, it’s certainly worth watching. And if it leaves you wanting to learn more about how to transition to a plant-based diet, check out Plant-Based Primer: The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Plant-Based Diet.

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