Vitality

Dr. Pedram Shojai's hour-shy documentary advocating for a new paradigm in healthcare seems mainly to rehash—in bullet-point style—the conclusions of earlier feature-length films such as Forks Over Knives (VL-9/11), Food, Inc. (VL-11/09), and The Future of Food (VL-1/06). Still, this makes for a solid compact primer, as viewers are reminded that modern medicine tends to treat symptoms (and makes Big Pharma rich), instead of promoting general well-being—or “vitality,” as defined in Dr. Shojai's holistic/preventative worldview. According to Shojai, stress, lack of proper sleep, and eating a conventional American diet (including ghastly “fast food” from livestock animals that are fattened on non-nourishing castoffs to save money) all contribute to some of the more pernicious medical syndromes. Organic and small farms offer better food options, and for those who are lucky enough to live near a local farm-market, prices can be competitive with the GMO-stuffed corporate agri-product. High-profile diet and medical guru-authors appearing here include Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Hyla Cass, Eliezar Ben Joseph, and Dr. Tim Brown. Serving up a solid side dish that will supplement the main course of longer related documentaries, this is recommended. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)