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[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[SIREN WAILING]

[GRANT] One day, when I was
a relatively young 58,

I found myself in the back
of an ambulance.

I'd had a heart attack.

[PARAMEDIC CHATTERING]

My story starts
six months earlier,

at a company soccer match.

That's me getting
the first goal, just saying.

But I also ruptured
my Achilles tendon,

which meant six months
of inactivity.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

And then it was Christmas,

with all of its
fat-filled delicacies.

- What are we trying first?
- Yes!

[WOMAN] Make some
room for pudding.

I should have been okay

as my cholesterol was
considered to be good,

and even my doctor
credited my wife's cooking.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

But the next day, when I had
my first run at the gym,

I noticed a chest pain,
which led me to my doctor

and then to hospital.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

A year later, when listening to my
radio, along came Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

[CALDWELL] That's due
to nitric oxide.

[GRANT] To my amazement,
he said that heart disease

can be stopped, even reversed,
by removing all animal products

and refined foods from my diet.

And I realized that being told
animal fat is okay is a lie.

[TRAIN ROARING]

And now, I'm on a quest

to discover the truth

behind the big fat lie.

[BRIGHT MUSIC]

So there I was, in hospital,
awaiting the surgeon's verdict.

Like many men in their 50s,
I received a shock.

In the angiogram theater, I was
told that the damage to my heart

was too great for stenting,

and I required
open heart surgery.

My response was, "You're
joking," but they weren't.

Responding to my horror,

the surgeons came up
with another idea.

- Well, we're here again.
- [GRANT] What they came up with

was a double T stent,

something they rarely try.

Fortunately, as it turned out,
it wasn't needed.

I'll enjoy it all right.

But I still left hospital
ten kilos

overweight and with four
stents within my chest.

And this wouldn't be the last
time I'd see an hospital ward.

Four years later, I was back.

But I'll get to that later.

When I found out, by simply
keeping to a plant-based,

oil-free diet, I could have
avoided my heart attack,

I was very angry.

And I want to find out why the
Ministry of Health hadn't warned me,

and I won't let go
until they front up.

Oh, hi, Chris. I sent you a
request for an interview a while ago.

I'm just wondering how your
response is going?

Yeah, I came back still
requesting an interview

with someone
from the Ministry of Health.

Is that not possible?

All right, well, you
realize in the...

We didn't get off
to a great start,

- but then the topic changed.
- [CHRIS] Well, that...

[GRANT] I found it chilling that
he was attempting to divert me

to one of New Zealand's
largest export products.

[GRANT] I got the feeling
that he wanted me

to present meat
in a positive way.

[GRANT] However, not taking no
for an answer

seems to have paid off, as we've
ended up with a possible way forward.

Right, well that's encouraging.

Okay, well, how about I'll
send you another email

showing, telling you exactly
what I'm going to do,

and you can respond to that?

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GRANT] This book's
all about eating.

Green peas are a vegetable.

They're really good for you.

Do you like green peas?

I want green peas.

[GRANT] Yes,
I want green peas, too.

They're yummy.

What about this, eating
spicy curry, mmm?

Yeah, curries are
good, although,

that one doesn't look so hot.

See it's all that meat there
that causes all those problems.

Eating lots of cakes,
mmm, look at that,

see, that makes you
all look silly.

Cake, yeah.

Okay, so we know
that a whole food,

plant-based diet
is good for you.

But why change?

What's wrong
with meat and dairy?

New Zealand scientists
have led the world

in exposing a real problem
with our national product,

cow's milk.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

The A1 versus A2 milk story
stretches back some 20 years.

Back then, studies came out
comparing health in various countries.

This produced a startling
graph that showed

that countries
with high A1 milk consumption

also had high rates
of Type 1 diabetes.

The European cows
that produce the A1 milk

are the black and white ones,

while the brown cows produce
the considered safer, A2 milk.

We concluded that A1 milk

was correlated
with diabetes in children.

That's diabetes Type 1.

Crudish type of study,
it gives an indication

that something might be going
on, and for Type 1 diabetes,

the relationship
was very, very strong.

[GRANT] These results
could not be ignored,

and led to confirming research that came
together in a book that shook the dairy world.

[GRANT] Why did you write
that book, Devil in the Milk?

I became aware
that there was some

very interesting evidence
linking A1 beta casein

to a number of
health conditions.

[GRANT] And his research showed
that pieces of protein from A1 milk

could be getting
through the human stomach

to harm the pancreas.

For Type 1 diabetes,
what we do know for sure,

is that particular cells
in the pancreas get destroyed.

[GRANT] Type 1 diabetes
is irreversible.

The conclusion that A1 milk

could be causing Type 1
diabetes is alarming,

but back in 2007,
the government's response was,

"Move along,
there's no problem here."

There's no public health
risk directly with milk,

and we don't mind
if you drink A1 or A2,

so long as you just
keep on drinking milk.

[GRANT] And they referred to a
report that they had commissioned

a few years previously.

We looked at this
back in 2003, 2004

when we commissioned
Professor Swinburn.

So at that stage, the evidence
was not hugely robust.

There were just a few studies,
these association studies,

and while they
were very suggestive,

they were not
confirmatory in any way.

[GRANT] In fact, the result of Professor
Swinburn's report was that all is okay.

That was the way
the New Zealand authorities

chose to present
Professor Swinburn's report.

[GRANT] But time is
a wonderful thing, and today,

Professors Woodford
and Swinburn have teamed up

to together produce a paper

that identifies A1 beta casein

as a dominant causal trigger
for Type 1 diabetes.

And we're saying,
"Hey, let's have another look

at all this evidence,

because it really
is very intriguing,

and potentially
quite convincing."

So this latest paper was an update
on the research that's happened since.

- [GRANT] What did you find?
- Well, in general I have to say that these pieces,

as they are
slowly becoming evident,

are making up
a pretty confirmatory picture,

that exposure of A1 beta casein,

to children who are
susceptible to Type 1 diabetes,

may well be a risk factor
or trigger for Type 1 diabetes.

[GRANT] No fewer
than four professors

co-authored this paper.

So, what's New Zealand's
main milk producer,

Fonterra, been doing about this?

It was Fonterra that
was involved right early on,

or its predecessor,
the New Zealand Dairy Board,

in research linking A1
beta casein to Type 1 diabetes.

[GRANT] In fact, their
research was so convincing

that they took out
a patent to identify

the likely safer A2 milk.

The patent said
that the A1 beta casein

was linked to heart disease
and Type 1 diabetes.

[GRANT] Does that
infer that Fonterra knew

about this problem 20 years ago?

Yes, so I did say in
my book that I thought

Fonterra was
less than transparent.

[GRANT] In fact, there's a sentence
in the book suggesting that there could

actually be some legal class action
because of their prior knowledge.

Yes, so I have alluded to that

at various times in writing.

Should Fonterra
come out publicly and say

there's a risk
or this is going on,

that's a big risk to
their business, actually.

So, they are taking a low-risk
approach, which is to say nothing.

[GRANT] The government
should at least be saying

breast feeding women
should not drink cow's milk,

because there's
a danger that diabetes

might be a result in the baby?

For the government,
this is a big challenge

of a communication, because
the evidence is not yet certain.

[GRANT] But to wait, people
could become Type 1 diabetic.

They could, they could.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GRANT] While
the case against A1 milk

is now well developed,
it should be noted

that a recent
Norwegian paper found that

offending pieces of
protein can also be released

from A2 milk,
albeit in a lot less quantity.

[ANNOUNCER]
What you know about calcium,

[GRANT] Fonterra makes strong
health benefit claims for milk.

- [ANNOUNCER] Juice being the only drink with vitamin.
- [GRANT] But it's been

long accepted that
milk fat contributes

- to heart disease.
- [ANNOUNCER] With cream in it.

[GRANT] According
to Professor Woodford,

A1 milk does so even more.

Also, there was evidence

that it was
linked to heart disease.

Wherever we had a high
intake of A1 beta casein,

in those countries, we had
high levels of heart disease.

[GRANT] The lady across the road
tells me you're a vegan, is that right?

-Yeah, yeah plant-based diet.
-Plant-based diet. Why plant-based?

I had a bad car accident in 1987,
they were going to amputate my leg.

Since giving up dairy, the
biggest increase in my well-being

was the fact that I'd lost about
40% of that pain out of my joints.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

- [GRANT] You like milk?
- Yep.

What sort of milk,
cow's milk or oat milk?

[GRANT] Yeah, but
cow's milk is not good for you.

Cow's milk's got
bad stuff, I think.

Dog's milk [LAUGHS].

- Dog's milk?
- [WOMAN LAUGHING]

[GRANT] What we eat
is critically important,

as is the nutritional advice
we get from our doctors,

which I've found
to be sadly lacking.

Well, what should
have my doctors said to me?

For a start, drastically reduce

the amount of
saturated fat in my diet.

So, high saturated fat
is not good for heart disease.

If a person had a heart attack

and is eating pretty
much what everybody else is,

then that may not
be a good enough diet.

[GRANT] So what
would be a good enough diet

to prevent a heart attack?

Well, in one of
the most remote parts

of little old New Zealand,

a whole food plant-based team
set out to find out just that.

The study's object was
to see if ordinary people

could lose weight
and improve their health

simply by eating
a plant-based diet.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

Doctor Nicholas Wright
was one of the study leaders.

I'd been wanting to do a research
study for quite a few years.

So throughout medical school, and then those
experiences working overseas and seeing

some whole food plant-based
lifestyle programs in action,

I actually wanted to see how
could we do one in New Zealand.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] Another key
player was Doctor Luke Wilson.

He got frustrated
with patients returning

time and time again
and not getting well.

Nick and myself were working
in the hospital in Gisborne

and we would see people
with cardio vascular disease,

and you'd be doing
all these things for them,

but they'd still come back.

The research is overwhelming

and once you start to read it,

it's kind of hard to
not make some changes.

And so, I think it kind of

came out of
the feeling from all of us.

We had this information,
how could we

sort of give something back to the
community that we were living in?

The first time that
I really got any success

in the hospital was with Larry.

One of the questions he had
as he said, "Can I have kale

if I'm eating like this?" And I
said, "Yeah, you can have kale."

He's like "Great, 'cause
I've just planted some at home."

And he's like, "What about
quinoa?" And I was like, "This guy,

it's going to work
out for him, you know."

And I was like, "Okay,
that's quinoa is also good."

[GRANT] The Broad Study's program
director is Canadian Morgen Smith.

I manage the programs here, so I've been
managing the research since it started.

[GRANT] So you had more people
wanting to be on the program

than you could take?

[MORGEN] Yeah,
still so still now

we're still running programs

and we still got a waiting list.

I was worried about

breaking the news to
them that they're going to

have to give up
their meat and their dairy

and all this stuff,
but a lot of them

very enthusiastically just said,

"Yeah,
I'd love to give it a shot."

[GRANT] Once published,
this study recorded

significant weight losses,
cholesterol drops,

and improvements in diabetes,

and gained better results
than similar studies

that didn't require
participants to limit

the food they ate,
or to exercise.

I was like, this is something

- that we can get people to do in Gisborne.
- [GRANT] Yeah.

If we can make it happen there,

we can pretty much
make it happen

wherever we
wanted to in the country.

[GRANT] Following
my heart attack,

and before I became plant-based,

I signed up for a series
of cardiac recovery classes.

Healthy eating made up
just 7% of the course.

I was given a list of
saturated fats to limit,

and unsaturated
fats to choose from,

which I found confusing.

I left the class
with no clear idea

on how I should modify my diet.

How many pizzas do we have?
Must have at least half a dozen.

For my wife and I, it was
pretty much business as usual.

Less salami and cheese on
my pizza and more oily fish.

But everything else,
we were already doing.

A year on this recommended diet,

along with regular exercise,

didn't seem to
make much difference.

And comparing how I
looked then to how I look now,

I was still overweight,
but I didn't stand out, much.

[BRIGHT MUSIC]

Tinkering with my diet
made no difference

to my weight or cholesterol.

So when seeking the best advice

on how to prevent heart disease,

the organization
most of us would think of

would be the Heart Foundation.

However, their priorities
seem to be different,

judging from
their phone introduction.

- You're speaking with Katey.
- Hello, Katey,

a couple of weeks ago, I
sent an email to your CEO, Tony

and to your
nutrition manager, David.

[KATEY] No, I'm sorry neither
of them are in the office.

Can you ask them
to send me a reply?

[KATEY] Sure, no problem, okay.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

[GRANT] So if the Heart
Foundation isn't available,

what does a plant-based
health consultant say

you should do
to prevent a heart attack?

There is only one diet
that has ever been proven

to not only prevent,
but in the majority of cases,

even reverse heart disease,

and that's a whole food
plant-based diet.

- Like banana?
- Yeah.

Banana, apple, carrot sticks,

strawberry, broccoli,
can you say broccoli?

- Wonder food broccoli.
- Coli.

Eggs, don't look at the eggs.

Broccoli's good,

broccoli yeah!

Kaye has a family history
of obesity and heart disease.

How difficult did
she find this new diet?

I have heart
disease in my family.

I've got,
my mother died very early,

my grandfather died at 56,
my brother died at 52.

I was morbidly obese.

- Less of the genes.
- [KAYE] When we were told

what the Broad Study
program consisted of,

I was like, oh no, this
is going to be too difficult.

And then I woke up
the next morning and I thought,

well actually,
I can't not do this

if I want to have
grandchildren and stuff.

[GRANT] You went
back to the doctor?

- He was pleased?
- They were amazed.

[GRANT] So do you think you're
going to stay on this diet

- for the rest of your life?
- Definitely,

it is a lifestyle change.

[GRANT] We've
discovered that A1 cow's milk

is likely to cause diabetes.

I wonder what Fonterra, a major
milk company, thinks about this?

Hi Emma, I wrote an email a week or
two ago now, requesting an interview.

And you suggested that I ring you back and
have a chat, so that's what I'm doing now.

[EMMA] I'm presuming
that you'd be advocating

a plant-based...

- Yes.
- ...diet.

I've seen Forks Over Knives
for instance.

Have you seen
Forks Over Knives?

- Totally, yes.
- Yeah, yeah.

I'm glad that you've seen that.

So you can understand my concern

about being us being involved

if this was a documentary about

the benefits of
dairy in New Zealand.

[GRANT] It soon became
obvious that they only wanted

to be involved
on their own terms.

And she requested more
information, which I later provided.

- [EMMA] Something in writing.
- I'll do that and hopefully you'll come back with a yes.

- You never know.
- [EMMA LAUGHS] Well, we'll see.

[GRANT] But she did
say she'd get back to me.

- [EMMA] Try and get you an answer as soon as we can.
- Excellent.

Well, I'm still
waiting for that answer.

[ENGINES REVVING]

Fonterra also makes
strong claims about bones.

The dairy industry in
the past has talked about

teenage girls particularly needing
to calcium bank when they are young

by drinking lots of dairy, but
that's not necessarily the case, is it?

No, I don't think it is at all. And there's
one longitudinal study that started in girls

at the time of puberty and
ran right through to adulthood,

which showed no relationship between their
calcium intake and their bone density.

So I think the whole idea
of banking calcium

is probably not true at all.

Despite all this research,
the New Zealand milk producers

carry on as if
nothing has changed.

They even cynically
promote their milk to children.

Milk for schools program is turning
five so I'm helping them deliver

the milk to some schools.

[HELICOPTER WHIRRING]

Hi, Mindy,
can you tell us why milk

is so important
for kids to drink?

Sure Levy, milk's packed full

of important nutrients
to help kids grow.

And it's also got
lots of calcium, too,

and calcium's important
for healthy bones and teeth.

[GRANT] Well, what
about bone fractures then?

Surely, calcium in milk will
help prevent them, won't it?

Your studies show that
it doesn't help fractures

so, is that true?

We don't see any
consistent relationship

between calcium intake
and the risk of fracture.

[GRANT] However,
an earlier study did show

that Asians and Africans who
had more of a plant-based diet

and less of a dairy diet, did
seem to have stronger bones.

Yeah, I mean, in fact, if
you look at the bone densities

in Africans,
their bone densities are higher

than in most Western countries.

[GRANT] So where does the
calcium we eat mostly come from?

In Western communities
where dairy products

are a major part of the diet,

dairy intake relates
very closely to calcium intake.

[GRANT] So, calcium from
New Zealand's high dairy intake

doesn't seem to be
helping our bones at all.

The implication that
if we eat more calcium,

somehow we wind up
with more calcium in our blood

and then our bones get stronger,

that's not
the way it works at all.

[GRANT] So, if you don't
want to get calcium from dairy,

where can you get it from?

But you need to be
getting calcium from somewhere,

and so there are other sources
as we've talked about.

Dark green vegetables
like broccoli and spinach

have calcium in them.

Tofu is a source of calcium.

[GRANT] And are
there other downsides

to eating lots of
cheese and ice cream?

Our body is set up to make sure

our blood calcium
levels don't go too high,

because if our blood calcium
levels go too high,

we won't only get
calcium depositing in the bone,

we'll get it depositing
in muscles and kidneys

and other soft tissues.

One of the other things
that happens as we get older

is that we get calcium
deposited in our arteries

and that is
probably part and parcel

of the process of heart disease.

[GRANT] And cow's milk,
used in common products

such as Tip Top ice cream,

not only
contributes to heart disease,

but its dairy products
have also been implicated

in another disease,
Crohn's disease,

a chronic and long-standing
inflammation of the bowel.

And linked to this is a
tuberculosis bacteria called MAP.

Mycobacterium
Avium Paratuberculosis,

and MAP's easier to say.

It's got particular
interest as it definitely causes

a disease in cattle
called Johne's disease.

It's a very attractive idea that maybe that's
the cause of Crohn's disease in humans.

And I mean the fact that half the dairy herd
in New Zealand have MAP might be a surprise.

[GRANT] It's now
established that MAP

gets into
the human gut via meat,

or drinking water polluted by
animal feces... or by pasteurized milk.

[GRANT] The study actually talks
about commercial pasteurization methods

haven't been adequate,

or some things get through?

It may do. It's quite resistant to
various heat treatments, etcetera

and that's
a possibility that it could be

still in the milk supply.

A number of patients, even up to
50% of patients with Crohn's disease,

have this bacteria
in resected specimens.

[GRANT] But today scientists
are having second thoughts

and are now looking
elsewhere for a likely cause.

You're saying in more recent years,
some people have gone off the idea?

Most of us in the field have

as the disease progresses
and even severe diseases,

it's still very hard to find.

[GRANT] So what's
the most likely cause

of Crohn's disease?

Well, I think it's
better to say we don't know.

[GRANT] So if they now doubt that this
disease-causing bacteria found in milk

is the cause of Crohn's,

what about animal
products in general?

I know of several
cases where they've cut out

all animal products and
they're effectively cured.

Yeah, well, that's good. I mean,
I'm very pleased for those people.

[GRANT] And those randomized
trials actually taken away all meat?

I don't think
there's been a trial for that.

- Well, maybe there should be?
- Possibly.

[GRANT] While
scientists continue to search

for the cause of Crohn's,

there's still
some promising research.

Like how broccoli has
been found to be helpful

for at least
some Crohn's sufferers.

[GRANT] You've discovered broccoli is
a bit of a wonder vegetable, is that right?

To a degree.
If you've got the NOD2 variant,

It's not a nice
mutation to have.

If you've got it,
it's good to find out about it

right at a very early stage,

so that it can be
diagnosed and treated.

[GRANT] Broccoli will help that?

Broccoli will help that,
if you've got NOD2.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GRANT] Nice?

Do you grow strong
eating broccoli?

- Grandad likes broccoli.
- I love broccoli.

- [GRANT] You like crocodiles.
- [LAUGHING]

Right.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] In Auckland, there are
two brothers who stumbled across

a way to cure
an inflammatory bowel disease

by adopting a plant-based diet.

They made a business out of it.

This all started when my brother

was diagnosed
with ulcerative colitis.

He was on a work experience
in Japan teaching English.

And I went into hospital, did a
colonoscopy to see what was going on.

So they put me in
hospital for about a week.

So he went from about three to
four bloody bowel movements a day

when he entered the hospital,

to about four
or five weeks later,

30 to 40 bloody
bowel movements a day.

During the fifth week, I think,
the doctors and specialists said,

"You know, we're going to have to
operate. We'll have to do surgery,"

and my mum didn't want that.

She declined surgery.

We were able to
do a bit of research

and we found Dr. David Klein.

And so we changed to
a whole foods, plant-based diet.

I started to feel a lot better.

My bowel movements came down.

- Ah, yeah, he actually got better in a week.
- [GRANT] Really?

I had no ulcers and my
inflammation was very low.

- [GRANT] What did the doctors say?
- Ah, we didn't actually

tell the doctors that we'd
stopped taking the medicines.

[GRANT] While their
approach was rather unorthodox,

their results were undeniable.

[SHUKUL] I consider this
to be one of the best books

ever written on
digestive health.

[GRANT] And the impact
of a plant-based lifestyle

can be truly profound.

The thing is, with this
kind of change in lifestyle

and improvement in health,
people who have been told

that they have
absolutely no hope,

they've got an incurable condition
that they're going to be living with

the rest of their life,

they realize that, "Hang-on,
I've got my life back."

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT]
And that's what I found, too,

when I gave up animal
fats and refined foods.

I got my life back.

Red meat and sausages, World
Health Organization came out

a couple of years ago now,
said, "They're bad."

Is that
a no-brainer to your clients?

People are more
likely to believe

things that they want
to be true, rather than

to believe processed meat
is definitely a carcinogen

and that red meat is
most likely to be a carcinogen.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] So, eating meat
could give you cancer.

But what about an early death,

what's the increased risk here?

Well, Professor Potter
references a recent study.

So they were comparing people
who ate only a little bit of meat,

- with people who ate a lot of meat.
- Right.

The risk of dying
for the highest group

compared to the lowest group
was an increase of about 25%.

- A quarter.
- Yes.

- That's significant.
- Yes.

[GRANT] And there are
many other aspects of meat

that make it far from
the desired meal of the day.

'Cause these
things don't just kill you,

they make your life miserable,

they give you pain,
they give you disability.

If you have diabetes,
which interestingly,

is also associated with
higher consumption of meat,

you can end up with
peripheral vascular disease,

which reduces your mobility.

You can end up
with retinal disease,

which can damage your sight.

[GRANT] And that's not all. There's
more bad news for meat-eaters.

There's also excess risk
of respiratory disease,

and liver disease,
and renal disease.

[GRANT] And what's
amplifying all this sickness

is the fact that we eat a lot
more meat than we used to.

[JOHN] The biggest problem
is the difference

between the small
amount that we've consumed

probably through
most of our history,

and how we're now consuming meat

over the last
particularly 50 to 100 years.

- [LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]
- [WOMAN] One, happy birthday.

[GRANT] One year into my plant-based
diet, I learnt being vegetable-based,

you don't become the most
popular person on the planet.

[WOMAN] Well,
we're only doing it for you

and your dumb diet, dumb diet.

Is it good?

Not bad.

[GRANT] But experimenting
with new foods and recipes

was becoming a way of life.

And while it will
take time for my weight

and physique to benefit...

Right, off for a swim.

I was feeling
healthy and confident enough

to try a local
eight-kilometer fun run.

Thank you for being there.

[LAUGHING]

Six Ks, still feeling good.

Here I am running into the end.

[MAN ON MEGAPHONE] We
tied red balloons to make sure

you know where
that is, [INDISTINCT].

We continue to
move around[INDISTINCT].

[GRANT] We know that animal
fat will clog up our hearts,

but how much of the meat
we eat is straight out fat?

The authority on this subject
is Dr. Murray Laugesen.

He did
the original study in 2005.

This study was actually done on
behalf of Beef and Lamb, is that right?

- Yeah, yeah.
- [GRANT] Sausages, what's the fat content of sausages?

Back then it was 3 to 23% fat.

[GRANT] But since then,
there's been an update,

the government's 2016
Food Composition Tables.

And this report added
a column, water content.

The question is,
if we took the water out,

surely that would
increase the proportion of fat.

Do you want to have a look at
that and just tell me what you think?

What's your view?

It looks as if
the actual percentages

that we measured were
including water.

[GRANT] Here comes a chicken.

Oh!

[CHILDREN SQUEALING]

And there's another one.

And they missed that one, too.

Okay, sausages, assorted
meats and flavors, grilled,

52% water,
must be very soggy sausages.

The fat content has to
be at least 40, 43% fat?

Yeah, if you exclude water.

So, that leaves not
much for anything else.

[GRANT] A lot of fat.

So people eating
sausages for their dinner

may actually be
eating close to 50% fat?

The actual amount
of fat they're eating

is maybe double what they
might read on the container.

[GRANT] I've since had
these figures confirmed

by the writers of
the Food Composition Tables,

and it gets worse.

Without the water,
pre-cooked frankfurter sausages

contain a whopping 62% fat.

That's nearly two thirds.

[GRANT] I don't know if you should be
eating hot dogs, they're not good for you.

It doesn't taste
very good, it's plastic.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

Well, I'm sure our
country's main meat supplier

knows about meat's cancer
and heart health issues,

so I wonder what they think.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

Hello, can I help you?

When Beef and Lamb
returned my call,

and we got on to talk
about red meat and cancer,

she was quick to
change the subject.

What about this World
Health Organization's view

on red meat,
processed meat, and cancer?

She was more interested in
finding out who else was on board.

[WOMAN ON PHONE] They don't want
to make any comment, Ministry of Health?

[GRANT] Ministry of Health
are playing hard to get.

I'm still working at them.

And then we got on
to the two tick program,

a recently discontinued
Heart Foundation initiative

designed to identify
the best in healthy foods.

[WOMAN ON PHONE] So,
two ticks was introduced

to sort of identify whole foods,

those that didn't
undergo extra processing.

- Right.
- So two ticks applied

to fruit and vegetables, meats,

the cuts that met the
less than 4% saturated fat.

- Yeah.
- And yeah, I'll get back

to you today on what we decide.

Yup, if you did come on camera,
you may be the only one to do it

from an industry point of view,
and I think there'd be kudos there,

because at least you fronted up.

I think that would
be a big tick [LAUGHS].

- Talking about ticks.
- Yeah.

And as expected,
they turned me down.

But following the call on the
2016 Food Composition Tables,

I identified five products
that met the two tick standard.

But of these premium products,
when you take out the water,

the total fat content ranged
from 12% to a whole quarter.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

Curiously, the 2016 Food Composition Tables

don't list normal mince.

They only mention premium mince,

which is not what most people
buy in the supermarket.

Most people buy mince
with a lot of fat showing.

[GRANT] In 2005,
20% of normal mince was fat.

Without water, that would
be near three quarters fat.

And the fat's percentage of
calories would be higher still.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

There are other diets
that really push the meat,

high fat Paleo
and Ketogenic diets.

Gym instructor Ben Edusei
had tried these, too,

but then he had second thoughts.

I'd tried the Ketogenic diet,
so the high fat diet

'cause that was
getting a lot of publicity.

And I found that I
was struggling on that.

At first, it felt great,
then within about two weeks,

my body started
reacting quite negatively to it.

- Short term, some good things, long term, hmm.
- [GRANT] Yeah, not good, yeah.

Luckily for myself,
I met Dr. Luke Wilson,

and he had suggested
that maybe I should look

to do a three-month
plant-based protocol.

Fast forward to
the end of the three months,

I got my blood tested,
and to my surprise,

my cholesterol went, dropped
down to 3.7. It was really pleasing.

[GRANT] And Ben has found a plant-based
protocol works for his clients, too.

When it comes to your mobility,
which is strength and flexibility,

people are getting more
flexible, so they're able to perform

the movements properly.

[GRANT] And he found
other fringe benefits as well.

I had also got my
sex hormones tested,

and my testosterone had gone up

and my estrogen had dropped,
which is quite pleasing.

- [LAUGHING]
- [GRANT] I bet.

But what about the Paleo diet,

has it any
redeeming factors at all?

I mean, if you look at the Paleo
movement, for example, why is it so big?

There's no good
research basis for it.

It does have certain benefits

when it comes to
weight loss, short-term.

Aesthetically, at least, they
get some really good results

from doing those kinds of diets,

which are very bad
for your long-term health.

As I like to call it,
so benefit to your heart,

your arteries, your pancreas,

and also your kidneys, etcetera.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] Are you
going to cook something?

What do you want to cook?

- Hotdog.
- Hotdog, please.

[GRANT] No, I don't
want hot dogs, processed food.

Oh, you're eating a cucumber,
cucumber's good for you, that's fun.

[SIZZLING]

And there's nothing the
carnivore meat-eater likes more

than hearing the sizzle of the
fat burning on the barbecue.

But this is dangerous stuff.

- Sausages often grilled on a barbecue.
- Yep.

[GRANT] The process of
barbecuing increases the risk.

Yes,
it's high temperature cooking,

the high temperature
makes these carcinogens largely.

Both the processing of meat
and the frying of meat

has the tendency to increase
the carcinogenic content.

The processed meat
is preserved meat,

is often using
nitrates and nitrites.

Nitrates and nitrites
produce nitrosamines,

and when you fry meat,
it also produces some compounds

called polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons,

and both of those
are carcinogens.

[GRANT] You've got a sausage with a bit
of black on it or a little bit of brown,

brown's better than black?

[JOHN LAUGHS] I would
say both are problematic.

Both are associated
with a higher risk of exposure

to some carcinogens
that you've made in your flame.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

- You have them all the time.
- Yeah.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

[GRANT] By now,
I'm hoping you've got the idea

that meat isn't
particularly good for you.

But there's another aspect of
meat that's long been lauded

by the meat industry
as a strength,

but in actual fact, it's turning
out to be a real liability.

Professor Frizelle deals with
the butt end of bowel cancer.

The villain is what gives
meat the red color, Heme iron.

[FRANK] So, bowel cancer
is endemic in the population,

where the blue line is
Australia and New Zealand.

And if you can see
that New Zealand and Australia

are well ahead of
the rest of the world, okay.

And we see Japan
has more or less doubled

over a period of ten years.

And now we see other
countries such as Thailand

do the same thing, climb up.

And to double the rate
of bowel cancer in a country,

it doesn't mean
it's a genetic change.

It means it's
an environmental change.

But a lot of bowel cancer,
vast majority of bowel cancer

probably about 90%,
it just happens.

Well, we think
there is a bacterial cause

that causes a low-grade
inflammation in the gut.

The important
environmental influence

is what makes that
bacteria become virulent

or become active,
and that's where diet comes in.

So, if we have a look
where you have cancer here,

the driver bacteria
from here is here.

And there can be 20, 40 years
difference to get the right environment.

And by the time you have cancer,
those bacteria can be gone.

The environmental agent that
makes those bacteria virulent

are things such as Heme,
or meat, red meat.

And that turns
those bacteria on.

And so it's more
likely to be virulent

in the presence
of a red meat eater.

- [GRANT] Heme iron's only from animal product, isn't it?
- Yes, it is.

There's been a big change
in New Zealand, and people in

New Zealand under 50, they've had a dramatic
increase in left-sided rectal cancer,

particularly in young males. And the
genes in young males hasn't changed,

- they're still young New Zealand males.
- [GRANT] So what has changed?

[FRANK]
Well, it's probably their diet.

[GRANT] Could it be as simple
as just eating more hamburgers?

It could be as simple as
eating more processed meat.

[GRANT] Yeah, but
there could be other reasons.

It could be a combination
of fat consumption,

could also be
a quite important process.

We know that
total fat consumption

has been linked with
an increased incidence

in certain
bacteria in the bowel,

[GRANT] Heart disease and
cancer are our biggest killers,

and obesity and being overweight
are major risk factors.

So how do you change to a
permanent low fat way of life?

[MELLOW MUSIC]

Well, a trailblazing course

is the Seventh-Day
Adventist CHIP program

headed up by Doctor Paul Rankin.

And their results are
nothing short of astounding.

Chronic diseases
like heart disease,

Type 2 diabetes,
stroke, certain cancers,

there's overwhelming
evidence that the whole food,

plant-based diet
gives us the best option

for beating these diseases

and reversing
the effects of these diseases.

Russell had been told he needed
coronary artery bypass surgery.

He said to his doctor, "I'm
going to try the CHIP program."

The doctor said, "Okay, I'll give
you six weeks to see what happens,

then we're going to do the
coronary artery bypass surgery."

Six weeks later,
his indicators were excellent.

It's now nine, almost ten years
since Russell did the program.

He's in his mid-70s now,
he is doing fine.

Hawera in New Zealand,
they've had about

500 people do the CHIP program.

We went back and we
asked those who had done

the CHIP program four
years and one month ago,

to come back and retest.

69% of them said they were still
living on the CHIP program,

which means they weren't eating
meat, they weren't eating dairy,

they weren't eating poultry.

And we found those who came back

still had significantly
lower blood glucose,

their cholesterol levels
were still significantly better.

Eleven years ago,
I was 115 kilos,

I went and saw the doctor,
my cholesterol levels was 8.2,

which is dangerously high,
my blood pressure was 160/120.

My blood sugar levels were
just borderline Type 2 diabetes.

I adopted the principles of the CHIP
program, a whole food, plant-based diet.

I've lost 40 kilos in weight,
I'm now 73 to 75 kilos.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] Mushrooms are like meat,
taste like meat, it will.

You like mushrooms, don't you?

You don't want this mushroom.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

Ian would be
a typical Kiwi middle-aged man

and six weeks on the CHIP
program gave him results

that any doctor
would be amazed at.

- I was 104 kilos.
- Yep.

And by the time I
was finished, I was 96.

- [GRANT] Wow.
- So I dropped a fair bit.

[GRANT] And how long
did you take to do that?

Six weeks.

- I'm on remission of kidney disease.
- [GRANT] Okay.

My cholesterol was 5.7,

and by the end of the course,
it went down to 3.6.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] If you eat too much fat,
you'll get fatter.

But what effect does sugar have?

Dr. Beaglehole is a
long-time anti-sugar crusader.

It goes back to a time when
he had a hard day at the office.

And in the morning
I extracted 54 teeth.

And I looked out the window
and I couldn't believe it,

but there was a Coca Cola truck,

bringing their wares
into the hospital property.

And I actually became
quite irate and thought

actually, something
needs to be done about this.

I went straight
to the Chief Executive

and said,
"Look, last year we did

250 general anesthetics
alone on children."

He asked me what
did I think we should do,

and I said, "Have a policy
where no sugary drinks

are sold on
Nelson Marlborough DHB."

He thought it was a good idea, and a
month later, the policy was announced.

It was the first
hospital in the world

to have a policy
where no sugary drinks

were sold on hospital grounds.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

[GRANT] But sugary drinks
don't only affect

children's teeth, they directly
relate to obesity as well.

New Zealand has
the third highest rates

of childhood obesity in
the western world, the OECD.

And also, embarrassingly enough,

we have the third highest rates

of adult obesity
and overweightness.

We also know that New Zealand has
the third highest rate of Type 2 diabetes

in the western world,
and we've also got

the third highest
rate of sugar consumption.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

[GRANT] The sugary drinks
industry is moving fast

to counter these statistics.

But even they
can't avoid the truth.

There's actually new and
emerging evidence coming out

that even these artificially
sweetened beverages,

even though there's no sugar,
but there's good evidence

that these drinks
are leading to weight gain

and even Type 2 diabetes.

And the new and
emerging evidence suggests

that when you drink an
artificially sweetened beverage,

which is packed full of,
say, aspartame,

it's extremely sweet,
and what happens is that

the taste receptors get confused

and it thinks
it's drinking sugar.

So it starts laying
down the whole insulin pathway,

and there's good
evidence that the fat

is actually being laid
down around the midriff,

around the liver.

[GRANT] And being a dentist,
Dr. Beaglehole

is passionate about teeth.

He has actually ended up
having all of his teeth out.

He told me that he was
addicted to sugary drinks,

and he had a 1.5 liter bottle
of Coca Cola every single day.

[GRANT] And going hand
in hand with sugary drinks

is fast food.

Fast food factors in
quite a lot with kids,

particularly children
and adolescents, young adults,

because they're
the big consumers of fast food.

But for quite a significant
number of the population,

it does form
a big part of their diet,

and if that is
a big part of your diet,

then you'll almost certainly

going to become
overweight or obese.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] But you don't have to live with the
consequences of processed foods and fat.

Terry has made the change,
and has never looked back.

Well, I was overweight,

getting more inactive
and just not feeling well.

[GRANT] So how
much weight did you lose?

- I went from 111 down to 92 Kgs.
- [GRANT] That's a big change.

Till eventually,
I was declared non-diabetic.

- Is that right?
- Yes, I reversed it.

- [GRANT] So, what did your doctor say?
- Oh, she was thrilled for me.

Yeah, she said it was wonderful.
Yeah, well, I'm 72 in December.

- [GRANT] Could have had me fooled.
- Yeah, still ride the bike

as often as I can. I swim,
I referee soccer matches.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] The phrase comes
back again, I got my life back,

and Terry is a case in point.

[BEEPING]

Meanwhile, back on
the Ministry of Health trail.

[VOICE RECORDING] The person you're
calling cannot be reached at this time.

Please try again later.

- [LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]
- [SIGHS]

[GRANT] Cath's own story
is more typical of most Kiwis.

Well, I guess I'm like a lot
of people, especially women,

in that I've had
struggles with weight loss.

I discovered that I was
also a food addict.

And in fact,
most people with weight problems

have some kind
of food addiction.

[GRANT] So how do
you help a food addict?

[CATH] The same way
you help any kind of addict.

There are some foods
that are particularly addictive

and those foods, it's much
easier to just eliminate them.

[GRANT] That word
addiction also comes up

in mental health,
and in sicknesses

not normally associated
with the food we eat.

Indicators of unhealthy diet

are associated with
poorer mental status,

and indicators of a healthy diet

are associated with
a better mental status.

So, a lot of people are
comparing the effect

of diet on mood
a little bit like an addiction,

where you're
feeling kind of low.

They have the Big Mac
and it spikes up,

but it takes them back down
to the baseline low level.

We've just had a huge push

on awareness of
suicide and mental health.

Diet wasn't mentioned.
Interesting.

If New Zealand has the highest
rate of teenage suicide,

which it does, then we
should be paying attention

to the types of food
that our teenagers are eating.

[GRANT] And a colleague's
research has shown

that healthy food can
be as good as medicine.

And this colleague has
now gone on to even test

in a randomized control trial,
a dietary intervention

for people who are
clinically depressed.

And it has about the same
effect as antidepressants.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] Epigenetics is the study

of how experiences in your past

can alter your DNA,

and that of your
yet-to-be-born offspring,

for good or for bad.

Dr. Bishop is studying
how your choice of foods

can affect your
children years later.

The mother's
exposure to pollutants,

dietary factors, stress,

is very important
because that will influence

some of the epigenetic
marks that are laid down

in the developing fetus.

[GRANT] So, the mother's
diet influences the way

the baby turns out as an adult.

Yes, pre-conception
and during development.

[GRANT] So a takeout here
is to carefully consider

the foods you eat
even as a young person,

as these can
affect the adult health

of any children
you may bear or father.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

Does your mum eat meat?

Yeah.

[GRANT] What do
you think about that?

- Is that good or bad?
- I have meat.

- You have meat?
- Yeah.

[GRANT] Is that good or bad?

- There's a lizard.
- Lettuce?

- [WOMAN] Lizard.
- Oh, lizard, ah.

Dr. Bishop was
also involved in a study

that required more
intake of legumes and fruit,

and less intake of meat.

The Mediterranean diet is
high in vegetables and fruit

and low in meat.

And low in processed foods.

We did encourage them to
eliminate the intake of processed meat.

[GRANT] You did encourage
them to cut down on their dairy?

Um, yeah,
to cut down on their dairy.

[GRANT] So the change in diet wasn't that
radical, I mean, they just ate a few more

vegetables and bit less meat,
is that fair comment?

It was radical for some.

[GRANT] And what
were the results?

We found that there
was a decrease in DNA damage

as the adherence to the
Mediterranean style diet increased.

DNA damage is
linked with various cancers.

[GRANT] And in this case,
prostate cancer was the cancer

- you were looking at?
- Yes.

[GRANT] So, less meat
and more vegetables

will help fight prostate cancer.

My father was diagnosed
with a very aggressive form

of prostate cancer, and he was quite
advanced. And so there was nothing

that the medical
industry could offer him.

And...
So, he was really determined

that he was going to fight this,

and so I helped him to
look in other directions.

And one of the directions
I looked in was diet,

and really discovered
the whole food plant-based diet.

My dad changed his diet
and he ended up living

for another eight or nine years,
when he was only

supposed to live for another,
I think, year or so.

[MELLOW STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] Which gets me thinking,
if meat's so bad for you

and your family,
why bother eating it at all?

If one has a good effect
and the other has a bad effect,

why not just remove one
and just have the other?

Why take the risk?

Because people enjoy meat.

[GRANT CHUCKLES]
You're dead right.

Prostate cancer is New Zealand's

most common male cancer by far.

And the World
Health Organization sees

a direct link with red meat.

I wonder what's
the Cancer Society's view

on treating cancer with
a wholly plant-based diet?

So it's back to the phones.

-[WOMAN ON PHONE] Can I help you?
-Yes, my name's Grant Dixon.

Daniel was going to
get back to me. Is Danie...

[WOMAN] Did you
leave a message, Grant?

The first email
was on the 31st of July,

which is several weeks ago.

He's been pretty tied up, so that's
probably why he hasn't responded

to your email. Okay,
I'll pass any details to him

and I hope he will get back
to you the next day or so.

[LIGHTS STRINGS MUSIC]

[GRANT] In studying diet,
it soon becomes obvious

that fruit and vegetables
are a powerful antidote

to the many toxins
we ingest daily.

There's really good evidence
that a diet high in vegetables

and fruit lowers our
risk of cardiovascular disease.

And increasing
your meat consumption

increases your risk of a variety

of chronic
diseases and early death.

There are lots
and lots of compounds

in vegetables and fruit, that one
way or another are beneficial to us.

You know, some obvious
ones are things like vitamins.

Higher
vegetable intake correlates

with a lower cancer incidence
of quite a range of cancers.

[GRANT] What's
the difference in the food bill?

- It's been a lot cheaper.
- Really?

Yeah, I used to
eat quite a bit of meat.

Essentially just
whatever vegetables are there,

a bit of starch, and yeah,
I'm good to go, really.

- [MELLOW MUSIC]
- [GIRL LAUGHING]

[GRANT] Are you
taking a photo of grandad?

One-handed camerawoman,
eat while you film.

[LAUGHING]

[GRANT] Scientists are even now finding

that specific
fruit and vegetables

help fight specific cancers.

And we've been feeding it to

a very cancer-prone mouse model.

And what we've found was
that yes, the ordinary kumara

has a protective effect
on that type of cancer,

but the purple kumara has
a very much stronger effect.

The message I would find is
that kumaras are good for you,

and purple kumaras
are even better for you.

[GRANT] So, vegetables work
hard to fight against cancer.

And I still would
really like to know

what the Cancer Society thinks

about the plant-based approach.

Time for my weekly phone call.

[INDISTINCT ON PHONE]

- Is that Daniel?
- Yeah, it is.

Hi, Daniel, this is Grant
Dixon from Dixon Productions.

I've been trying
to get hold of you.

- [DANIEL] Yeah, yeah.
- I was wanting someone senior, I guess,

from the Cancer Society to
have a chat with me on camera.

[DANIEL] That's not likely looking at
the moment only because we, this is the

- [INDISTINCT] with stuff.
- Yeah

- I'll have a look at it and get back to you anyway.
- Yeah, if you can

give me a yes or no,
that would be good.

- Okay then, cheers, bye.
- Bye.

And their answer was no.

They simply
didn't want to front.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

This apparent reluctance
to consider new ideas

is something that
Dr. Wilson muses on.

[LUKE] And you'd
think this is huge news,

that you could reduce the rate of
cancer just by that dietary change,

and you think that would be
front page news but it wasn't.

And I think organizations
like the Cancer Society,

the Heart Foundation,
to some extent,

I think they just sort of
trust that, just like I did,

you know, if this was
real and worked for people,

then we would just be,
then we'd be doing it.

[GRANT] And yet, they're not.

And so I remained ignorant
when I had my heart attack.

And what about all the others
that are happening every day?

I got a phone call saying
my dad was in intensive care.

And I had to get home.

Two days later,
he had passed away.

Young as well, my dad was 54.

My dad passed away
from a heart attack.

So, it's something
that's been on my mind.

[GRANT] And if you
survive your first,

the expectations are,
your second won't be far away.

Four years
after my heart attack,

and three years after
starting my plant-based diet,

I found myself
back in the coronary ward

The bleed's cause was a
standard pre-angio blood thinner.

[WOMAN ON TV] If the pain
or discomfort is still there...

She's talking
about dealing with angina.

I don't get angina.

In fact, I haven't
used that spray at all.

Reflux all night.

They don't seem to worry about
gastro things in this ward.

It's only heart things.

About to go into angioplasty.

It's all going to be determined,

three years of vegan diet,
three years of non-oil.

Will it show to have
had a beneficial effect,

or are they going to
find that I need another stent,

or dare I say something worse?

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

My original
heart damage was severe

and it's going to take
time for it to come right.

The question is,
have I run out of time?

[MELLOW MUSIC]

Just came out of
the procedure theater.

Um, it went really quick,
about 10, 15 minutes.

All my stents are clear,
my heart's looking really good,

there's no damage,
no need for any more work.

I got out of
the surgeon that my plaque,

he says no worse
than it was four years ago.

And that was a huge relief.

- Heart damage?
- [GRANT] No, there's no heart damage.

And the likely diagnosis
was my severe reflux attack.

They couldn't tell whether
the plaque in my arteries

had lessened, due to the dye
they used second time around.

And then there's
the recommended foods.

And now,
getting ready for discharge,

I'm provided with the Heart
Foundation dietary guide.

It gives a list of healthy
foods, that's what they call it,

and includes milk, trim
milk or low fat, but still milk,

oils, spreads, nuts,
avocado, every one of those

on my diet is
actually forbidden.

And the diet I'm referring
to is the Esselstyn diet,

one of a few proven
to reverse heart disease.

And then,
of course, you've got fish,

seafood,
lean meat, and skinny poultry,

because all those foods
are totally full of fat.

And the hospital menu
was much the same,

and included Class 1
carcinogens, bacon and sausages.

One patient even complained

that his food
made him put on weight.

And the vegan
options were bland.

And that's vegetable soup. There's vegetables
in the bottom of it if you look around.

My second visit to hospital
was definitely a check

to my plant-based
lifestyle enthusiasm.

But in the end, it did confirm
that I was on the right track.

It also confirmed to me
how much the medical fraternity

are held captive
by the drug companies.

And reflux is what I've got.

Despite having
a cholesterol of 4.1,

close to the goal of
4.0 for heart patients,

I was still given a truckload
of pills to take home.

Helps prevent
heart attacks and strokes.

Well, that's good to know.

My wife just reminded me
of a story that happened

in the hospital
just before we left.

This lady, young lady
came in, and invited me

to join a drug program.

My wife said, "Isn't it a pity

that someone
couldn't come to you and say,

You've done all
these amazing things to get

your cholesterol down
without even using drugs?

Maybe we should follow this guy
and then find out what his secrets are."

And yet there's
no money for that.

This is one of the things you've
got to remember about these

societies and organizations,
is they really think the way

that they can make a difference is
putting more money into research.

But how can we have
studies now on heart disease

that don't recognize the fact that we
already have a cure for heart disease?

[GRANT] And that's a question I'd
really like to ask the Heart Foundation,

if only they'd
agree to an interview.

[PHONE RINGS]

- [DAVE] Yes[INDISTINCT].
- Hello, is that Dave?

- Yeah.
- Good day, Dave, this is Grant Dixon here

- from Dixon Productions.
- Oh, how are you doing, Grant?

I'm doing very well,
thank you very much.

Good, good.

I'm just ringing up to
double-check the reason why you,

the Heart Foundation doesn't
want to talk to me on camera?

[DAVE LAUGHING]

[DAVE] Why don't we
want to talk to you on camera?

Um... Well, we've discussed
this at leadership team.

The decision was to not,
not to go ahead with it.

Yeah, I mean, I am one
of your patients, so to speak.

[DAVE LAUGHING] Yeah.

Look, I can
have another chat about it

with the people and um,

I'm just actually
flying out the door

to go to my
son's rugby practice,

-to take him to rugby
practice.-Good for you.

So I'll give you
a call back tomorrow morning.

I'll just give you
a call on your mobile.

That'll be great.

They say that
the establishment's beliefs

only change one
funeral at a time.

But there is hope, with a new
generation of doctors coming through.

[LIGHT STRINGS MUSIC]

Chloe is
an example of a young doctor

who has come across
plant-based research,

and realizing how strong it is,

wants to take it on face value.

So I'm a junior doctor,

which means that
I work in hospitals.

[GRANT] So you've been
on the diet for how long?

So, that's
eight or nine months now.

[GRANT] So you're a real newbie?

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

About a year ago,
I started a blog

called Let Food Be Thy Medicine.

And actually through the
research for that blog article,

I found out about
the huge amount of research

that supported
this way of eating.

[GRANT] And then the penny
dropped. Why are we spending

so much time fixing sicknesses

we simply don't need to see?

A couple of years ago,
I realized that we

were being the ambulances
at the bottom of the cliff,

and what I was really interested
in was going up the cliff

and actually helping to stop
that progression of disease.

The best way that
I've seen to do that

is through a healthy diet.

At medical school, we got
very few lectures on nutrition.

In fact,
I looked back and counted,

I think there
was only about four.

And we have hundreds of lectures

about different medications
and different surgeries.

We should be focusing more on
how to prevent these diseases.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] What have we got here?
We got bunny eating garlic.

Yum, yum, you like garlic, too?

Yes, you do, you're
eating your garlic as well.

Yum, yum, yum.

Yum, yum, yum.

Garlic's yummy isn't it?

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

Many diseases could be avoided

by taking out animal products,

refined foods,
and oils from our diet.

And plant-based cooking
experts such as Kate Broughton

and Aaron Brunnett
will tell you how to do it.

Hey, welcome everybody. Thank you so much
for coming. So what we're going to do today

is do the inspiration and share
some great cooking techniques.

So, on the menu, we've
got a creamy broccoli bisque.

We're going to be
making a raw taco fiesta,

and our main is going
to be a shepherdess pie,

which is a lentil-based pie.

So I was kind of looking for integrity
and something that would take into account

the fact that
climate change is happening,

there's a lot of
environmental impact going on.

For me,
it was actually curiosity.

I just wanted to feel
what would my body feel like

if I actually took out the meat, the
dairy, the cheese, the fish, and the eggs.

Plus, it's great for my health and it's also
great for sort of compassion towards animals.

When you sort of throw open
the door to the plant kingdom,

it's just this
abundant and rich world

of fabulous flavors and colors.

It's a huge
opportunity to accelerate

the healing in your body,
and the benefits,

what you gain is so much
more than what you give up.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GRANT] But sometimes
transitioning needs some help.

And a young Auckland
couple has built a business

with this in mind.

A company that
we've started about a year

- and a half ago now?
- Yeah.

I started watching all
the documentaries on Netflix,

Forks over Knives,
Cowspiracy, and Vegucated.

Yeah, we watched these
documentaries and we just said,

- "Right, that's it."
- [SASKI] Cold turkey.

Yeah, we're going to
be moving straight away.

I think a lot of people
were asking us, you know,

"What do you eat as vegans?" And
"Where do you get your protein?"

And we just thought it would be
great if there was a business out there

that could people
make the transition

to a plant-based
vegan lifestyle.

You have relearn to cook,

you have to relearn to shop.

Yeah, we just thought we'd
start putting recipes out there

and doing the shopping
and everything for everyone.

[SASKI LAUGHS] Yep,
I'm the recipe creator.

[GRANT] Tell me about that,
how do you do it?

Just veganize some of
your favorites, really.

We prefer people to try

and make their
own food from scratch.

We believe it's healthier than
the processed things you can find.

And I think once you get into
the habit of eating this way,

it's really not that difficult.

[GRANT]
But big food is out there,

resisting this
anti-processed food trend.

You would think
that the key issue

in New Zealand's
current obesity epidemic

would be what we eat.

But not according
to the food industry.

Recently, Parliament conducted an inquiry

into the obesity
and diabetes epidemic.

Dr. Gabrielle Jenkin wrote her
PhD thesis on what happened.

[GABRIELLE] Well there were
about 313 submitters to the inquiry.

Probably about 10% of those
were from the food industry.

The rest were really
from some members of the public,

but actually mainly
from health organizations.

By far overwhelmingly,
the submissions argued

for increasing regulation
in all areas of food policy

to reduce obesity
and Type 2 diabetes.

The findings from
the inquiry did recognize

most of the public
health type arguments

in favor of regulation.

But it fell down at the point
of being turned into policy.

It basically ignored what the
health select committee found

and recommended,
except in the area of schools.

- [GRANT] Yeah, and exercise.
- [GABRIELLE] Yeah.

The food industry
have always put forward

food is not
constituted as the problem,

actually, it's exercise.

So, as long as we exercise,
we can eat whatever we like,

which, of course,
we know is not true.

[GRANT] So, the 10% of
submitters from the industry

outweighed the 90% of
submitters from the public?

Absolutely,
so it was a democratic process

but not a democratic outcome.

And big business
have deep pockets,

and they will go
into risk protection mode,

they will go on the attack,
on the counter-attack.

We saw it in New Zealand,
actually even in the 90s,

when the Public
Health Commission,

which was
a newly minted commission

to support public
health in New Zealand,

dared to mention
taxes on unhealthy food,

and the big
vested interests came in,

and the Public Health Commission
was disbanded overnight.

As long as we are
framing the problem

as the obesity epidemic,

the problem becomes
individual obese people.

If we frame
the problem as unhealthy food,

you have immediately
got a different solution

that's suggested by that.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

[GRANT] And thus
the need for legislation.

The real issue
isn't the consumer,

it's the foods that
are being sold to us.

There is really good evidence
there that the food industry

knowingly manipulates the fat,

salt and sugar content
of their products

uh, to make it highly palatable,

um, one could even say,
perhaps addictive.

[GRANT] The big companies must
know they're actually making people fat

by selling their food,
is that ethical?

Uhm, it's profitable.

[GRANT] And then,
true to his word,

Dave from the Heart
Foundation returned my call.

[DAVE] Grant Dixon, Dave
Munro here, Heart Foundation.

[GRANT] Again,
they declined my request

for an on camera interview,
but then we got chatting.

[DAVE] Probably
the first thing to say is that

we don't want to
be portrayed in a way

that looks like we are telling
people to eat a certain way.

[GRANT] But surely,
not telling people how to eat

is like only shouting helpful
hints to a drowning person,

when what you should do
is throw in a life preserver.

And then we got onto the
supposed nutritional value of eggs.

But talking about eggs
for a moment, if I may.

I'm a bit confused about
the Heart Foundation's policy

on six eggs a week for
people with heart disease.

One egg is pretty much

your total
cholesterol limit for the day.

Clearly,
cholesterol is not the issue.

Well, no, no, cholesterol
is definitely the issue.

And this is where
the Heart Foundation

has fiddled the science.

They argue that eggs
won't make much difference

to the larger cholesterol fire.

But surely, more cholesterol
can only make things worse.

One way or another, cholesterol
ends up getting laid down

in the arteries, and the
arteries end up being blocked.

And that's what causes
people to have heart attacks.

[GRANT] While it's true
that much of our cholesterol

is produced by our body,
significant amounts

still enter our
bloodstream through our food.

And eggs are the largest
source of cholesterol in our diet.

[DAVE] Yeah,
I'd say that saturated fat

would be the one impacting
on your blood lipids.

[GRANT] Well,
for the record, one egg yolk

has more than twice the
saturated fat as rump steak,

and more
saturated fat than bacon.

So, if they won't
take cholesterol seriously,

what about
cholesterol being absorbed

a lot more in
the presence of saturated fat?

But people eat eggs with bacon,

that's what they do,
they have bacon and eggs.

[DAVE] Well, Grant, they don't have to.

For example, they can hard
boil an egg, and they can...

But you don't tell people
not to eat bacon and eggs.

That's the point I'm making...

[DAVE] You're saying that we
should be more overt in telling people

- to not have bacon with eggs?
- Totally. With eggs.

- That's right, because it's very dangerous.
- Yeah, yeah.

- Ow!
- He bite you?

He bite me.

Well,
don't put your hand in his face.

And in they go.

And to bed for the night.

And a final
comment or two on eggs.

The American Dietary Guidelines

clearly state that we should eat

as little dietary
cholesterol as possible.

And in the U.S.,
some 90% of the research

undergirding the Heart
Foundation's eggs are good policy

was funded by the egg industry.

Meanwhile,
back on the phone call.

You're saying increase
your fruit and vegetables,

which I agree with,
but you also say

have some meat
thrown in as well,

and people like me
end up with heart attacks.

Anyway, I'm preaching at you and
I suppose I shouldn't do that.

[DAVE LAUGHING]

[GRANT] Well, brave thinking
is what's needed here,

independent from
food industry influence.

But finally, a breakthrough
on the Ministry of Health front.

They've now agreed to
an on-camera interview.

But New Zealand's
biggest food producers,

Fonterra and Beef and Lamb,
turned me down

or didn't return the call.

They really need to address
these public health issues,

as for them,
time is running out.

[MELLOW MUSIC]

Consultant Dr. Rosie Bosworth

is one of a number
ringing the warning bells.

We have a very
small window of time

where plant-based
proteins will start

to come to market
at prices that undercut

the traditional
dairy and meat sector.

A lot of these
synthetic meat companies,

or we like to call them
cellular agriculture clean meat,

they intend to be at
mass market within five years,

and competing at
price points far below

New Zealand's
traditional commodity prices.

[GRANT] So what's driving this rush
towards plant-based processed foods?

We have the rise of
the millennial consumer

who are interested in
plant-based protein, veganism,

flexitarian diets where we're
reducing our meat consumption.

We have the environmental
impacts of animal agriculture,

and people
becoming much more savvy

to the environmental impacts
of the foods they're eating.

And we have
a huge rise in investment

going into alternative proteins.

We're living in an era where

the animal is no longer needed.

[GRANT] So, what are
the stats to back this up?

We're already seeing a rise of
plant-based milk alternatives.

In the last five years, this has
risen by 250%. And you compare that

to the dairy, and we're actually
seeing, at least in the United States

or internationally,
a decline in dairy by about 11%.

So, plant-based milks
are going like this,

dairy is declining.

[GRANT] And what's
happening with meat?

At least in the United States,
red meat consumption

- has dropped by 20% over the last five years.
- That's huge.

That's huge. Europe is expecting
by 2030, to have 35% of all meat

on the market being
an alternative protein.

And we'll reach a point
of scale where these companies

are able to produce
meats in such vast quantities

on the very fringes of
our city, that will come

and undercut any form of the
lowest value commodity price.

And at that point, dare
I say it that it's game over

for traditional
animal agriculture.

- So that's a worry.
- It's a big worry.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC]

[GRANT] And also slow to change
has been the official line

on how to avoid serious
sickness and heart disease.

It's been a long time coming,

but I've
finally got my interview

with the Ministry of Health.

And after some, should I say,
softening up questions,

we got straight to the point.

Our recommendation
is that people don't eat

any more than 500 grams
of cooked red meat per week,

and also to
limit processed meat.

So, you're
really actually saying,

meat only once or twice a week?

Red meat, yes.

- 'Cause pork's red meat as well.
- Yes.

So, you still are
comfortable with people

eating processed meat?

I think a number
of the processed meats

are a common part
of New Zealanders' diet,

such as sausages,
ham, and so on,

and so we need to be,
you know, fair and reasonable.

[GRANT] There was a time
we were fair and reasonable

about cigarette smoking, too.

And then we moved on to
a Ministry-funded program.

Healthy Families New Zealand

is actually
a community initiative

that's operating in ten high-need
communities around New Zealand.

Yeah, I had a quick
look at that and I noticed

that the Southland
region had a program

about how to prepare
a healthy Sausage Sizzle.

And they came up with ways of,
I think, swapping out butter

for margarine and using
healthier bread for instance,

but they still had sausages.

Isn't that a problem?

- [ELIZABETH] Well, do you think we should ban sausages?
- Yes. Yes, I do.

Well, I don't think that's going
to happen in New Zealand.

So, shouldn't we
claim the high ground?

Yeah, and we
communicate that information.

What we're doing is
funding organizations,

such as the Heart Foundation,
to work with the industry,

to make sausages healthier.

But it's not quite the same, is it? I
mean, we're talking about something

that will give people cancer,
probably bowel cancer.

I mean it's serious stuff.

- No, but we've said limit the amount.
- Limit.

Well, I guess if
they took me seriously,

there'd be
rioting in the streets.

But one day.

And then I got
onto my hobby horse.

Let me tell you my story.

Seven years ago,
I had a heart attack.

I was 58 years of age.

Two years
before the heart attack,

I asked him,
"What can I do about it?"

He went away.
A month later, he rang me up,

only time I've
been rung up by a doctor.

And he said to me,
"Grant, I've looked into it,

Two years later, they're
wanting to cut my chest open,

give me a heart bypass,
I've got four stents now.

That all could have been
avoided if a body like your body

gave good, positive,
"Don't eat red meat,

don't eat processed foods,
don't eat high fat products."

I think that we
know that that's likely

to have reduced your risk,
but I don't know that we know

that it's definitely going
to prevent it in all cases.

I was eating the Ministry
of Health recommended diet.

My wife is an excellent cook. My doctor
congratulated her on how low my cholesterol was.

My cholesterol was hovering
around five at the time,

which was supposed to be good.

It's now 3.2.

It needs to be
a lot lower. Don't you...

It's not just
about cholesterol though.

No, but it's a good marker
about where your health is,

surely around your heart
and your arteries and so forth.

My point is, the Ministry
has a responsibility

to tell the public the truth.

And the truth is,
you have to be a lot more severe

in your diet to
avoid these ailments.

We're not doing enough,
all these sicknesses we've got,

all these high percentages.

Yeah, but we also,
on the other hand, see

that life
expectancy's increasing.

Yes, there is always
something that can be improved,

but there are also
positive things going on.

[GRANT] Will the Ministry
of Health walk away

from what is now
undeniable evidence?

Or will we have the first
government in the world

to stand up to
big-food and big-medicine?

We have a simple choice,
what's best for public health,

or what's best
for private profits.

We can't have both.

In a former time,
with my heart condition,

I would have been told to
go home and get ready to die.

But now, my health is fantastic,

far better than
many of my peers.

I feel good, I look good,
my bloods are great,

and I don't take statins,

and I run 60 kilometers a month.

[BRIGHT MUSIC]

I'm one of thousands who've
also discovered the truth,

and who no longer
believe the big fat lie.

[BRIGHT MUSIC]

What would you like to
say to Kiwis about their diet?

Our very high meat-based
diet is literally killing us.

I mean, meat's not a required
part of anybody's diet.

Beware of what you eat,
think about it carefully.

When we know that
heart disease can be reversed,

that needs to
be stated as a fact,

so that when people do
want to change their lifestyle

in that way, then they know
that the information's there.

So why isn't this
taught in medical school?

This is a reality, we can
reverse heart disease with diet.

I should be telling people to eat
this way. I should be eating this way,

everybody should be eating this
way for our long-term health.

Instead of just saying, "Oh, it's too
hard and people won't change their diet,"

we'll say, "For those that
do want to change their diet,

well, here's the information."

If I'd had this information,

I may have been
able to save my brother,

and the dieticians
hadn't given him the answers.

When I was young, they just died
of old age. We've been fooled.

And the World Health
Organization actually highlights

the benefits of
a whole food plant-based diet.

So why would we have to
go through the middle animal?

Why not just go
straight to the source

of where nutrition comes from?

Eat as many types of vegetables

and colors of
vegetables as you can.

Keep your fiber content up.

Try it for a month, without
your dairy, without your meat,

without your poultry, without your eggs, without
your fish, and see the change it can make.

And just give it a go, just
pencil out a couple of weeks.

You're not going to die. You
actually probably are going to enjoy it.

I've lost 12 kilos,
I feel better, I think better,

I feel like my body
is much more harmonized.

[GRANT] Someone told me you're
a vegetarian, is that right?

- Yes.
- [GRANT CHUCKLES] Why?

It's for moral reasons
basically, I won't kill animals.

[GRANT] I'm a whole foods,
plant-based person.

- Same.
- Are you now? Why are you?

Oh, all... The evidence is unequivocal
in terms of diet having such a big impact.

As long as you have
enough patience and discipline

and commitment,
amazing things happen.

[UPBEAT MUSIC]