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"FAT HEAD" the
Documentary
Critique by Rick Voakes, MD
"FAT HEAD" is a spoof documentary produced by comedian Tom Naughton, in the style of the Daily Show (Comedy Central), where serious zealots are poked fun of, but with factual information which points out major flaws in their arguments and logic.
Fat Head pokes fun of the US Government (always a generous target!) for jumping to conclusions about what is the best way to head off obesity. Is food labeling going to make a difference? Should we regulate the food industry? And more importantly, does the federal government even know what is the best way to treat or prevent obesity? (Obviously not, if they are replacing high-sugar soft drinks with higher-sugar juices and chocolate milk in the schools!)
The next target of Naughton's satire is the docu-drama "Super Size Me" (2004) by TV producer Morgan Spurlock, who ate three meals a day at McDonalds and gained 25 pounds. Spurlock blames it on the fat in the burgers and fries. Naughton shreds Spurlock's faulty logic by showing that he could not have consumed more than 3600 calories a day, and by his own rules only ate supersized meals for 1 out of 10 of his meals. The title is a bit misleading! Then Naughton proceeds to challenge Spurlock's premise by repeating the experiment on himself, only leaving off the high sugar drinks and excess carbs (fries and desserts), and still eating close to 3600 calories per day at McDonalds or a similar fast food restaurant.
The result: as we would expect from a nearly sugar-free diet, Naughton lost the 12 pounds that he was over normal BMI, and his lipids improved. Naughton mistakenly says that the "government" classifies him as obese. According to his height and weight his BMI started at 27, a few points above normal, but in the overweight category. This is far from obese and really far from the morbidly obese people that he depicts at the beginning of the movie. After losing the 12 pounds, Naughton's BMI came back to a normal level of 25.
During the experiment Naughton interviews several researchers who have looked at some of the newer medical literature, and uses a neat graphic of a blood vessel to show a simplified version of what happens in the hyperinsulin state. Unfortunately it's a bit too simplified, so he gets some of the facts mixed up. But it's close. I wish he could have interviewed Dr Robert Lustig, but the researchers he used did agree with most of Lustig's teachings.
Naughton then turns on the "Food Evangelists", and Michael Jacobson (Center for Science in the Public Interest) in particular. CSPI has been a strong supporter and advocate for the "Lipid Hypothesis" which states that eating fat is what caused the epidemics of obesity and heart disease in the last 40 years. It is obvious now that our "cardiologist-recommended" high carb/low fat diet is the real cause, yet CSPI doggedly holds to the old doctrine. [As an aside, their newsletter Nutrition Action continues to tout low-fat/high sugar foods as the "Right Stuff", and puts down perfectly healthy food as "Food Porn".]
When Naughton checks in at the end of the 28-day experiment, the doctor seems befuddled, and can't explain why Naughton lost weight and improved his lipid profile. This is a very good depiction of the majority of MD's in this country who are way behind the learning curve on nutrition.
Here is a link to the movie on the website HULU: http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head. Enjoy!
