Fat Head (2008)

Fat Head is an hour and forty-five minute film by Tom Naughton as a response to Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me and the ongoing scare of the obesity epidemic. The film documents an experiment run by Naughton, an average middle-aged American man who had been struggling with his weight for years. After trying out many different popular diets and finding that none of them were successful or satisfying, Naughton took a completely different approach. Against the advice of his doctor, the government, and the majority of medical professionals, he began eating a high fat, low carb diet consisting of food only from fast food restaurants while at the same time, practicing calorie restriction. The end result was quite surprising and prompted some serious reconsideration on the topic of health and dieting.

The diet that Naughton followed in the experiment was simple: He limited his daily calories to 2,000 a day, kept his carbohydrate consumption at 100 grams a day, and ate only at fast food restaurants for 28 days. To the surprise of his doctor, the audience, and perhaps even himself, Naughton managed to loose 12 pounds in 28 days while lowering his cholesterol and maintaining a healthy blood pressure. These results, of course, led to second guessing governmental recommendations and prompted deeper research on health and nutrition.

Because the results that Naughton obtained after his experiment did not match up with the scientific research that led to the government and medical industry's guidelines on nutrition and dieting, Naughton offered an alternate explanation of the processes of the body that support his findings. These explanations were backed up in the movie by doctors and educated spokespeople who were familiar with the high-fat low-carb diet. Rather than being concerned with limiting fat intake, the new insight involved limiting the intake of carbohydrates to reduce insulin levels and allow the body to metabolize fat (Why You Got Fat). These were happy findings for Naughton, who finally could enjoy cooking delicious, satisfying, high fat foods while keeping a healthy weight, cholesterol level, and blood pressure.

Besides running an experiment, Naughton also included interviews, factual data, historical tidbits, and personal responses in his documentary to cover a wide range of interests. Throughout the movie, the viewer was informed about topics such as the social issues and prejudices surrounding fast food, and the role of diet on psychology and emotions. Since the movie did conflict with Super Size Me, Naughton thoroughly examined Spurlock's own experiment, uncovering some rather controversial information.

Fat Head was probably one of the funniest and most entertaining and amusing documentaries I have seen. I would recommend this movie to anybody, particularly those who are not content with their diet or weight for any reason and need a new outlook. Fat Head is good news for all of us, and the more people who are informed about this unusual but friendly diet, the more attention the government and medical professionals may pay towards it.

For information about the film Fat Head and the high-fat low-carb diet visit the Fat Head movie website.