Fat Head: You've Been Fed a Load of Bologna

Plot Summary

Have you been told that saturated fat will give you heart disease? Did you see "Super Size Me"? Then guess what ... You've been fed a load of bologna. Comedian (and former health writer) Tom Naughton replies to the "Super Size Me" crowd by losing weight on a fat-laden fast-food diet while demonstrating that nearly everything we've been told about obesity and healthy eating is wrong. Along with some delicious parodies of "Super Size Me," Naughton serves up plenty of no-bologna facts that will stun most viewers, such as: The epidemic of obesity and diabetes was largely caused by the so-called experts telling Americans to eat less fat and more “healthy” grains. Simply eating less and exercising more rarely leads to meaningful weight loss, because hormones determine how fat we become, not just calories. Cholesterol has almost nothing to do with heart disease, and having very low cholesterol is actually unhealthy. Saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease, either – that entire theory was based on dishonest science from the beginning -- but sugars, refined grains, and processed vegetable oils do. Naughton also shows how, beginning with George McGovern's committee on nutrition, politics triumphed over science in shaping official government nutrition guidelines. The film features humorous animations as well as informative interviews with doctors, nutritionists, and political scientists.