Hello there. I am Monica Reinagle and you were listening to the nutrition diva.

This is a show where we take an evidence-based look at the latest headlines, trends, and today at Netflix

documentaries so that you can make more informed decisions about what you eat.

There's a new series on Netflix called You Are What You Eat,

and this is one of a growing number of documentary films advocating for vegan diets.

Now I don't have enough time in this podcast to go through the entire multi-part series point by point,

but I will include a link in the show notes to a good review written by my colleague Dietitian Abby Langer in which she raises some excellent points about the various claims made.

But I do want to point out that these filmmakers are not seeking to present a balanced view of a complex

topic in order to allow you to come to your own conclusions. They know what conclusion they want you to draw,

and they are using every tool at their disposal

to lead you to it.

Keep in mind as well that filmmakers are also

in the entertainment business.

So they are going to make their story as sensational, shocking, heart-rending,

controversial or hair raising as they possibly can.

Watching a movie or a series like this may be informative, it may be

entertaining, but it's less like reading an investigative journalism piece, more like attending a campaign rally.

I had a lot more to say about these types of documentaries in episode number

437 where I responded to the documentary What the Health. But now let me address one of the

specific arguments presented in You Are What You Eat, namely that drinking the milk of other animals, like cows, or drinking any milk at all beyond

infancy, is both unnatural and unhealthy.

Now before I get into this, I just want to repeat something I've said many times before

...