Sort of a good news/bad news day. The bad news is that I’ve spent most of the afternoon trying to remove a nasty Trojan Horse from my wife’s computer. I think it may be gone now, but we’ll see.
The good news is that Fat Head finally showed up on Netflix as an instant-play option. I’ve already received emails from people who had never heard of it before, but found it and enjoyed it. I suspect I’ll also soon receive another round of nasty reviews from Spurlock’s diehard fans … happens every time the film finds a new market. Fortunately, there are always plenty of good reviews to offset them.
Here’s a link to the Netflix page. I’m not sure if the instant play version is available outside the U.S., but my guess would be no. If the film turns out to be popular here, perhaps we can fix that.
If you enjoy my posts, please consider a small donation to the Fat Head Kids GoFundMe campaign.
Just found and streamed “Fat Head” on Netflix, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This coming from a guy who had previously seen and enjoyed “Supersize Me.” Of course, I should admit that most of my enjoyment of it was out of the morbid fraternity-esque desire to see someone self-destruct because of a stupid dare. Truth is, I knew eating like a pig is a bad idea, so the fact that he gained weight and felt like crap was not a big surprise. Therefore, I didn’t give it much thought. In fact, I even bought (but never finished) his girlfriend’s book outlining her detox diet. I made it a couple chapters before I was completely bored with the idea of a me who ate like that.
What I didn’t care enough to realize about that film, was how far truths were stretched along the way, and I appreciate your illustration in that regard. Also, I had it in my head that low-fat foods and grains were part of the correct answer to dieting so I’m happy to have that straightened out.
Although, I’m kind of bummed that it looks like veggies and exercise are still important parts of a healthy body plan. Soylent Green can’t come soon enough!
I’m shocked at the lack of comments regarding your beautiful family. Congrats. And from one computer geek to another, well done with the Mrs. Fathead. It’s good to see you saved a hottie from a future with someone who peaked in high school!
Super Size Me was certainly entertaining, but the question I ask people is: what useful information did you learn by watching it?
I met Mrs. Fathead when I was nearly 40, pudgy, and going bald … so I can always be confident she married me for my personality.
I just finished watching your movie on Netflix. I feel downright bamboozled. Thank you for pulling my head out of the government’s ass and for enlightening me and everyone else who has been lucky enough to see your film.
I know for a fact it won’t reach Spurlock-popularity, but I hope it will leave others feeling as I feel now. Hungry for some bacon and eggs.
Enjoy those eggs!
My wife and I discovered this movie by accident thanks to NetFlix suggesting it. Definitely eye opening and thought provoking.
Thank you.
I was bored of my netflix queue and found this on the “new to instant” list, added it to my queue and watched it immediately. Hilarious and very informative! My husband even wants to start limiting his carbs to 100/day! I was especially interested in the part about how heart disease forms – I can’t believe this is not more widely known! Good stuff 🙂
Thank you.
Hello Tom,
I too watched “Fat Head” over the weekend (enjoyed it) and started banging my head on the wall as I watched. I’m 43 and all I’ve been told as an adult was to eat less red meat & saturated fats and now yours findings tell us differently. I know some carbs are not good for you so I started eating only all whole grain ones…???
7 weeks ago I started a new nutrition / exercise regiment. Cut out my carb & calorie intake and exercise daily.
In the morning I eat low carb / sugar yogurt with blueberrys & 3 tablespoons of ground “flax” seed…which I read was healthy for me. A hour later I eat an average banana, I hour after that I eat 1-toasted “whole grain” english muffin with about 4oz of turkey breast & low fat mayo. For the rest of the afternoon I eat 1-low fat string cheese, 1-hard boiled egg & 1-non-sugar pudding pack with a small handful of raw walnuts on the drive home.
For dinner I eat plenty of dark green veggies with low fat salad dressing and about 5-8oz of lean protein like chicken breast, 99% fat free ground turkey, egg whites only…etc. Then 4 or 5 “whole grain” crackers before I spend 40-50 minutes on the treadmill nightly & twice on the weekends.
I’m 6’3 – 226 lbs, not fat but still have belly fat I can’t seem to get rid of since working out for the last 7-weeks.
I just saw my doctor on 2/24 for lack of energy & what feels like depression. He said everything looks normal to him. I saw “Fat Head” on 2/27 and wonder if my diet is dragging me down.
I eat so few daily carbs now & extra lean protein. Is there a list of good fats I can eat and should avoid…cheese (love), salad dressing, etc… sticking with a 2000 calorie intake?
I appreciate the (real) facts from the movie and your comments!
Thanks,
David
My energy and mood improved quite a bit when I went back to eating plenty of fat and limiting the carbs, especially sugars and grains. That caveat is that you want natural fats, not just any fats. So enjoy your animals fats, olive oil, and coconut oil, and stay away from processed vegetable oils. They’re not part of our dietary history, and we certainly don’t need them.
Hey, I caught your doc on netflix yesterday. I had never heard of it before so when I read the description I was immediately interested.
I have believed the whole grain thing was a load of crap for a long time. My Grandpa was born in 1890 and died in 1985. He always had eggs and bacon or sausage for breakfast and red eye gravey (red eye is pretty much just the left over grease), meat for lunch, meat for dinner. I was raised on a big farm. Yes we had vegetables too but the main event was the meat. Grandma made biscuits which we ate but not in large quantities, we didn’t grow wheat so we had to buy it. Hence you limited consumption on an item that could not be grown or shot hunting or caught in one of our local trout streams.
Grandpa did not spend a day in the hospital until the day before he died. The doctors said the only thing wrong with him was he was just plain worn out.
Thank you for your fine documentary. As soon as I finished it I started calling people telling them they need to watch it.
In closing I hope you don’t get audited for exposing the government.
Now excuse me while I go eat some bacon and eggs, thanks again.
In retrospect, I should’ve known the low-fat diet campaigns were nonsense, for pretty much the reason. I’ve had relatives live into their 90s (great-grandpa made it to 101), and none of them ate low-fat diets based on grains.
Hi Tom,
What about sugar substitues or artificial sweetners in “sugarless” foods, gum & candy. Are they just as unhealthy as natural & added sugars to products?
Do you consider flax seed & raw nuts as wasted carbs / fiber in ones diet?
Do you have a copy of your meal log entry we can access from your 29 day experiment?
We (I) appreciate your time and knowledge regarding your studies. I’m still just having a hard time wrapping my head around the facts that animal fats can be healthy for ones body.
D
I use sugar substitutes now and then because I believe they’re still better for us than sugar. We mostly use Truvia, but my wife still makes some desserts with Splenda. My food log is online under Helpful Links (left sidebar), but some recently pointed out that in the conversion from database to Excel to HTML, some numbers apparently got screwed up, so I need to fix it.
I came in when my roommate was already watching Fat Head on Netflix. I was happy to hear him tear into the lawyer who was trying to justify suing McDonalds, but then his tone got more and more John Stossel-ly and he started sounding like the people who complain about the Nanny State and Michele Obama’s efforts to fight obesity.
In his attempt to be funny, he just came off as obnoxious and desperately trying to sell an agenda which is sad because he said a lot I agree with. Still, it is a fairly good movie and does balance out Supersize Me a bit. I would recommend it to others if it weren’t for the John Stossel type voice over.
I agree with Stossel’s libertarian views. I don’t like the nanny state and don’t believe Michelle Obama stands a chance of doing anything about obesity, especially since she’s promoting the wrong advice. Never thought I particularly sound like him, though.
The Biology 101 really hit home. It helps confirm the growing idea of going “Primal”, eating and exercising from a evolutionary standpoint.
Tom, your film really opened my eyes. Your humor is the Trojan Horse on which your message rides in on, and shatters walls of skeptics (coughguiltycough). When my husband returns from deployment, I will no longer remind (coughnagcough) him about eating whole grains, low-fat/sat. fat, high carb whole grains, etc. Your film has spurred me into telling him to eat the real thing from now on, instead of ‘Frankenfood’. My husband will be thanking you from the bottom of his heart, as he will now be able to enjoy In ‘N Out burgers, steaks on the grill, real butter in the house, real eggs and bacon for breakfast, etc. He’s coming home to a different wife, only he doesn’t know it yet. He’ll be asking me where his REAL wife went as well as wanting to shake your hand to thank you that he no longer has to endure soy burgers on whole wheat bread, egg substitute, and vegetarian sausages.
My mom has been told her cholesterol is high, and the doctor told her she needs to lower it. My dad suffers from diabetes. I went to Amazon.com to purchase your dvd and have it sent to them, but they were sold out (Congrats by the way!). Instead, I went to the official website, and ordered your dvd from there. I can’t wait for them to get it.
You took a big risk and stuck your neck out in making this dvd. Banging a different drum than what the ‘experts’ have been telling us all this time (which hasn’t worked I might add). The result? A huge following of fans, people that have had their eyes opened (like myself), tons of dvd orders to process, science and proof of your message. Thank you.
Thank you, Carrie. And tell your husband thank-you for his service.
After a long day with two doctor visits I wanted to rest a bit this evening. I heard “Fathead” on the computer and funny thing is….my 6 yr. old GRANDson started it…of course not really knowing what it was. I got up to see what was playing. I was very intruiged and happy to sit and listen to tidbits of what I knew was good information. I’m not much of a meat eater, and I can’t remember the last time I had an egg, however, I will rethink some things in the light of knowing that I need and want to lose a few pounds and kick my sugar habit for good. I’m a quick study, and love the fact that this info just kind of “appeared” to help me as I also learn it and help others. It’s too bad “the government tells us what to eat” as the movie says. Great, great info. Thanks so much.
Maybe your grandson was doing you a favor.
I am an exercise physiology major and spend a large amount of time in nutrition classes just to have one text book contradict the others, all saying we need different things in different amounts. But at least this makes seine, why wouldn’t our bodies be more custom to eating the foods that were used to evolve us into what we are today.
On top of that, after a 2 hour kill session in the gym what sounds better, a nice crisp salad, or a big bloody steak.
That’s not even a contest. Steak wins.
Tom,
Just finished watching your movie on Netflix and I have to say WHOA!!!! Talk about opening my eyes, I have actually been big into fitness and nutrition for quite some time and didn’t realize how brainwashed I was about certain foods. I don’t know why because normally I am a logical thinker (also a geek, IT Security) and common sense kind of guy. I just never really put two and two together before. After watching your movie I threw down and picked up the book “New Atkins Diet” and will look further into that. What is common sense about dieting appears to get lost in the constant barrage of BS that unfortunately we see come out of our government on multiple subjects. Anyway kudos on the film and keep up the good work, you now have another advocate for you out there.
Jeremy
Thank you, Jeremy.
this film is annoying! doesn’t cover subsidy of corn artificially reducing the cost of sweeteners and beef, but can joke about “artificially” raising the cost of beef! doesn’t consider the cost of chronic illness, and how i, a taxpayer, get to fund the messy effects. “fast food haters” certainly do NOT attribute child obesity solely to food marketing! i, absolutely a hater, know sitting and doing nothing makes ya fat.
i guess half the show is a straw man argument.
i don’t focus on calories. i guess that’s how many people approach it. i ask if i’m eating leafy green vegetables. fast food makes me feel terrible, and only briefly satisfies hunger using carbohydrates. so i have to eat more later. certainly eating as much meat as this guy eats would make me feel terrible. he can do it because he practices. he eats beef made from subsidized corn. he also seems unable to understand that chronic illness doesn’t happen, say, that night.
the FDA does not examine food for chronic illness! so why should some guy who claims to have “a brain” comprehend this? science is, indeed, hard.
i could only handle 43 minutes.
Too bad you didn’t watch more than 43 minutes. Then you would’ve seen the parts about what causes chronic illness. You would’ve also learned why “sitting and doing nothing makes ya fat” is incorrect.
I’m very much against grain subsidies and have explained why several times in previous posts. But subisides don’t just make fast food cheap. They make all grain-based and grain-fed foods cheaper (exactly what the Nixon adminstration wanted). So your fast-food burger is cheaper, but so is your “healthy whole grain!” cereal at the grocery store.
greetings from England.
I found Fathead on a site I’d better not mention and loved it. I also got the audio version of “Why we get fat” by Gary Taubes in the same week which was strange the way both programmes were saying the same thing. I’m a nurse and have been battling with food all my life but over the last few months have been flirting with low carbing. Thank you for your film as it has made things much clearer for me.
I checked out Netfix and this is what the site says
“You will need a valid U.S. mailing address to sign up for Netflix. Also, you will only be able to watch instantly if you are in the 50 United States or Washington, D.C. It looks like you are outside the United States. If this is incorrect, please contact your Internet provider for help. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
Yup, we’ve found that Netflix is only streaming the film to the U.S. right now. We’re working on adding Canada. I’m not sure if it can happen at all outside North America. I’ve asked our international distributor to look into digital markets outside the U.S.
First I want to say one thing. This movie kicked absolute @$$. I’ve been exercising 3-4 times a week and I ate nothing but whole grains and loaded up on carbs left and right. But after watching this film it dawned on me. Why have I been depriving myself of the foods I love to eat. Since watching this film I tossed out my beliefs of a whole grain diet. I try extremely hard to shed a few pounds and I have been going nowhere just focusing on carbs and grains.
I’ve always loved Bacon and Eggs in the morning and this movie makes it official. I can really start enjoying life a little more knowing that I don’t have to eat bland tasting grains etc. (Blah)
Great job on the film. I’m a believer and so are all my buddies I’ve recommended this film to. It’s great to see another point of view and you executed this spot on.
P.S. I think Spurlock is full of it. It’s obvious now that he was in it for the money. (Tisk Tisk)
Hello! I just found your documentary on Netflix and just now finished it! 🙂
I hadn’t even heard of it before, so I’m thankful for the lesson. I’m actually a fan of the “Super Size-Me” guy, or at least was, and you’ve given me a lot to think about. You’re right, it doesn’t add up.
I’m stuck at a point now where I’m just completely frustrated with all the different theories being thrown around. I don’t know who to listen to anymore! You know?!
My husband is 24 and his ratio of good v bad cholesterol is too high. I’ve been trying my hardest to help him get it to a healthier level, and both of us to a healthier weight. Maybe your example is a good one to follow. Thanks for leading me on a new researching road.
BTW – THANK YOU for pointing out the skewed BMI points. I’m a 6 foot 1 inch tall woman and I’m what us southerners call “corn-fed”. haha. I’m strong but a little pudgy and the charts tell me I’m obese. I don’t feel obese. And I don’t eat like I’m obese. Something like that does a lot to a anyone’s confidence but especially a woman’s. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird.
I predict if you adopt a low-carb paleo diet, your husband’s lipid ratios will improve.
Really enjoyed your documentary on Netflix. Appreciate the disarming way with which you poked holes in Spurlock’s logic. I find there are people with that mindset almost everywhere (“You don’t know, let me tell you what’s good for you”).
As for myself, I’ve been a carb junkie (sodas, desserts) for far too long, and now it’s time to make a change. It’s interesting when one gets into one’s forties, isn’t it? Start thinking there are less days ahead than have gone by…
Thanks for your work in making the world a better place to eat!
See you around the Internet!
Something about turning forty makes you feel — not just know intellectually — that the clock will run out someday. It can be a good motivator.
For me, turning 40 wasn’t enough. It was a couple of years later when I got winded carrying my sleeping 8-year-old up one flight of steps.
My husband and I just discovered this movie on Netflix and loved it. I will need to watch it again without the kids screaming so I can really understand the details, but I feel like I understand now why Weight Watchers doesn’t work for me longer than about 3 weeks. I only have about 20 extra pounds but its stubborn. Maybe time to look at low-carb options again.
Definitely worth another look if WW isn’t working for you.
Sara, if Weight Watchers isn’t working it’s not your fault, it’s theirs. If their plan doesn’t work, you don’t fix it by doing it harder. Do that and you’ll be overweight and feeling guilty. Great combination.
Tom, I watched it (again) this weekend, this time with my 10-year-old daughter. She already understands about real food vs. crap food, now she’s starting to understand marketing and how ads lie to you. Thanks for all the great examples.
Glad to hear you’re educating your daughter. That’s one more kid who won’t end up as a type 2 diabetic someday.
I think this is when I stumbled across your movie. Changed my life.
Found this movie on netflix (canada) and have to say its is amazing. totally changed the diet of my wife and I. told all our family about it but they can’t find it on netflix now. i check my history and now its “not available”. hrmmm… don’t know whats happening there. maybe we’re being sheltered from the truth. but to stop them from allowing me to see this film again, i came directly to this site and purchased a dvd. can’t wait to get it. Thanks for opening our eyes. i haven’t felt this good in years.
The DVD has two bonus tracks, a one-hour speech I gave awhile back, plus 40 minutes of extra interview footage with my on-camera experts. Enjoy.
Why was this removed from Netflix? I saved it in my queue so I could watch it every few months. Went to go watch it and finally discovered it was removed and Netflix pretends it was never even on the site. Very disappointing in Netflix because this is an AMAZING documentary!
It was a two-year run on Netflix. Probably wouldn’t hurt if you requested it, though … we’d like them to take the new version.