Must-See Food & Wellness Documentaries on Netflix

Happy Friday! Instead of today’s normal Friday Favorites post, I want to share with you some must-see food and wellness documentaries on Netflix. Whenever I’m bored with my current shows on Netflix, I browse around for an interesting documentary. So if you’re lounging around on Sunday morning {like I most likely will}, these are the ones I recommend that you watch! 

1. Chef’s Table

One of my favorite shows on Netflix is the docu-series, Chef’s Table. If you’re into food, restaurants, fine dining, different cultures, etc. you will love this series. Each episode highlights a world-renowned chef {many of them Michelin-star!}, where you’ll learn the chef’s background and what made them start a restaurant. You also get a peek into their kitchens and how they create their dishes. It’s seriously an art form! My favorite episodes so far have been:

• Season 1/episode 1: Massimo Bottura from Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy
• Season 1/episode 2: Dan Barber from Blue Hill Restaurant in NYC
• Season 2/episode 3: Dominique Crenn from Atelier Crenn in San Fransisco
• Season 3/episode 3: Nancy Silverton from Mozza in Los Angeles

2. Forks Over Knives

Forks Over Knives advocates eating a plant-based, low-fat, whole-food diet as a way to avoid several chronic diseases – obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc. The narrator stresses that all processed food and all oils should be avoided. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t agree with 100% of the info in this film. While I do think eating a plant-based diet CAN help chronic diseases, I don’t think our society should get rid of medicine all together. In my opinion, it’s a bit too extreme. You might not agree either, but I still think the message is important and the documentary is a must-see. 

3. Food, Inc. 

Food, Inc. is probably one of my all-time favorite wellness documentaries. I first saw it in college, and I’ve watched it countless times since. It’s an Academy Award-nominated documentary that examines corporate farming in the US, including businesses that produce and sell meat products in a way that’s harmful and abusive for animals AND employees. The film examines the meat industry, the unsustainable production of corn and soy beans, and food labelling regulations. It’s definitely eye-opening and has significant references to back up it’s claims. 

4. Food Matters

Similar to Forks Over Knives, this documentary does not put the medical industry in a positive light, calling it a “sickness industry.” I’m not 100% sold on that point, but… I do agree with the fact that a lot of the food that Americans consume is nutritionally-depleted and filled with loads of chemical additives. That combined with highly relying on pharmaceutical drugs is a mixture for disaster. The focus of this documentary is to help us rethink the belief system that’s being fed to us by modern medicine and health care systems. I find this documentary fascinating, because it includes interviews with nutritionists, doctors and naturopaths on topics like organic food, nutritional therapy and the raw food movement. 

5. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

If you love juicing, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is the documentary for you. It follows an Australian named Joe Cross as he travels across the U.S. on a 60-day journey to regain his health. He’s 100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffers from an autoimmune disease. So, he decides to try a juice fast! It goes really well, and there was actually a sequel to this movie. I haven’t seen it yet, so if it’s good, let me know in the comments. Joe also has a website that’s filled with delicious juice recipes, whole-food recipes, juicing tips and tricks, and many health-related blog articles.

6. Super Size Me

Super Size Me is an Academy Award-nominated documentary that was released in 2004, so you might have already seen in or at least heard of it. It’s about Morgan Spurlock’s quest to eat only McDonald’s food for 30 days. Yes, this includes breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day. He obviously knows the risks of doing this, so he is under the care of a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist and a general practitioner, a nutritionist and a personal trainer. I’m not spoiling anything here, because it’s common sense on how this is going to play out. Basically, Morgan eats approximately 5,000 calories per day {double the recommended amount}, which results in a 24 pound weight gain, increased cholesterol, mood swings, sexual dysfunction and fat accumulation in his liver. This shit is no joke.

// What are some of your favorite food and wellness documentaries?! I need some new ones to watch. xo, Nicole