À l'écoute du ventre : Les secrets de votre santé

I read so much hate on this documentary because it's too simple, too easy, childish, for dumb people (?), etc. Sorry that not everything in the world is plain and serious. For the haters, just go back to reading scientific papers all day and let others learn in their own ways.

First of all, not everyone is on the same level about food and the gut. Not everyone is a hippie foody. Not everyone grew up in a family where healthy food is the standard. This documentary is understandable for everyone!

Secondly, the information itself is very interesting and completely backed by science. Not random internet foodies provide the information, but actual scientist and experts. It also show the lifestyles of normal everyday people who all struggle with food and their gut in some way. I thought it made it way more accesible for the viewer.

At last, it helped me a great deal with changing my course and I hope it will for someone who reads this review (and watches the documentary of course).

I think this documentary is easy to follow and makes talking about digestion and poop fun! It also offers a different perspective on what "healthy" eating looks like. Instead of focusing on the nutrients of certain food, it focuses on how our food contributes to the gut microbiome that then affects our overall physical health and mental well-being. It's a good way to restore relationships with food and offer valid reasons to focus on lifestyle changes rather than diet fads that are often restrictive. It does a decent job of following individuals with different lifestyle and eating habits, so the average viewer may resonate with one of them. It could be more diverse from that standpoint, but overall a quick and "digestible" film!

I'm a sucker for just about any health-related documentary and this one was no different. The talking heads are knowledgeable and the host, Giulia Enders, is positively delightful. The heavy use of animations was (mostly) cute and effective. I've been kinda obsessed with gut health for a while, so it was nice to know I'm on the right track. We eat lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts and usually have stuff like yogurt, kimchi, natto, kefir, and a few other fantastic fermented foods in our fridge.

The title is probably too cutesy as there's nothing really to "hack" about gut health. The knowledge is out there: plentiful water and sleep; less sugar in your diet and no sugary sodas; eat less fast food; and reduce intake of highly-processed foods and anything that comes from a box with a list of unpronounceable ingredients. We'd all do better if we heed Michael Pollan and not "eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize" and to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I know that proscription sounds easy, but at least have some sauerkraut!

The film was very educational. It was easy to understand, and it was interesting to learn about the microbiome, how the gut works with bacteria, and how it communicates with the brain. The film steered away from all the new fads and BS supplements, including the latest craze. Hack Your Health, kept it simple: don't forget to eat your greens and fruit to maintain a healthy gut. I enjoyed the animation Bacteria/Microbiomes and stuffed animals, which made it more enjoyable and relatable. We are talking about poop here, so loosen up a little. This is where science and medicine are headed in the future.

The understanding of our gut health, as mentioned in the documentary, is gaining traction. So it's great to see ideas and studies being presented as they started rolling in.

However, these experts have to be wary that, since their goal is to inform and convince people of the facts that they've learned, they have to be very, very mindful about the boundaries between what are: i) facts (proven many times over), ii) likely scenarios (as shown by many promising correlations and results, but there are still many questions yet to be answered, and iii) personal hypotheses waiting to be put to test.

For example, when they're talking about bacteria giving us signals - what we should consume or not. I think that belongs to category ii) or iii) - more studies needed? It's terribly confusing, so should we give in to the signals? Nay (like the guy who says he doesn't want to because bread will make him gain weight) or yay (Enders or the guy who eats differently in China, not sure if he thinks it's entirely good or bad though). And speaking of the latter, I happened to live in East Asia and North America, alternatively, for a few years, the exact opposite happened? When I was in one region, I craved for things I couldn't get but was prevalent in another? So, perhaps it's psychological as well? What's the story here, don't throw things around like junk science when you've spent so many years making serious efforts. Some of the experts just spill things out like they're ironclad facts without any caveats (esp. Gilbert). It's self-sabotaging, really.

Then, there's the nutrition angle. I guess most of the experts here are not in this field, and diets are highly contextual... but haven't we established that red meat isn't that good? So for the woman who'd like to try a variety of foods, that's great, but why encouraged her to try pork/potato chip? If the goal is to "live life a little," then that should be said in a different way.

And as other commenters pointed out, it helps, tremendously, to put things in simple terms for the public. But that doesn't mean dumbing ideas down. You can present the general ideas, then go slightly deeper - without relying on inane illustrations - sometimes, most of us can handle the challenge, trust me.

"Hack" is an aggressive term, and it's not just irrelevant here, it may suggest something else entirely (think about hacking bros). So why used it? To make it more click-baity? Also, what happened to these people? Not even a short-term follow-up if they're doing/feeling better/worse? While it's great to have people with a variety of concerns here, but their concerns seem very disparate from one another? Yes yes, I know our gut is connected to our whole body and mind is the message being put forth here, but without a cohesive approach, it seems like they're just a bunch of people who have problems with food, and microbiome shouldn't necessarily be the main entryway for some of them, at least initially.

Lastly, we get it, we shouldn't treat poop as a kind of taboo... but honey, give us some time to get used to that idea? Why show such a long montage of the couple preparing poop? Goodness, we'll get the idea with just a short clip, it doesn't need to be SO literal.