"Fat Head" documentary

Hattie2879

I just finished watching Fat Head on Netflix. It's a response to Super Size Me.

Anyone else see it? What did you think?

I thought it was pretty interesting and quite informative, but just like with any other documentary and its facts, I can't help but wonder what it didn't tell me. Although, I think it's a lot more truthful than Super Size Me. And if I go by what the guy on Fat Head suggests, I'm doing good for myself to do a quasi-Atkins-esque diet.

taso42_DELETED

it was a load of bologna

XxBri22xX

I haven't seen that. Will watch it soon though.

jbretz

I haven't seen it, but now I know what I'm filling my night with!

To anyone interested, you can see it for FREE on Hulu!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head

GreenSkinnyJeans

I've watched super size me. Which means I have to watch Fat head...I know what I'm staying up for tonight....: D.

Marig0ld

Yeah, I thought it was really interesting. Especially about how red meat is (supposedly) not that bad for you. He had a good point about the whole "vegetarian only" agenda. Early man most likely ate a lot of animal fat, not just plants.

suncat

I thought it was quite informative and interesting. I liked how he explained the role of insulin and how insulin resistance works.

Hattie2879

Yeah, I like how he explained a lot of that stuff. It actually made sense and the way he was talking, he didn't seem biased towards one goal, because in the end, he basically said we have to blame ourselves for what we eat and the food choices we make.

My only "issue" is that he said early man ate a lot of meat (animal), however, in the old days, they didn't process their food and do all the things we do to our food today. So, I'm just wondering how that really plays into everything...the antibiotics, coloring, etc. I mean, in the old days (VERY old days), man hunted/butchered the animals - none of this factory type stuff we have going on today.

Seajolly

I'm a vegetarian so I have a feeling I wouldn't like this doc. :laugh:

suncat

I think all the processing, factory farming, antibiotics, etc, play a huge part, not just weight but in overall health. That's why there is such a huge wave of people going to grass-fed meat from small, local, family farms. Instead of giving up the excellent nutrition meat provides, we just get better meat.

questionablemethods

Funny, I just watched this on Netflix yesterday too! Maybe we were even watching it at the same time. :happy:

I agree that I am sure that there was a lot of stuff that he did not cover, such as work by Dr. McDougall, who has basically reversed illnesses such as heart disease by putting patients on a very strict low-fat vegan diet.

Edit to add: I think what might be similar in both Paleo and McDougall (low-fat vegan) is that they both limiting added sugars....

rf1170

I've seen it - it jives with the experience of a lot of people I know, but that doesn't mean it's best for everyone. I've done a lot of nutritional research, and the conclusion I've come to is that humans can thrive on a lot of different diets. Isolated groups of people subsisted on high-fat, high-carb, high-protein, and plant-only diets, and they're still around. But what works for an Alaskan Inuit might not work for a tropical Latin American. It seems that everyone has to experiment to find out what kind of diet optimizes their health. And that might change over the course of their lifetime. Good luck figuring yours out!

Newmammaluv

This documentary single handedly changed my life... Ok I know it sounds odd and a little melodramatic but seriously. I gained 100lbs the year I hit puberty and have been consistently obese the rest of my life. I've been on every duet change known to man that was supposed to be "healthy" and just got mild results with a lot of sick days and feeling like utter crapola. I gave it a try, less than 100g of carbs a day and 1200-1500 calories for one month and miraculously I started losing immediately, sometimes as much as a pound a day. So the second month I decided to do the opposite I followed mfp guidelines set for 1200-1500 calories a day and immediately stopped losing weight the first 2 weeks then started gaining the 3rd and 4th weeks. Its amazing what a little time spent learning you're own system is worth. I had also not been able to conceive even though we had been trying for over 2 years and within 4 months of lower carb eating I'm pregnant. Not only that but I have a very rare (and disgusting) form of cystic acne and I have had one, ONE, breakout in all the time that I started reduced carb. It might not be for everyone but for me its forever changed my life and even my doctor is shocked and pleased with the results. As a matter of fact she is so pleased that she had given me the green light to continue, with higher calories of course, through my pregnancy. She says 100g of carbs isn't low enough to send you into ketosis and it leaves plenty of room for fresh fruit and veggies and protein.

hbmcracer

I've seen it - it jives with the experience of a lot of people I know, but that doesn't mean it's best for everyone. I've done a lot of nutritional research, and the conclusion I've come to is that humans can thrive on a lot of different diets. Isolated groups of people subsisted on high-fat, high-carb, high-protein, and plant-only diets, and they're still around. But what works for an Alaskan Inuit might not work for a tropical Latin American. It seems that everyone has to experiment to find out what kind of diet optimizes their health. And that might change over the course of their lifetime. Good luck figuring yours out!

Bravo!! Good response.

Since I've watched Fat Head and The Big Fat Fiasco on youtube I've started watching my carbs and have lost 7 pounds and my blood sugar is stabilized in the normal range so it works for me.

Hattie2879

I'm happy for those of you who have cut carbs from your diets or lowered your carb intake and lost weight. I'm on the fifth day of my journey and so far, so good. I just gotta be careful come the weekend - when I don't have such a routine day.

lodro

Funny, I just watched this on Netflix yesterday too! Maybe we were even watching it at the same time. :happy:

I agree that I am sure that there was a lot of stuff that he did not cover, such as work by Dr. McDougall, who has basically reversed illnesses such as heart disease by putting patients on a very strict low-fat vegan diet.

Edit to add: I think what might be similar in both Paleo and McDougall (low-fat vegan) is that they both limiting added sugars....

I think you're right. And I also think that 100g carbs/day or less used to be the "normal" carbohydrate content of our diet up to the 1950s (in the first world, that is). About after that time we started adding more sugar to our diet, also because of the rise of convenience foods.

42hockeymom

Wow that was fascinating. It took me a few hours to watch, because I was interrupted a lot, but all in it's pretty dang eye opening. Makes a lot of sense for me personally. Except one thing. I love my starchy carbs! But hmmmmm. It does give something to think really hard about.

AdAstra47

I came at this from the other direction: my doctor tested my metabolism and put me on a low-carb, high-fat high-protein diet based on the way my body processes (or, rather, *doesn't* properly process) carbs & sugars. Then later I watched this documentary, and found it extremely interesting to see that this same diet appears to help "normal" people too.

I also read an article (sorry, can't cite it, my memory sucks and I didn't bookmark it) by a biologist who pointed out that the human digestive system does not handle cellulose (plant matter) very well. Which means that we did not evolve as herbivores, and we're not meant to live on plants. No offense to vegetarians, I know that with the proper planning and nutritional knowledge you *can* live healthily as a vegetarian or vegan. But what this scientist was pointing out is that we human beings did not evolve that way. Our teeth and our digestive systems are designed to be omnivorous. Even societies that never domesticated animals or had much of a hunting or fishing culture would collect and eat things like snails, worms, termites or locusts, and get their fat and proteins that way. There has never been a human society that existed on a plants-only diet.

And don't let anyone tell you that ketosis is bad for you. I've been eating this way (30g or fewer carbs each day) for four months now and have had nothing but good results. It has done wonders for me. It has cured my depression and mood swings, and I've lost 30 lbs so far with very little effort and without ever feeling hungry. My doctor introduced me to people who have done this for over a decade, and are in perfect health. A ketogenic diet has been successfully used to treat epilepsy, diabetes, hyperinsulinemia, depression and even migraines.

Some people who think ketosis is dangerous are confusing ketosis with ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis can be deadly, but they're two completely different things. Also, people think it's hard on the liver or kidneys. Not true, unless your liver and/or kidneys are damaged to start with. Saying that ketosis harms the liver or kidneys is like saying strenuous exercise causes heart failure. Yes, technically, it can, but only if the organ is weak to start with.

So, yes, I think the Fat Head documentary had a lot of good valuable info in it.

questionablemethods

Just to play Devil's Advocate a bit on the vegetarian thing. First, I think you are right in that we evolved to be omnivores but I also bet that most paleolithic people had to endure long periods without meat, making do with what vegetable matter they could forage. So, I don't know that the "all meat all the time" way that many people go about the paleo-style low-carb diet is necessarily an accurate representation of how humans evolved eating, either.

Second -- just to touch on the ethical/sustainability side of the vegetarian choice -- men also evolved to impregnate as many women as they could but modern man realizes that isn't necessarily good for modern society or the planet. :happy:

Third, paleolithic man's evolutionary "job" (so to speak) was to make it to child bearing age, not old age. What gets a human to age 13-20 is not necessarily what is best for an 80-year-old. The nutritional needs could, theoretically, be different, but I don't think that paleolithic man can really tell us.

Or maybe he can, I haven't studied the matter in great detail. I am personally still working on finding a way of eating that jives with me in all respects. I'm happy to hear that you have had such remarkable success with the way of eating that you are currently enjoying!

lodro

Just to play Devil's Advocate a bit on the vegetarian thing. First, I think you are right in that we evolved to be omnivores but I also bet that most paleolithic people had to endure long periods without meat, making do with what vegetable matter they could forage. So, I don't know that the "all meat all the time" way that many people go about the paleo-style low-carb diet is necessarily an accurate representation of how humans evolved eating, either.

Second -- just to touch on the ethical/sustainability side of the vegetarian choice -- men also evolved to impregnate as many women as they could but modern man realizes that isn't necessarily good for modern society or the planet. :happy:

Third, paleolithic man's evolutionary "job" (so to speak) was to make it to child bearing age, not old age. What gets a human to age 13-20 is not necessarily what is best for an 80-year-old. The nutritional needs could, theoretically, be different, but I don't think that paleolithic man can really tell us.

Or maybe he can, I haven't studied the matter in great detail. I am personally still working on finding a way of eating that jives with me in all respects. I'm happy to hear that you have had such remarkable success with the way of eating that you are currently enjoying!

Also important to note are:

Paleolithic man fasted for extended periods, leading to drastic calorie restrictions and cycles of fasting and (briefly) feasting
The low average age of human in pre- and early historic periods was caused by high perinatal mortality, i.e. lots of children being born who don't make it to their 1st birthday.

Adults who survived could live well into their sixties: increases in lifespan have been brought about primarily by better control of infectious diseases, not by a better diet (rather, the reverse is true, witness he rise of coronary diseases and complaints that are associated with high levels of insulin secretion)

antiochba

Wow that was fascinating. It took me a few hours to watch, because I was interrupted a lot, but all in it's pretty dang eye opening. Makes a lot of sense for me personally. Except one thing. I love my starchy carbs! But hmmmmm. It does give something to think really hard about.

I loved them to the point of developing type 2 diabetes...Now any carbs from processed foods comes in the form of whole grains..mostly limited portions of bread. I can handle some potato and rice...but pasta/pizza, chips, and crackers are a thing of the past. The majority of my carbs come from vegetables, sigh

bluebird321

I saw it. It pretty much corresponded to my own personal diet philosophy, so I did like it. The guy has a 5 part lecture on youtube called "big fat lies" which is very interesting.

questionablemethods

Adults who survived could live well into their sixties: increases in lifespan have been brought about primarily by better control of infectious diseases, not by a better diet (rather, the reverse is true, witness he rise of coronary diseases and complaints that are associated with high levels of insulin secretion)

I believe that. I was simply pointing out that saying humans evolved to eat a certain way simply means that humans who ate a certain way had more success reproductively-speaking -- so they got to about age 13 and were able to produce and bear children. That doesn't *necessarily* speak to what is healthy later in age (although it probably does).

Hattie2879

I saw it. It pretty much corresponded to my own personal diet philosophy, so I did like it. The guy has a 5 part lecture on youtube called "big fat lies" which is very interesting.

I'll have to look this up when I get home. Thanks for sharing.