Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut

Honestly surprisingly interesting and a very enjoyable watch for me. I mean I'm not going to go out of my way to say it was amazing or anything but this might just be the most actually informative documentary I have ever watched in my lifetime, and definitely the best documentary I have watched so far this year. Before seeing this on Netflix's top ten movies list I had never even heard of it, or really any single thing that was talked about in it, but I am supremely glad that I took the time to sit down and watch it because it was filled with a ton of intriguing science stuff about the body I have never before known, most especially the 'microbiome' which is something I think I might've heard about once or twice before but never in depth, so getting insight from those experienced in the field was incredibly insightful.

The large majority of this documentary is narrated by a woman named Giulia Enders, who is a German practitioner specialized in this field, and the amount of insight she gives into the subject of the microbiome and just the way the human body works in general is super interesting and very impressive. This topic is just a very different way to talk about eating as a whole, and the different ways it can affect different people, and the ways each individual responds to it. This is demonstrated with a group of different people, one being a Japanese competitive eater who no longer has the feeling of being full or hunger, a Michelin star chef who finds it hard to eat without beating herself up for it, a girl who has tried everything to lose weight but nothing seems to work, and a girl who can barely eat anything. All of these different people are so engaging to watch and to understand how and why their bodies react to food in different ways is so enticing, and I really enjoyed learning about both them, and the way they interact with what they eat. The human body is such a strange thing and the fact we all react differently to things makes it even more compelling yet complicated to understand.

However; even though I think the actual human aspect of this documentary and just getting the ability to hear about all these different people's experiences and the understanding of their own personal microbiome and what they can do to help make the changes they desire - I would have to say that the best part about this short documentary is not any of that, but instead the really fun way it's portrayed nearly half of the time. This thing has some of the most visually appealing sequences I have ever laid eyes upon. It's done in such an endearing way that I was genuinely glued to the screen nearly the entire time, a large majority of it is done in differing art forms, my favorite of all of course being the adorable stop motion that appears at times - although; there is also 3D animation and 2D animation in here as well. It all really blended together well and made for such a visually engaging watch that I liked it more than enough just for that, and I am so very tempted to give it a four star rating.

This isn't a masterpiece by any means but it is a very good educational time, and that's really all I can ask for when it comes to a documentary, plus it's just overall a pretty enjoyable watch that never feels dull or like it drags on. With a brisk run time that only lasts about over an hour, and a whole lot of enlightening information that I am very glad to have learned about, I am more than pleased to have sat down to watch this and I obviously recommend everyone else does the same. It's a very standard documentary a lot of the time but it also has a lot of new and unique elements to it that make it an immensely entertaining watch, and it also just provides a whole lot of interesting information that I don't think a lot of people know. Watch it if you have Netflix, it's definitely worth it.

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 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.

Well this really was a surprise.

An informed, well produced, balanced and fun looking at the complexities of the gut, thr micro biome.

I had pre conceived ideas, I went in expecting the usual Netflix documentary banging on about 'the message,' I was genuinely expecting to be told about the terrors of eating meat, this genuinely surprised me.

It genuinely, dared to talk about the damage caused by eating processed foods and sugars, even taking antibiotics. Stuff we've known for a long time, that's often ignored.

It resonated for me on a personal level, as someone who was obese, had IBS, used to pop tablets daily, and turned it around.

I really liked the mix of people, each of them played a part.

More like this please Netflix.

8/10.

Finally... A real documentary on health with actual studies.. most Netflix shows are just having people sit and eat and test rapidly to trick people that it is good. But this one really dives in. As for the cartoon, I don't see any other way to present the bacterias, watching a scene with bacteria doing something under a microscope can be... A bit boring.. everyone is different and have their opinions, whether you like the animation or not.. and that is what's so great about this documentary because it is saying exactly that. Your body is different... Whether your a child or an adult... The information presented is very simple and easy to understand.