Fat Head - A Review of the Documentary Film

It isn't often that Dave or I come down with a cold or debilitating illness of any kind, but for the past week we've both been battling a pretty nasty cold bug.  As they say "something's going around" and sometimes, as hard as we try, it's just impossible to avoid getting sick.  Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time lying around reading, and, well, watching the tube.  Luckily we had filled up the ol' Netflix queue with some goodies, and Friday we treated our sick selves to Fat Head, a sort of follow-up film to Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary, Super Size Me.

I had actually not heard of Fat Head until recently, when a co-worker who has also had much success with a low-carb, whole foods-based diet, recommended the film to me.  Sadly, Fat Head has not experienced much mainstream success or popularity and, after viewing the film, I know exactly why: Fat Head challenges many of the myths we've been fed by nutrition "experts," doctors, agricultural lobbyists, the government and big pharma.  That's a heck of a lot of powerful people for one man to discredit!

I honestly couldn't tell you when the last time was that I ate at a McDonald's or other fast food joint, but up until a few years ago, I loved the stuff and would find myself in the drive-thru at least once a week.  However, all it takes is a conscious decision to change, and that's what I did. Not too far into my initial shunning of fast food I watched Super Size Me and loved it.  I think I actually cheered while watching it. So many thoughts filled my mind, but mostly I was thinking "McDonald's is horrible!  How could they be doing this to people???  They must be exposed!"  I was not alone with these thoughts, as Spurlock had planted the idea in the minds of thousands that the obesity epidemic and dramatic increase in chronic disease, heart disease, and diabetes all lay within the fast food industry's ability to feed the American people junk.  As easy as it can be to place the blame on McDonald's, this approach is neither logical nor fair. Fat Head has inspired me to think a little harder and apply the knowledge I already have regarding nutrition and the human body in order to come to a more logical conclusion as to why Americans are faced with this health epidemic.

In the documentary film Fat Head, comedian and health writer Tom Naughton proves that one can be healthy by eating a diet rich in good fats, discovers that many of the nutrition "facts" we've been fed over the past fifty years are bologna,  and shows it's even possible for one to lose weight by eating nothing but fast food for a solid month.  Before embarking on his 100% fast food diet, Naughton visits his doctor where he learns he is considered obese and has a very high body fat percentage, but also, surprisingly, find out his cholesterol levels are "incredible." Giving himself realistic rules for the experiment (he doesn't eat the salads and yogurt parfaits; he actually eats traditional fast food) but also taking into consideration that he is a human with a brain and can make decisions (i.e. saying "no" when asked if he'd like to super size), he decides to limit his caloric and carbohydrate intake to certain levels.  In the end, the guy actually loses weight and reduces his body fat by eating three fast food meals per day.  As a follow-up, he eats a diet rich in saturated fats, vegetables, and fruit for one month, totally eliminating grains and sugar, and further improves his health situation!  My favorite part of the film happens when Naughton visits his doctor following his first experiment, learns he has lot weight and lowered his BMI, and the doctor actually says "I don't like what you're proving here."  Hmmmm, I wonder why?

Now, don't jump to conclusions; Naughton is not stupid and does not promote eating fast food regularly as a healthy lifestyle decision, but instead digs deep to uncover facts and, above all, encourages freedom of choice.  Proof that a diet full of fast food is not the healthiest, he learns his HDL ("good" cholesterol) has gone down after his month-long fast food diet; evidence that the vegetable oils used at most fast food joints are detrimental to health.  Conversely, after spending a month on his saturated fat diet, his HDL shoots back up again, further proving that eating saturated fats does NOT have a negative effect on cholesterol levels. There is detailed discussion about cholesterol, what the numbers mean, and the fact that there is much more to it than "good" and "bad," unlike what our doctors tell us (at least most of us, anyway).  Along with the discussion of cholesterol and the lipid hypothesis, Naughton delves into the specifics behind how the body processes carbohydrates and the negative effects of a grain-heavy diet.  He also introduces the often pooh-pooh'd idea that overweight folks can be healthy with regular blood pressure, good cholesterol numbers, and no chronic diseases.  On the flip side, skinny people can be unhealthy (and many are), presenting with metabolic syndrome or other blood sugar-related illnesses.  I also appreciated Naughton's respect for the average person's intelligence level.  Most of us know that fast food is not healthy, but yet understand that it's a personal choice to eat it, whether daily, weekly, monthly, or only once in a blue moon.  Personally, if I never saw another McDonald's again, I would be happy (largely because I don't approve of their sourcing from factory farms), but that is just my opinion and clearly there are far more people who disagree with me, seeing as our country is full of Mickey-D's! 

Fat Head is filled with a good amount of humor (Naughton is a former stand-up comic, after all), but is also rich with information from leaders in the health and wellness field.  There are plenty of moments where Naughton refuses to tell viewers what to do or think, but instead presents the facts and leaves it in the hands of his audience.  While the basic premise of the documentary revolves around Naughton's fast food diet, the film reaches beyond the obvious and encourages viewers to think for themselves, realizing that creating a truly healthy lifestyle has nothing to do with the presence (or absence) of McDonald's, but instead comes from one's own effort, determination and willingness to learn.