The Magic Pill

This documentary gives good information about how our brains should be running on fat, not carbohydrates. I've seen first hand how the ketogenic way of eating is beneficial and natural for humans. The documentary highlights the fraud of Ancel Keys work in convincing us to rid our diets of fat but it doesn't dive into modern FDA conspiracies. I highly recommend it.

If you check out all the "Magic Pill Debunking" videos on YouTube, most of them were produced by butt hurt vegans. And some of those vegans are extremely anxious about anybody challenging their beliefs, it's almost like a cult. Worse thing is , this documentary does not even mention vegan / vegetarian style of eating in a bad light. Part of healthy Ketogenic diet actually IS eating a lot of vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, and other plant you would typically find in a green leafy salad... They simply take offense to the protein part of ketogenic diet, and cite the health risks of low carb / high protein diet, without realising, that it is NOT ketogenic way of eating. Ketogenic diet macronutrient ratio is around 20g/day or around 4-5% carb (not LOW carb , maybe NO CARB to VERY low carb) and MEDIUM protein intake. If those vegans and some but hurt dietitians took time and look at the latest SCIENCE behind Ketogenic diet, they would see how it's beneficial to any human being. It's not just some average , one of many diets that will fade, but a fundamental change in metabolism type. While on Keto you have all the benefits of fasting, it does help to slow down / stop the growth of cancer cells (as they can't use ketones as fuel) , your mitochondria can effectively convert ketone bodies to energy even if imflamations are present, which it cannot do very well with glucose, burning ketones produces much less oxidative stress which means less free radicals in the body, etc, etc, can't go into too much detail here. None of those critics either here or in those youtube videos , have any deeper knowledge of Ketogenic diet, they make their OWN assumptions of what it is, but so far I haven't seen ONE critic that actually properly understand what this diet / way of eating is about. Check out PhDr Dom D'Agostino on youtube, or Dr Berg for example, for some deeper understanding of this diet and it's benefits.

This movie is trying to convince you to stop eating carbohydrate. It's part of the ongoing controversy about the modern world's entrenched idea that fat causes disease. This idea is indeed very dodgy scientifically, but also has huge vested interests: just imagine what Coca Cola must think of this movie!

But reviews are not votes on truth. This is a well-made and interesting movie about an idea worth investigating. The stories are compelling and well presented. It's a movie worth watching for anyone interested in the sugar/fat controversy, or who is experimenting with low carb diets. For that reason I give it 7/10 *as a movie*.

With the exception of a few segments, the movie fails to present scientific data. The movie itself says that obtaining scientific funding for research against the prevailing paradigm is hard. But I advise anyone to *think* about what they're being shown and *research* anything they're doing to themselves. Always. This movie is no exception.

Nobody should be voting this movie 1/10 or 10/10 because they do or do not believe its claims. It's a fairly well-made movie and good for the debate.

5/28/18. I like watching documentaries about healthy living. I especially like those about nutrition. While this documentary includes quite a few gems about how important nutrition is to our health, the message of paying more attention to what we eat is muddied by the push for a ketogenic diet. Only a few cases are used to support the benefits of such a diet, which seems to help those with certain medical issues, and not necessarily meant for mainstream consumption. It's hard to expect the average person to watch this and try to figure out which facts are most useful and which may be extrapolations. Too bad.

A very well researched documentary on a topic that I myself have experienced.