Everyday Systems

Spent the evening watching Tom Naughton's Fat Head.

Naughton, being a stand up comedian is a hoot.

Eric Oliver was amazing. His take on obesity? We snack, snack, snack...

http://www.fathead-movie.com

Enjoy

I haven't seen the movie, but from Naughton's web site, he seems like a pretty strong low-carb advocate -- like, Atkins-level low-carb. (In one comment he mentions that he "avoids grains entirely these days".) Is that the stance in the movie?

I have to admit, I default to skepticism about any such strong stance on what one *must* eat in order to be healthy. I can't prove it scientifically, but my intuition is that eating a reasonable mixture of moderate amounts of a variety of foods will turn out to be a good idea. The government food guides that Naughton dismisses as "crap" on his site basically say, at least here in Canada, "eat a balanced diet, not too much sugar or fat, eat some veggies and fruit" -- nothing terribly controversial, I would have thought. I'm surprised by the level of anger at those guidelines. Are they just not low-carb enough?

Alarm bells go off, for me, when people start trying to tell me that there are hidden properties of certain categories of food that will make you either thin or fat, and that Those Other People are lying to you about it. Good for him, that he lost weight on a low-carb diet, but others have lost weight in other ways ...

I watched Fathead and I wanted to like it, but I didn't. I felt like the guy was as much (or more) of a zealot as Morgan Spurlock was, with a different agenda.

DaveMc wrote: I have to admit, I default to skepticism about any such strong stance on what one *must* eat in order to be healthy. I can't prove it scientifically, but my intuition is that eating a reasonable mixture of moderate amounts of a variety of foods will turn out to be a good idea. ...

Alarm bells go off, for me, when people start trying to tell me that there are hidden properties of certain categories of food that will make you either thin or fat, and that Those Other People are lying to you about it.

Beautifully said. I couldn't agree more completely.

I think his original purpose was to reveal that humans are omnivores (my wording) and we can eat just about anything, in moderation, and remain pretty healthy.

Again, in the video, Dr. Oliver was very adamant about our snacking and 3 44 oz. Pepsis a day are what is turning us into corpulant Titans.

His website does promote low carb and paleo eating, but he spends about 90 seconds in the video discussing hismonth long low carb experiment.

Overall, I think he set out to "expose" the silliness of the "militant" vegan/vegetarian/organic/rawfoodist foodies. (And low carbers can be militant as well...) If you have watched "Super Size Me" (which I actually liked...) I think Morgan Spurlock's fiance' (now wife) summed up the hyperbole of the movie when she quipped, "Honey, ham is more addictive than heroine!" Tell that to Keith Richards.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Spurlock movie either (although I do like his 30 Days series), and I think you hit on it: it was the hyperbole. I don't think fast food restaurants are evil, that poor people are stupid, or that the government and scientists are intentionally misleading us. I have a strong zealotry warning system, and it was going off big-time for both movies.

I tend to think that food - vegetable, fruit, grain, or meat - is best eaten in as close to its natural, unprocessed form as practical (less chemicals, salt, sweeteners, etc.). So that's my bias. We all bring one, don't we.

Over43 wrote:i think his original purpose was to reveal that humans are omnivores (my wording) and we can eat just about anything, in moderation, and remain pretty healthy.

Again, in the video, Dr. Oliver was very adamant about our snacking and 3 44 oz. Pepsis a day are what is turning us into corpulant Titans.

His website does promote low carb and paleo eating, but he spends about 90 seconds in the video discussing hismonth long low carb experiment.

Overall, I think he set out to "expose" the silliness of the "militant" vegan/vegetarian/organic/rawfoodist foodies. If you have watched "Super Size Me" (which I actually liked...) I think Morgan Spurlock's fience (now wife) summed up the hyperbole of the movie when she quipped, "Honey, ham is more addictive than heroine!" Tell that to Keith Richards.

By the way, I have e-mailed Mr. Naughton and suggested he add The No S Diet to his reading list.