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11 December 2019

Did two movies really change my life?

Vickie is an OMS Ambassador based in Manchester, Connecticut, North America. After watching the documentaries Forks Over Knives and The Game Changers, she shares the impact these movies have had on her life.

Several years ago I watched Forks Over Knives, a movie about how a whole food plant based diet could help us live healthier lives and reverse some of our diseases. I also recently watched The Game Changers, a movie about vegan athletes, that focuses on how some elite athletes fuel their bodies with whole plant based foods.

 

They say that knowledge is power. Both movies shared a lot of statistics and information on how our diets and lifestyles are literally killing us. Could I be responsible for my own health? Or lack thereof? 

I could affect my own health? Simply by what is at the end of my own fork? By what I put into my body? Get out of here!

I had followed the Standard American Diet (SAD) most of my life. I did what the doctors and big business told me to do. 

Then I was diagnosed with a progressive, degenerative, incurable disease.

Full stop. I started questioning everything I thought, and was taught to be true. I became very curious about anything and everything I could do to slow or stop this disease. I spent a lot of time on ‘The Google,’ with my nose in books, or watching movies like these.

There were some ‘a ha!’ moments along the way. 

Why in the world was I taking diet advice from a doctor that had little or no nutritional training and from the food industries whose main objective was to make a dollar off of me?

Learning about the inflammation that happens in our bodies when we eat processed and animal based foods gave me pause. The fats, the hormones, the herbicides, the chemicals, the modified ingredients…

“Wait, I have an autoimmune disease and the food I consume could lead to inflammation?” Hmm, no thanks.

Also seeing how the whole plant based foods are full of nutrients and antioxidants that could help my immune system to be healthy and help me recover faster from illness and relapses? Sign me up!

Still… it was not easy...

Cheese…. oh cheese…. so creamy, so dreamy, so aromatic, so salty. Mmmmm. How could I ever live without cheese?

And oil? I had bought into the “healthy fats” doctrine 100%. I poured these oils on with reckless abandon.

I had been a vegetarian for a number of years before watching Forks Over Knives and felt pretty smug about it. Unfortunately I was a junk food vegetarian. I ate “fake” foods and ‘food-like’ products daily.

Oreos are vegan so they must be healthy! Right? Right?

I particularly enjoyed The Game Changers because it was entertaining as well as informative. Who doesn’t like a good laugh once in a while?  And seeing these elite athletes fueling and improving their bodies was inspiring. I thought to myself, heck if they can do it so can I!

So did these two movies change my life? Yes, in part they did. I also found Overcoming MS, followed the evidence, and I continue to be curious and question the choices I am making to support my health.

I truly believe if I fuel my body with the most nutritious and healthy food possible that it will help me live well with my MS.