Alright, I'm putting a disclaimer on this post. These opinions are entirely my own, and this post is not meant to be one of judgment. I am simply paraphrasing what I learned last night and wanted to share this information with you in hopes that you'll watch this too and see what you think! I am not a health/fitness/scientist/doctor person and don't claim to be one.
I'm the type of person who always searches for the truth in things. I am open-minded and usually try to look at both sides of a conclusion before settling on the one that makes the most sense. If the facts just aren't there in the first conclusion, there's no possible way I can believe it. I have a hard time understanding how other people can't clearly agree with something if all of the facts and scientific data is right there in front of them.
Last night we watched Fat Head, which was made years ago but I hadn't heard of it. It's an indie documentary that is a follow-up to that other documentary everyone remembers so well called Super Size Me. You know... that guy who set out to prove that the obesity rate is sky high and that fast food is to blame for the world's obesity problems. He went on a McDonald's diet for a month and apparently gained 25 pounds. He also blames fast food places for forcing the public to eat their food...
Fat Head actually looks further into this and proves this entire documentary wrong. It's shocking, really, and you really start to question all of the things we've been fed to believe about food as we've grown up. I'll post links to short video snip-its from the movie like this one throughout this post. Tom (the creator) actually looses 15 pounds by switching to a fast-food only diet and this video tells you why, as well as how the Super Size Me creator faked his meals. Diets start to look completely ridiculous, and "healthy" food on the market today starts to look like a silent killer.
Basically, in the movie, everything you've been told is "good" for you... grains, low-fat, soy products, etc... is the opposite of what our bodies need and the opposite of what makes us healthy. We need saturated fats. Our brains are made of fat. Humanly speaking, we are not made to eat grains and silly things like corn oil. The movie also explains how people actually get fat... and it's not from eating fast food all the time or eating fatty foods in general. They say that carbs... like sugar and starches... are the killer and basically the only real thing you should be aware of eating if you're trying to lose weight and be healthier overall. Did you know that some "healthy" cereals have just as much or even more carbs than a can of Coke!? (seriously, I just looked at one of my boxes!)
I don't know why I had an urge to post this... Maybe because I so strongly hate how we are lied to so often with so much misinformation and false statements. Again, it's up to you to decide what you believe but this movie really opened my eyes. I'm not a conspiracy theorist or anything (haha), but I do know that a large majority of the world has no idea about what's really going on, and I like to try to open people's eyes to other possible theories.
One thing's for sure... I definitely don't feel so bad for eating McDonald's now. After watching this you'll see why. Note: I don't mean to say that McDonald's is actually GOOD for you and you should eat it every day. But based on the movie and his whole fast food diet test (the movie is centered around this one experiment), it's proven that it's not as bad for you in terms of getting fat or heart disease as we are made to believe.
I really strongly encourage you to watch this video. You can see some more short clips on their YouTube page (start near the bottom)... but there is really so much more to it that you should see it in it's entirety. All I ask is that if you haven't seen it, before you disagree (because really, you don't even know what you're disagreeing on if you haven't seen it!) you watch it like I did before jumping to conclusions. There is also a short list of "No-Bologna Facts" on their website here.
Have you seen this movie? What did you think? And what are your thoughts about dieting in general? Have you tried any?
Great post Dana! I am going to check this documentary out. I love shows about food. I think we need to eat real food that is raised with the earth and animals in mind.
ReplyDeleteI eat some processed foods and love them, but a majority of my diet is real food. Food that my great grandmother would have recognized =).
Checking this out. I have been having similar feelings. Mostly just a return to sensible and natural, not artificial. So butter, in moderation, not margarine, etc. Sugar, in moderation, not splenda. Now I will say one thing to your comments. I think you should rethink your mcdonalds comment from the standpoint that a lot of what they serve is not food in it's closest to natural state, so while yes you are getting fats, you are also getting a lot of salt and artificial flavorings. And you might want to find out what kind of fat is used to deep fry foods like french fries. I am pretty sure it is the kind of oil that is discouraged in your video. :) I am particularly intrigued in the original study that left out statistics that didn't back up the hypothesis. I'd love to learn more about that. Sigh. All in all - interesting discussion!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to watch this but I think that there's so much 'information' out there that noone really knows what's true and what isn't anymore. The truth is with healthy eating people can basically taking what they want as truth. But i do totally agree that people need to get that fat in your body does not = fat in food, it's carbohydrates that didn't get used as fuel stored on your body. And even more so that fat on your body isn't the most horrific thing in the world. There are more important things in the world to think about than the width of your thighs.
ReplyDeleteLovely post xxx
hm, I'm really intrigued by this now. I do not in any shape or form think that fats are "the devil" - in fact, having recovered from a severe eating disorder, I now know that I NEED fat in my diet. I don't think going on a McDonald's-only binge is healthy, however - I mean, to me, that's just common sense. Eat real foods (meaning, yes, butter, rather than processed crap that tastes like butter - not that I can eat butter anyway, because I have Crohn's disease and can't tolerate it) in moderated portions is my motto. A little bit of everything.
ReplyDeleteI also do agree with the above comment that there is SO much contradicting information out there that it's hard to know what to believe anymore. "Statistics" can prove ANYTHING these days if you spin them the right way.
McDonalds kind of fat will never be good for your body. You do need fat - you need healthy fats like avocados, fish, olive oils, etc. McDonalds is fat that will do absolutely nothing for you health wise. Eat whole foods, eat regularly, don't diet. That's how I try to live.
ReplyDelete@debbiecutieface.com
ReplyDeletethe funny thing about "statistics" is that a lot of them are so bogus. I like how in this movie they actually try to source the statistics and find that they were mostly just based on opinions of people in power. so i definitely appreciate that they actually tried to find the truth as opposed to other movies, like Super Size Me, that kind of blankly state statistics without delving deeper to find out if they were actually scientifically backed up.
@Miss Amy
ReplyDeleteyou really need to watch this movie!
haha and you guys, i don't by any means think McDonalds is GOOD for you... but the majority of this film revolves around him doing his own McDonald's "diet" and let's just say it's really not AS bad as it's made out to be.
thanks for posting this. i need a kick in the rear somehow. i'm at my heaviest weight by being addicted to sugar. i have really low self-esteem and am frustrated in general.
ReplyDeletei tried to go off sugar and it lasted about a week. where's my self-discipline?? eeep!
I already knew about whole grain and stuff not being as healthy to you and they make you believe. I drink vanilla soy milk, mainly because I prefer the taste, not because someone tells me it's healthier.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Super Size Me and I knew that it was meant to prove to a court case in the US that a girl was obese because of it. The girl lost. Therefore, surely something wasn't being portrayed correctly in here.
I think the best way to go is to eat what you want, but not in excess. I think that's an easy and good enough guideline.
That that is one reason I don't really buy into those documentaries. Who's to say they aren't all fabricating their findings? And just because one diet works for someone, doesn't mean it will work for someone else. What makes some people gain weight either does nothing or makes me lose weight. I have always encouraged consulting a nutritionist. Everyone's bodies are different. The things my body thrives on may not be the same as someone elses. I personally don't eat McDonalds, not because it is unhealthy, but because it simply doesn't agree with my body and often find myself ill after I eat it. Burger King on the other hand doesn't have this effect on me. Always different.
ReplyDeleteSo first I'm going to say I am a true American and eat fast food liiiike 3-5 times a week. Second, I've lost nearly all of the extra weight from my last baby eating that way and not exercising. Third, I don't eat McDonalds! Seriously, look at the ingredients for McDonalds fries straight from their website- http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/ingredientslist.pdf
ReplyDelete"French Fries:
Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), dextrose, sodium acid
pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to
preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.
CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK.
*(Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients)."
I'm sorry but shouldn't a french fry be: potato, salt and vegetable oil?
I don't think fast food makes people fat. I think bad food choices and over eating makes people fat.
@Tempestt
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that bad choices and over eating make people fat, not fast food. that's majorly what they talk about in the film too. how no one is forcing anyone to super size their meal or eat 5000 calories a day, like they try to make you believe in Super Size Me.
also though, potatoes in general aren't good for you, they are like 100% starch. so choosing fries in general is already a bad choice! Not that i don't love me some McD's fries.... I just try not to eat them too often!
Interesting comment. I'm curious to watch this documentary. I remember watching Supersize Me and being annoyed but not have really a way to articulate it. As a nursing student, I've taken a few classes on nutrition and I thought maybe some clarification might be useful.First of all,yeah, I agree there is a misconception that all fats are bad fats. Clearly, your body needs fatty acids (namely, of course, essential fatty acids). Basically a healthy diet includes a lot of nutrient dense foods (high amount of nutrients to calories) and a diet that will make you lose weight is one that includes less calories than what you burn. fat reducing diets are really that simple. You can only eat ding dongs and if you burn more than you eat, you'll still lose weight. You'll probably feel like crud but, sure, you'll shed pounds. I don't think the fact that this dude lost weight necessarily means he is eating healthily, though. However, I do remember there being this case study on the internet awhile ago where a high school teacher ate junk food but limited his caloric intake by portioning and lost weight. Though his diet admittedly sucked, he actually ended up being a lot healthier just from losing the weight (here is a link to the story:http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html/).
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember, though, the price differential between what we consider junk food and healthy food and the socioeconomic implications. Poverty is highly correlated with levels of obesity. Sure, if you don't eat that much, you'll lose weight but the point with most fast food is that it isn't very nutritionally dense. You aren't getting many nutrients for how much you're eating and if it is all you are eating. Since these foods tend to be low and fiber and "burn" through your body quickly (cause a high peak in glucose right after eating), you are more likely to eat more. I'm not saying that I think that the relationship is easy or uncomplicated but I do think that when we are looking at where obesity clusters, we need to think about the reasons why and try to rectify them (interesting article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/not-having-enough-food-ca_b_721344.html)
I also hesitate from my own experiences working in rural Honduras with a medical team. In what I would call the peripheral zones surrounding relatively urbanized areas, rates of diabetes and heart disease have skyrocketed in the past five years correlating exactly with the introduction of processed foods. In extremely rural areas where I have worked (like, you take a jeep down the beach and then you ditch the jeep for a canoe up river) people are ridiculously healthy.
Anyways, interesting post and it all food for thought!
princessrhyme.blogspot.com
@Miss Sophie
ReplyDeleteI hope you will watch it! :)
You actually touched on a whole bunch of things they examine... such as eating less calories than you burn, and the whole poverty issue. They actually use poverty/obesity as an example of statistics gone wrong. And actually, what statistics actually consider as "obese" is incredibly shocking! I'd love you to watch it and see what you think after!! It's very interesting... I know my own opinions were changed so I'd be curious to see if someone in the health field feels the same... though it can be hard to kind of reevaluate what you already know.
I have seen this video and a bunch of other ones. I like the one about vitamins, forget what it's called. It's on netflix. But basically how there is no "cure" for cancer yet, regardless of how much money we spend. The drugs they use never cure it, end up making you more sick. If you gave your body all the vitamins it actually needs you can kill cancer without radiation or chemo. It is very interesting, you may be able to look it up! Theres a ton of documentary's all over netflix about food.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with this. Basically, you can find support for any viewpoint that anybody has out there, and it seems valid.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, everybody is different and different things work for different people. Some people need a high carb diet, whereas other people feel better on a high protein diet. If you find what works for you, stick with it. :) I've found what works for me and I'm not changing it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :)
@Sierra
ReplyDeleteHere is a great video explaining good science from bad science:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RXvBveht0&feature=plcp&context=C3afae68UDOEgsToPDskKM8vZAkDP7Bvs7u6xaefVZ
This is very interesting. ....the discouraging part is that i like sugar...lol...Guess that doesn't help me. I think everything in moderation. Too much of anything isn't really good. I will have to watch this FOR sure.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd be interested in looking into the correlation between cortisol and heart disease, as well! A lot of medical researchers are thinking that cortisol is driving up a lot of the obesity rates in impoverished communities (of course, in addition to how much cheaper processed foods are). Not really related to the documentary, but interesting anyways! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. Sugar and carbs is what you are supposed to watch. I did a post the other day about sugar. Sugar that is not natural is not good for you. My brother-in-law went on the Jorge Cruise "Belly Fat Cure" diet, and lost alot of weight. The "Belly Fat Cure," focuses on couting sugar and carbs. The website is: www.jorgecruise.com
ReplyDelete