Never have I ever been so close to ditching all animal products and converting myself to a fully plant-based diet after watching the Netflix mini-series, You Are What You Eat. In the span of only four episodes, Netflix has thoroughly opened my eyes to the damaging effects our meat-eating society is causing for our earth and the environment as well as our very own human bodies. The show follows a diet study done at Stanford University on a bunch of identical twins. Since identical twins have the same DNA and all relatively similar lifestyles previous to the study, the effects seen can be attributed a great deal to the diets that they were put on. One twin followed a strictly plant-based diet while the other went on a still healthy, but omnivorous diet for eight weeks total. Everything about the twins: from their BMI, to blood, to stool, to cognitive abilities, even arousal was measured and analyzed. While I don’t want to spoil the results of the study before you watch the show, I will note that the differences between the twins in such a short eight-week span was incredible. The twins reported not only physical but also mental changes throughout the study. Additionally, the show follows the routes of different foods as they make their way to the grocery store and into your stomach, showing environmental impacts and the disgusting living conditions and health of the animals we put into our bodies. It reveals the revolting truth about the commonality of salmonella, E. coli, and high-fat concentrations in our meat and animal products due to the poor ways they are all grown for profit. While egg cartons often wear the phrase “cage free” they still may be less healthy than you realize. The show has inspired me to significantly cut back on my consumption of meat, becoming more hyper-aware of where my food is coming from. It truly shows how easy and rewarding it can be to put in small amounts of effort to keep yourself healthier. Lastly, it touches on how our society has drifted so far away from this that we may be our biggest threats to our own lifespans! I highly recommend watching these four episodes and educating yourself on what you eat, because, after all, you are what you eat!
