I watched the documentary "Fat Head" ....

[Lady Henevere]

One thing that I have come to realize through reading and really, the movie Food inc had a profound impact on me. The government, big agro and pharm are all in bed together. Government subsidizes crops like corn and soy.....and they find ways to cram that GMO crap into any and every manufactured food because it is cheap filler for the manufacturer. Eventually we get sick from it all and need meds. It is a ugly and real cycle. Many of us here are just trying to be healthier not necessarily lose weight. We are eating a nutrient dense REAL food diet rather than processed faux foods that are leading so many down the path to a life time of chronic disease....high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, etc......

I'm totally with you on this, Dace, but the thing that confuses me is that Fathead seems to be about living on fast food (judging from the food journal link posted earlier in the thread, and my understanding that Fathead is sort of a response to Supersize Me, saying that eating fast food doesn't necessarily make you fat). Fast food is generally manufactured food with a bunch of GMO stuff, fillers, etc., so doesn't the "real food" ideal kind of go against this? Or maybe the two are not related? (I feel like I'm missing something obvious here. Sorry if this is a dumb question!) Thanks.

 

[Dace]

Some of you may have seen this but I thought it was great!


Twas The Night Before Statins
Posted by Tom Naughton in Bad Diets, Bad Medicine

Twas the night before statins, and all through the land
Our lipids were lethal, as wed soon understand.
Our eggs were all stacked in the fridge with great care
In hopes theyd be scrambled, or fried if we dare.

The children were calm and well-fed in their beds,
While visions of sausages danced in their heads.
The dads, mostly lean, and wives often thinner
Had just settled down for a porterhouse dinner.

When out in the world there arose such a clatter,
They sprang from their plates to see what was the matter,
And what on the cover of TIME should appear,
But an arrogant scientist, peddling fear.

Cheers and belief from an ignorant press
Gave a luster of truth to the new, biased mess.
So away to the doctor we flew in a pack,
In hopes of a plan to end heart attacks.

He was dressed in all white from his neck to his butt
(which conveniently hid the size of his gut).
He sat us all down for a well-meaning chat:
More carbohydrates avoid all that fat!

So sugars and starches we passed through our lips,
Only to wear them on bellies and hips.
Our hearts with their plaques continued to swell,
We grew diabetic and werent feeling well.

The doctor announced it was likely our fault
We were, after all, still eating salt.
But theres no other option, he said with shrug,
And pulled out his pad to prescribe some new drugs.

Now Crestor! Now Zocor! Then Lipitor next!
Now Lipex! Now Lescol, and best take Plavix!
To the depths of the liver! To the artery wall!
Force it down, force it down, foul cholesterol!

Our appetites crazed, we soon looked like blimps.
Our children lost focus, our manhood went limp.
The doctor examined joints now wracked with pain
And concluded the patients were old or insane.

He chose Celebrix for muscles that ache,
And added Cialis to the drugs we should take.
Now stick to your diet, and be of good cheer,
If this doesnt work, Ill do lap-band next year!

 

[hikerchick]

LH, that is why I was questioning this. Before I let somebody put me on a fast food diet, I want to know what he is basing it on, and how he is qualified.

 

[ZohBug]

Being smart and doing research are not the same as having credentials. I guess my question is what qualifies this guy as an expert who apparently is smarter than the established medical community, made up of people who, if I am not mistaken, are also smart and have also done research and who have also spent many years in medical school?

What is his degree in? Where does he get his expertise?

Hi hikerchick,

I think I'm picking up what you're putting down here. First, I'll admit that I haven't seen the movie "Fat Head" but I'm somewhat familiar with it and have read a lot of the reviews and commentary. I made a radical change in my own eating habits years ago and raise my children in accordance with the whole, traditional foods way of eating which is largely along the lines of the Weston A. Price way of doing things.

I've done a lot of research and reading over the years, and also have a background in healthcare. First of all, I can tell you that, having worked with MD/PhD students and physicians, their training in nutrition is very minimal. Even when they go the double doc route which can take 10 years depending on the area, they can get one class in nutrition. So they are by no means experts in nutrition. Also, having the research background, and having done bench research and healthcare/academic research myself, Big Pharma does come in a wines and dines them with gifts both big and small and the names of drugs on pens and pads of papers plays a large role in those drugs that end up being prescribed.

In terms of hard and fast data being done, we can look at the research scientists. Mary Enig, Ph.D., who someone has already mentioned, is well respected and world renowned. She is a nutritionist and biochemist who got her degree from the University of Maryland -- a far cry from a comedian! Her book which is often referenced is: "Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol." Dr. Enig also wrote: "Eat Fat, Lose Fat." Weston Price was a dentist who traveled to various the world, studied various cultures and documented his findings. His class books is "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration." If you do a PubMed or Medline search, you will find that there are many credible sources who are working in bariatrics, cardiology, or lipid research who support much of what is said here. It's not "popular" or pc because it contradicts much of mainstream thought, but that doesn't make it wrong.

When you delve deeper into some of the politics of food, we find a lot of things that are shocking, but not necessarily surprising. Not too long ago, the FDA admitted that they supported the popular "pro-soy" advertisements without requiring the soy industry to back it up with adequate research that they would normally require, so now they're (quietly) back tracking. There's a lot of damage to be undone. They've made this big push for the use of vegetable oil. They recommended using canola oil -- and, excuse me but what is a canola?? I won't touch the stuff, personally. For some reason they demonized the real traditional foods and we can't help but wonder why is all... I render beef suet and use coconut oil liberally. Cultured butter rocks! And lard is good for us. All stuff they told us was evil has been proven to be good for us by the real experts.

 

[Dace]

One thing that I have come to realize through reading and really, the movie Food inc had a profound impact on me. The government, big agro and pharm are all in bed together. Government subsidizes crops like corn and soy.....and they find ways to cram that GMO crap into any and every manufactured food because it is cheap filler for the manufacturer. Eventually we get sick from it all and need meds. It is a ugly and real cycle. Many of us here are just trying to be healthier not necessarily lose weight. We are eating a nutrient dense REAL food diet rather than processed faux foods that are leading so many down the path to a life time of chronic disease....high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, etc......

I'm totally with you on this, Dace, but the thing that confuses me is that Fathead seems to be about living on fast food (judging from the food journal link posted earlier in the thread, and my understanding that Fathead is sort of a response to Supersize Me, saying that eating fast food doesn't necessarily make you fat). Fast food is generally manufactured food with a bunch of GMO stuff, fillers, etc., so doesn't the "real food" ideal kind of go against this? Or maybe the two are not related? (I feel like I'm missing something obvious here. Sorry if this is a dumb question!) Thanks.

Well the general point (as I interpret it) is not focusing on a whole food diet, but showing that even if you have to eat crappy fast food it does not HAVE to make you fat...it is the carbs that are killing us. Fries, buns, sugary sodas etc.
A whole food nutrient diet is the healthiest option but I think Tom was attempting to prove the point that carbs are the evil not fast food. Although it is bad for you too!

Maybe someone else has a better interpretation.

 

[reinbeau]

Well, I wouldn't go on a 'fast food' diet because their food stream is from industrial food sources, but I do get the point of what he's reporting. A better place to read up on good recipes, food science and why we need to eat a more 'natural' diet is to read Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats[/url] by Sally Fallon, many of us here have it and have read it cover to cover. My biggest problem is getting my husband on board with this, he's a carb king, all for cheap food, and has the girth to show for it

 

[okiegirl1]

One thing that I have come to realize through reading and really, the movie Food inc had a profound impact on me. The government, big agro and pharm are all in bed together. Government subsidizes crops like corn and soy.....and they find ways to cram that GMO crap into any and every manufactured food because it is cheap filler for the manufacturer. Eventually we get sick from it all and need meds. It is a ugly and real cycle. Many of us here are just trying to be healthier not necessarily lose weight. We are eating a nutrient dense REAL food diet rather than processed faux foods that are leading so many down the path to a life time of chronic disease....high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, etc......

I'm totally with you on this, Dace, but the thing that confuses me is that Fathead seems to be about living on fast food (judging from the food journal link posted earlier in the thread, and my understanding that Fathead is sort of a response to Supersize Me, saying that eating fast food doesn't necessarily make you fat). Fast food is generally manufactured food with a bunch of GMO stuff, fillers, etc., so doesn't the "real food" ideal kind of go against this? Or maybe the two are not related? (I feel like I'm missing something obvious here. Sorry if this is a dumb question!) Thanks.

I think it was Tom just making a point that just because Morgan Spurlock said McDonlads was the cause of the weight increase doesn't mean it's true. Morgan Spurlock advocates a vegan diet. Tom was simply saying that animal fats are nessesary despite the AMA saying animal fats are bad. I don't think, nor did I take away from the film that Tom was advising people to live on fast food. Actually toward the end he said by the time this experiment was over, he was sick of fast food and didn't eat it again for three weeks. He was showing the science behind what eating carbs actually does to the body and how it uses fats.

If you haven't seen the film, it's well worth the rental. Watching would proably explain better than I can.

 

[Dace]

LH, that is why I was questioning this. Before I let somebody put me on a fast food diet, I want to know what he is basing it on, and how he is qualified.

He is not suggesting that people eat fast food diets. He is using the fast food diet as a vehicle to prove the point that it is the carbs that are doing us in not specifically the fast food.... just as Super Size Me showed how living on FF for a month can be detrimental to your health, Tom chose to show the flip side, that by living on FF but cutting out or way down on the carbs, you could actually lose weight and even improve your health. Kind of a crazy way to prove the point but he did.

I think we all agree that FF is not a healthy choice.

 

[Wifezilla]

Well the general point (as I interpret it) is not focusing on a whole food diet, but showing that even if you have to eat crappy fast food it does not HAVE to make you fat...it is the carbs that are killing us. Fries, buns, sugary sodas etc.

EXACTLY!

Morgan Spurlock made a LOT of health claims in his movie. Claims he CAN NOT back up. Spurlock has a specific political agenda and his documentary goes a long way towards trying to main stream his view.

Naughton did his documentary to show it wasn't fast food that is necessarily the problem, just certain aspects of it. Primarily, the fat that gets blamed isn't even the problem.

Interestingly enough, Naughton had to UP HIS CARB LEVEL for the documentary and he still lost weight! LOL

As for how doctors got brought up in the first place, I believe it was these two posts

'Hmmm- am I going to get my medical information from the medical community or from a comedian on television??"

"Being smart and doing research are not the same as having credentials. I guess my question is what qualifies this guy as an expert who apparently is smarter than the established medical community, made up of people who, if I am not mistaken, are also smart and have also done research and who have also spent many years in medical school?

 

[Dace]

Come on guys....let's not go all BYC on each other!