One of the most common questions in the Eat to Live Support Group is this:  What are the best health documentaries to show my friends and family???    There is something truly persuasive and penetrating about this message of whole-food, plant-based living when shared through film.  The music, the stories, there’s just nothing like these films to get this important message out!  So, here they are.  If you’re trying to describe this lifestyle to someone who’s curious, this is a great place to start.

Here’s a list of the some of the most powerful vegan films available.  Watch the trailers here and then share, share, share!  You never know who’s life will change after watching…

Forks Over Knives

Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

Food Matters

Food Matter examines how the food we eat can help or hurt our health. Nutritionists, naturopaths, doctors, and journalists weigh in on topics organic food, food safety, raw foodism, and nutritional therapy.

 

Eating You Alive

How and why what we eat is the cause of the chronic diseases that are killing us, and changing what we eat can save our lives one bite at a time.

 

What the Health

An intrepid filmmaker on a journey of discovery as he uncovers possibly the largest health secret of our time and the collusion between industry, government, pharmaceutical and health organizations keeping this information from us.

 

The Beautiful Truth

A troubled 15-year-old boy attempting to cope with the recent death of his mother sets out to research Dr. Max Gerson’s claims of a diet that can cure cancer as his first assignment for home-schooling in this documentary from filmmaker Steve Kroschel (Avalanche, Dying to Have Known). Garrett is a boy who has always been close to nature. He lives on a reserve with a menagerie of orphaned animals, and over the years he’s become especially sensitive to the nutritional needs of the diet-sensitive animals he’s charged with caring for. When Garrett’s mother suffers a tragic and untimely death, the boy falls into a dangerous downward spiral and nearly flunks out of school. Increasingly concerned for Garrett’s well-being and determined to strengthen their bond despite the many challenges on the horizon, his father makes the decision to begin home-schooling the distressed teen. Garrett’s first assignment: study a controversial book written by Dr. Max Gerson, a physician who claims to have discovered a diet that’s capable of curing cancer. Is Dr. Gerson’s therapy truly the legitimate, alternative cure it appears to be? In order to find out the truth behind this long-suppressed treatment, Garrett interviews not only Dr. Gerson’s family members, but various doctors, skeptics, and cancer patients as well. His studies completed and his findings revelatory, Garrett now sets out to tell the entire world about The Gerson Miracle.

 

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope and the end of his hope. In the mirror he saw a 310lb man whose gut was bigger than a beach ball and a path laid out before him that wouldn’t end well- with one foot already in the grave, the other wasn’t far behind. FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body’s ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle. While talking to more than 500 Americans about food, health and longevity, it’s at a truck stop in Arizona where Joe meets a truck driver who suffers from the same rare condition. Phil Staples is morbidly obese weighing in at 429 lbs; a cheeseburger away from a heart-attack. As Joe is recovering his health, Phil begins his own epic journey to get well. What emerges is nothing short of amazing – an inspiring tale of healing and human connection. Part road trip, part self-help manifesto, FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD defies the traditional documentary format to present an unconventional and uplifting story of two men from different worlds who each realize that the only person who can save them is themselves.

 

 

Super Size Me

While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald’s food for one month.

 

Vegucated

Vegucated is a socio-comical documentary about 3 omnivore New York guys who plan to go vegan for six weeks for weight loss and other health benefits. But during their vegan journey, they uncover the dark side of animal agriculture, and all of a sudden find themselves against the very industry they patronized a few weeks before.

Plantpure Nation

The documentary film PlantPure Nation tells the story of three people on a quest to spread the message of one of the most important health breakthroughs of all time.

 

Fresh

There are still efficient ways to produce healthy fresh organic food in a time where most food is being mass produced by corporations in less than hygienic ways. Country farmers and urban farmers explain.

 

Hungry For Change

HUNGRY FOR CHANGE exposes shocking secrets the diet, weight loss and food industries don’t want you to know about deceptive strategies designed to keep you coming back for more. Find out what’s keeping you from having the body and health you deserve.

 

Food Inc.

An unflattering look inside America’s corporate controlled food industry.

 

Farmageddon

Farmageddon is the story of a mom whose son healed from all allergies and asthma after consuming raw milk, and real food from farms. It depicts people all over the country who formed food co-ops and private clubs to get these foods, and how they were raided by state and local governments.

 

 

Fast Food Nation

An ensemble piece examining the health risks involved in the fast food industry and its environmental and social consequences as well.

 

Vegan- Everyday Stories

Vegan- Everyday Stories is a feature-length documentary that explores the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread – they’re all vegan. The movie traces the personal journeys of an ultramarathon runner who has overcome addiction to compete in one hundred mile races, a cattle rancher’s wife who creates the first cattle ranch turned farmed animal sanctuary in Texas, a food truck owner cooking up knee-buckling plant-based foods, and an 8-year-old girl who convinces her family of six to go vegan.

 

Killer at Large

An overview of the politics, social effects and problems associated with the rising epidemic of American obesity.

 

Two Angry Moms

What happens when fed-up moms try to change school food?

 

Processed People

When they’re not busy picking our pockets, or telling us we have to give up liberties to have freedom, they’re selling us garbage and calling it food. The manufactured food business is bigger than Big Oil; that kind of money buys inconceivably large amounts of propaganda, misinformation and corrupted science. Processed People is a wake-up call with factual, hard-hitting health commentary that is rarely heard. If you’re searching for the un-processed truth about diet and health, look no further.

 

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days

Simply Raw examines the correlation between vegan raw food and diabetes. The documentary features 6 diabetic Americans who go on a complete vegan raw diet for 30 days, and show some amazing results in terms of drop in blood sugar levels and reduced dependency on insulin.