You’re going to have to take a seat for this.
Pete Evans, yes the chef-turned-crazy-diet-guy who warned people against WiFi, has had his new documentary slammed by people who actually have medical degrees.
The man who says the paleo diet can treat chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and autism has been condemned by the Australian medical Association over his latest film The Magic Pill and frankly, we’re shocked.
According to the director Rob Tate, the film is about “holistic land management with ethically raised animals” aiding human disease and better care for the planet, which sounds nice to be honest.
WATCH: Pete Evans reveals his crippling health condition.
But then they show Abigail, a four-year-old non-verbal autistic girl. She suffers up to 50 seizures a day, but by the end of the film is able to speak for the first time.
AMA president Michael Gannon wasn’t a huge fan of that. In fact he compared it to anti-vax documentary Vaxxed, saying they were competing “in the awards for the films least likely to contribute to public health”.
“Elements of the discussion are just plain hurtful, harmful and mean,” Dr Gannon said.
“The idea that a high-fat diet can change a child’s behaviour in a month is just so patently ridiculous … and yet the reality is the parents of autistic children are so desperate they will reach for anything.
“I enjoy (Evans’) emphasis on protein because there’s no question that lean meat, eggs and fish are superfoods … but exclusion diets never work.”
The film also features people suffering from type-2 diabetes and a woman who says she shrunk a cancerous tumour in her breast purely from eliminating the glucose from carbohydrates.
Mr Tate said the film would “preach to the converted” but hopes it impacts people’s “sense of science”, by which he means believe them over doctors.
“It stands counter to our government-sanctioned guidelines. Counter to the pharmaceutical industry. Counter to most food industries,” he said
“It’s especially easy to mock a celebrity, but reality exists whether the public likes it or not. This way of eating is scientifically sound.”
“We’ve been misled – sometimes purposefully, sometimes through bias or ignorance – but slowly scientific clarity is bringing us back.”
If it tickles your fancy, The Magic Pill will screen in Toowoomba tonight.
