Hack Your Health: A Review - GWC May Newsletter

I have always been a fan of a good documentary, specifically regarding health. With the recent publication of Netflix’s documentary, 'Hack your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut,' I was more than excited to see what they had to say. First, I had to create space and time so that I could fully immerse myself in the documentary. One thing I wanted to do for myself is not do any background research prior to watching it so I didn’t come in with a biased opinion.

By the end I was left with a pleasant feeling regarding the presentation of the information. I feel that it wasn’t overly sensationalized like some documentaries can be. I appreciate how they incorporated animation to help illustrate the points that they were making such as how we digest and absorb nutrients throughout our bodies. It was refreshing to see some new faces being spotlighted as we tend to see the same specialists over and over again. Overall, I feel it was really well done and came from a place of education versus self-promotion.

With documentaries, one of the first things I often want to know is who funded the project? You will see special interest groups funding these privately made films so they can push the narrative towards their own product. In this case, Netflix was the funding partner so it did not feel pushed to one direction or another. You could, of course, argue that if you go back into Netflix history, somebody may be pulling the strings, but it didn’t feel like a one-sided discussion.

Some of the other reviews that I read did point out that certain researchers and their products were being featured. For instance, the scientist out of California is the leading researcher for the company supplying the testing kits used for the four subjects. That company stands to make a profit should people want to do testing on their own.

My biggest takeaways:

It was an easily digestible (pun intended) educational delivery.
Some of the information was overly simplified, but I do feel that it was done in a way that it could be understood by most.
The last section of the film, where they discussed how to assist our gut buddies in being more diversified, I feel is truly the magic sauce: eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, enjoying fermented foods, which are nature’s first probiotic or prebiotic, and understanding that fiber is our friend.

As always, I recommend that you watch something and come to your own opinion, but I can recommend taking the time out of your schedule for this learning experience.

Coach Jen