Fat Head Review

The other night I watched the movie Fat Head. http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/about/. The general plot is a man who is responding to the documentary Supersize Me. He has the theory that it wasn’t the fact of eating fast food specifically that led Morgan Spurlock to gain weight but the choices he made at the fast food restaurants. He also claims that Spurlock cheated but that’s a different story.

He goes on a journey to de-bunk “myths” of obesity, education, fat and carb consumption and what really makes people gain weight by trying to loose weight through a fast food diet. He eats at any fast food restaurant for three meals a day but does not have any guidelines other than that.

The things I liked and agreed with in this film

-He discusses how BMI is not a good indicator of health. For instance, someone who is very muscular may have a BMI that classifies them as overweight or obese.

-He addresses the fact that most people do not get enough physical activity which contributes to the obesity epidemic

Going along with that it is addressed that no matter how you eat, if you exercise you will be healthier which is true

-He talks about the fact that although it is high in saturated fat coconut oil is good for you (I just love coconut so I appreciated this!)

-The problem is sugary drinks is addressed as a big issue, not just pop but things like starbucks and smoothies as well

What I did not like

-He did not follow Spurlock’s rule of “square” meals. Spurlock would always order mutiple items to make a full meal while this man may just get chicken nuggets and water... who would really order that when out at fast food?

-Through interviews he determined that everyone knows fast food is bad for you and it has a lot of fats and calories. Duh. What he did not address was if these people knew how many calories there body needed and the effects that the make up of fast food has on their bodies.

-He seemed to be trying to argue that nobody would pick healthy food over fast food because our bodies need fat and sugar.... not true, just not true. There are healthy ways to get what your body needs.

-He does not discuss a balance between activity and diet, just that more activity is needed. I agree that the world needs to be more active but a healthy diet is half the battle in overall health

He does not hit on the MAKE UP of fast food enough. Not just the grease and calories but the preservatives and fillers that make up the “food”.

What really got me

I thought this film was fairly interesting until the wrap up. The conclusion the film came to through interviews with scientists and doctors was that the reason the country has an obesity problem is the FDA advocate a diet heavy in grains and low in fat and protein. They basically claim that no matter how much you eat if you eat carbs you will get fat.

I hate this argument. Weight is about calories but more importantly health is about balance. This man would rather eat copious amounts of animal fat and protein than a bowl of oatmeal with fruit.

In the end he did lose weight but it was not because of eating animal fat and protein, it was because he tracked and cut calories and exercised more. There were also no indicators that he was overall healthier because of this experiment... no kidding.

Overall it was an interesting film that I would recommend if you can handle some extreme annoyance at parts. I warn you to take it with a grain of salt.