“Fed Up” with the Food Industry

Katie Couric is fed up with the food industry, and you should be too. [10/2/2016 UPDATE: Added video clip from FOOD CHAIN$, a related documentary]

In the two-minute video below, executive producers Katie Couric and Laurie David address the next great American health crisis with their eye-opening new documentary film, “Fed Up.”

Going against everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, this movie reveals a 30-year campaign by the food industry to mislead and confuse the American public. The result is America’s Obesity Epidemic, a Big problem.

What’s worse is that this epidemic was aided by the federal government and special interest lobbying, and the food lobby is now fighting back with misinformation to discredit the movie. But the evidence is clear, and I urge you to watch the 2-min clip below, the related videos that follow, and the full documentary in theaters near you. 

Some Highlights:

• Sugar is addictive and the biggest cause of obesity;
• Processed foods should arguably have labels like the cigarette industry and say “This food causes heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc….”
• Calories in sugary drinks convert to fat faster than Calories from things like almonds;
• Exercising more and decreasing calories doesn’t necessarily reduce weight gain;
• Food advertising is a fierce force when trying to eat healthy, and it’s often aimed at kids;
• Living healthy is much harder than being unhealthy; and
• Today’s kids are the first generation who will live shorter lifespans than their parents, because of what they eat!

Katie Couric’s 10-day Challenge

Katie interviews documentarians Stephanie Soechtig & Laurie David

The Secrets of Sugar (CBC News Special)

Is Sugar Toxic – 60 Minutes Investigates

Sugar: the Elephant in the Kitchen (TED Talk by Robert Lustig)

How Sugar Affects the Brain (TED Talk by Nicole Avena)

Toxic Sugar?

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

In this popular 1.5 hour lecture, which has received over 5 million views on YouTube, Professor Robert H. Lustig explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.

Big Government and Big Food Give the Same Weight Loss Advice

On May 12, Dr. Mark Hyman wrote a rebuttal to the food industry’s attack on Fed Up that I recommend. It’s here at Huffington Post, and below is the comment I added.

MY COMMENT:  Americans ALREADY live sicker and die younger than most other industrialized nations, according to the World Health Organization, even though we spend twice as much on health care. Our $3 trillion/year “sick care” industry is complicit in this food addiction problem and has no financial incentive to address it, since they profit from sick people, not healthy people.

As Stephen Brill wrote in his TIME Magazine special report, “A Bitter Pill: Why High Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” we have a medical industrial complex (hospitals, insurers, drug companies, equipment providers, and testing companies) that spends twice as much on lobbying as the military industrial complex. This perversely profitable industry views patients as paying customers and works to keep them (paying) by treating symptoms rather than promoting health, wellness, and prevention.

The root cause of all of this, in my view, is the corrupting influence of big money in government, and the Roberts Supreme Court.

With the right policies and more effective health reforms, we SHOULD be able to cut medical expenses in half, saving over $1.5 trillion/year (each and every year, not spread over 10-15) while dramatically improving the health and productivity of our workforce; but I don’t see that happening under our toxic political climate, which favors wealthy special interests over the public good.

FOOD CHAIN$

Produced by Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and Eric Schlosser (Food Inc, Fast Food Nation), FOOD CHAIN$ is an exposé about Florida farmworkers’ battle for fair wages and working conditions, against the $4 trillion global supermarket industry. The U.S. history of exploitation in farm work dates back to slavery, and farm labor today remains one of the most difficult and most underpaid jobs in America.

Even as there is more interest in food nutrition now than ever before, it still seems that no one is talking about the poor farmworkers who average just $12,000 a year so large retailers can make billions in annual profits. If you think this just ain’t right and want to learn more, check out their webpage at http://www.foodchainsfilm.com.