Wow. What an amazing weekend I had in NYC! It wasn't so much the city itself (as I didn't really had time to venture much) but I was at a conference for my school with some incredible speakers like Dr. Oz, Dr. Mark Hyman, Keri Glassman, Marie Forleo, Lissa Rankin (awesome!), Daphne Miller among others. I learned not only about nutrition, but about sleep, life coaching, creating success in your life; there was even a little "farming crash course"... and some daily LOVE! I also got to bond and make friendships with some lovely Midwest ladies from my school group. So, so great!
To continue that "NY state of mind", last night I went to a private screening of the movie "Fed Up" in honor of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Stephen Devries of the Gaples Institute, Representative Robyn Gabel (18th District), and Margo Wootan from the CSPI. It was great! I really liked the movie and the discussion was both informative and encouraging.
Last week, I had promised my own review of "Fed Up" and here it is.
The film takes an in-depth look at America's worsening obesity epidemic, pointing fingers at culprits other than consumers, arguing that the conventional wisdom of "eat less, move more" (calories in/calories out) is insufficient to address the magnitude of the obesity epidemic. It was interesting that the film questions "why have waistlines continued to grow in tandem with the rise of the fitness revolution? why are toddlers getting fat?" Hmmm...The film puts most of the blame on marketing companies, ineffective government, lobbyists, poor food education, school-lunch programs- but the big bad in the film is "SUGAR". Showing how processed foods saddles consumers with addictions and misperceptions about the food they're consuming. It chronicles how this all came about with the "fat-free movement" in the 70's and 80's as researchers learned that "fat will get you fat". Now, as the film shows, there is more evidence pointing at the sugar that was added to the products from which fat was removed, as being the real danger.
While I agree and appreciate this coming to light, I worry about the message people may get. Forget about fat, it is the sugar that matters. I don't think it is that easy and I hope people don't get that simplistic message from the film and the new "Big Bad Sugar" movement. In my opinion, it is more about whole foods vs. processed foods than it is about fat vs. sugar. I wish they would have made it a "processed food-free 10 days" for their "Fed Up challenge".The film also spends some time explaining why the old myth of "a calorie is a calorie" and "calories in/calories out" equation are dead WRONG. I especially appreciate that, as it is a difficult conversation with many who still believe this as the basics of energy balance.
But I thought "Fed Up" was most affecting when it focused on human stories, dropping in on the lives of a handful of smart, heartbreakingly obese kids not given the tools to determine their fates. It is a shame they didn't spend more time on these kids and their struggles, because watching a 400-pound 14 year old struggle to stay alive and going through gastric bypass? That's more motivating than any facts and statistics.
Go check it out! and let me know what you think.
To continue my learning and inspiring "NY state of mind", tomorrow I head out to the suburbs to see Dr. Mercola on a presentation titled "Take Control of Your Health".
I'm loving that title!!! :)
