If you are a vegan or you are looking to become one, you’ll surely enjoy our list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu.
There are lots of misconceptions about veganism, and I sometimes feel that people are not quite sure what veganism actually is. Veganism and being vegan isn’t just restraining yourself from eating meat and animal products. It is a philosophy that shows deep care for animals and opposes their exploitation. But so do vegetarians, you’ll say. Some even think that being vegan is the same as being vegetarian, but fancier. Well, things get a bit complicated here. There are lots of different approaches that people take. Some people restrain themselves from eating meat but include milk, eggs, and other animal products in their diet. These people fit into the common conception of vegetarians. Others exclude both meat and animal products from their diet. They fit into the common perception of vegans. The last group of people who practice veganism also embraces the diet without meat or any other animal products, but also doesn’t use products that have other uses and come from animals like wool or silk. I hope I cleared a bit of the fog you may have about veganism and vegans.
Adopting a vegan diet has both good and bad sides. The negative consequences are a lower intake of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Their deficiency can cause certain health problems, but they can be obtained using supplements that don’t interfere with veganism. The advantages are lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and higher antioxidant intake. And of course, when you are a vegan, you know you are not hurting animals.
When it comes to documentaries related to veganism and vegans, their number has increased in the recent time. Since there are now more people turning to veganism than ever, there is also interest from filmmakers to explore the subject. While some of them like Live and Let Live and Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days are focused more on a vegan based diet, others like Earthlings and Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret explore issues that are closely related to veganism philosophy. The first group will give you more information about vegans while the second will make you become one. In case you enjoy in all food documentaries, we recommend our list of 11 Best Food Documentaries on Hulu.
To create our list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu we searched through Hulu’s database of documentaries using Something to Stream. Although Hulu’s offer is shy in terms of documentaries covering the subject of veganism, we did manage to find 5 that fit the description and ranked them according to their IMDb rating. Let’s take a look.
5. Unsupersize Me
IMDb rating: –
We are starting off our list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu with the documentary that talks about Tracy Ryan, a woman who lost 200 lbs by turning to a plant-based diet with the help of personal trainer Juan-Carlos Asse. Juan-Carlos Asse, who is also the director of the documentary, guides the viewers through her transformation and promotes a plant-based diet as a healthy lifestyle. This diet is vegan based but takes a bit different approach by cutting off the processed food and refined sugar.
4. Vegucated
IMDb rating: 7.1
What happens when three guys who love to eat meat more than anything, decide to spend six weeks on a vegan diet? Well, unless you watch this documentary that ranks 4th in our list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu, you’ll never find out. Through the documentary, they are not just changing their diet, but also learn more about veganism and its philosophy. At first, they are coping hard with a sudden change of their lifestyle, but as the experiment goes on, they become less opposed to the idea.
3. Hungry for Change
IMDb rating: 7.5
This entry on our list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu revolves around the food industry that tries to trick the consumers into adopting the diets that will ultimately do them no good. Hungry for Change also covers diets that are healthy, including the vegan diet. The documentary features interviews with lots of nutrition experts with many of them being vegans or pro – vegan.
2. Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
IMDb rating: 7.6
The documentary shows the experience of its director Joe Cross who was overweight and has an autoimmune disease but couldn’t get better using the techniques of conventional medicine. So, he opted to change his lifestyle and his diet, restraining himself from all the food that wasn’t vegetables and fruit for 60 days. During that period he travels across the United States in order to find out more about the eating habits of other people.
1. Food, Inc.
IMDb rating: 7.9
Our last entry on the list of best vegan documentaries streaming on Hulu will either reassure you that being vegan is the right choice or make you think about becoming one. It talks about the practices in the food industry that have profit in the first place and are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. The documentary, especially focuses on the corporate farming and cruel treatment of animals.