6 Health and Wellness Documentaries that will Change Your Life
Written by Beatrice Walker / October 13, 2021
If you’re anything like how I was when I first started my wellness journey, and you’re feeling hesitant or unsure on where to begin, then watching an informative documentary may help! There is so much information about health, wellness, and diet that it can feel overwhelming, and it’s hard to know what to believe. I love watching documentaries because you can get a lot of information about a certain topic with supporting evidence in a short amount of time.
The following documentaries listed below had a significant impact on my life and influenced my health and wellness journey. Since health topics are so widely debated and argued, my advice on what you should believe is to do your own research. After you watch a documentary or read a book about a wellness related topic, you should do some lite research to back up the information you’re consuming, then go with your gut! Have conversations with friends and family if needed, but ultimately it’s up to you to decide what’s best for yourself.
Pro tip: If you’re going to use documentaries as a tool for learning, make sure you make note of who is producing, directing, and funding them.
What The Health
Executive producer and filmmaker Kip goes on a personal quest to find out the cause of chronic illness and the link to diet. After losing several family members to cancer and other chronic illnesses, he decided to look for answers. This film focuses on the harmful effects of a standard meat based diet, which can contribute to heart disease and cancer. This documentary definitely has a shock/fear based element in it (for good reason), and it is 98% of the reason why I immediately became vegan for 5 months. It highlights the unethical farming practices of livestock and uncovers disturbing evidence of how groups like the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association, along with many others are receiving funding from the food industry. I think the main topic it focuses on is how switching to a plant based diet can effectively reverse and eliminate chronic disease. Available to watch on Netflix.
2. The Game Changers
This is a really inspiring documentary featuring athletes from football players, to track stars, and world olympians who are thriving on plant based diets. After sustaining an almost career ending injury, James Wilks began to research the best methods for recovery and found overwhelming evidence that adopting a plant based diet would be the best option for recovering quickly. On his journey to recovery he profiles several world champion plant-based athletes that claim maintaining a plant-based diet helped contribute to their successes. One of my favorite myths that this film completely destroys is the idea that vegans and vegetarians don't get enough protein. This is a great documentary for anyone that has doubts about switching to a plant based diet. Available to watch on Netflix.
3. Fed Up
This eye opening documentary is executive produced and narrated by Katie Couric who has been covering the obesity crisis in America for over 30 years. It highlights the epidemic of the climbing childhood obesity rates in America, and the reasons why. Unsurprisingly, it calls out the relationship between the food industry and politics, and the devastating effects that lack of policy and regulation has on not just our kids, but the economy as well. Prominent experts, professors, and public figures such as Dr. Mark Hyman, Marion Nestle, and Bill Clinton all make appearances arguing and pleading for drastic reform of the food industry. Available to watch on Amazon Prime.
4. Heal
In this documentary author and director Kelly Noonan is on a quest to find the secrets of healing by talking with world renowned healers, doctors, and scientist who are leading the mind-body medicine movement. Disease starts in the mind and in order to heal you must get to the root cause by changing your thoughts and mind. This film explores the mind-body connection and how factors such as stress, negative thinking, and environment can cause severe illness like cancer and autoimmune diseases. By using techniques like energy medicine, therapy, inner child trauma healing, and meditation, life threatening illness can effectively disappear. The thing I like most about this documentary is that it takes a scientific and research backed approach for explaining energy medicine and healing. Available to watch on Amazon Prime.
5. The Magic Pill
Produced and narrated by Australian Chef Pete Evans, this documentary emphasizes the need for healthy fats and the positive effects a low carb diet can have on the body. This is another film that highlights the relationship between the food industry and politics, and how detrimental it can be on our health policy. It also introduces a newer type of diet referred to as “keto” or the “ketogenic diet” that was developed specifically to help people diagnosed with auto-immune diseases. I think this film is incredibly important because it affirms that healthy fats are not bad and are actually necessary for maintaining a health diet. Available for purchase on Itunes.
6. On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace
This visually stunning documentary follows photographer Michael O’Neil as he profiles yoga gurus on a 10 year journey throughout India, Tibet, and New York. After receiving a devastating and almost career ending prognosis O’Neil began searching for ways to heal, and during his research found yoga. About a year into his practice he was able to work again and decided to share his story and the story of yoga with the world through this project. This is one of my favorite documentaries because it’s so beautifully made. Every time I watch it I learn something new about myself, and it affirms the love I have for my yoga practice even more.