I recently interviewed Tom Naughton about his recent release, Fat Head: You’ve been fed a load of bologna! Here it is, with contest details after the jump.
Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for the Well Done! Chef! I am pretty stoked about the release of the film on DVD so the masses can be reprogrammed… ugh, re-educated about the facts on fat. Can you give me a quick rundown on how a computer programmer came to do a documentary on the misconceptions of fat?
I actually started out intending to produce a pilot episode for a TV show I had in mind. The pilot would’ve been about how we treat fat people in society. I watched Super Size Me as part of my research and was offended by the premise, that it’s McDonald’s fault people have gotten fatter, so I decided to do a reply. But as I got into my research, I realized the “fat kills” theory is just plain wrong. So the film ended up more about that and less about the nonsense in Super Size Me.
Do you have any background or training in the culinary field?
Nothing formal. But my mom’s a heck of a cook, and I learned how to cook from hanging around the kitchen and helping out. When I was in college, I cooked for my roommates, which was a good deal all around, because they couldn’t cook for diddly and they did the dishes in return.
If you were to teach a Home-economics class of 6th graders today, what would your lesson be?
I’d teach the kids to serve real foods: meat, eggs, fish, vegetables and some fruit now and then. I’d tell them fat is not your enemy, but sugars and starches are. I’d give them demerits if they said “margarine” in my classroom. And I’d tell them dinner isn’t about opening a box or a can.
It seems impossible to get a good, succulent pork chop these days without resorting to brining, and other magic-wand waving. Do you believe this is a byproduct of the bogus food pyramid and a fear of good old fat, or are the pigs themselves buying into the hype?
I think the pigs may be dieting. Who wants to be tromping around the farm and have some chicken say, “Look at you. You’re such a pig.” Plus they’re probably being fed some awful soybean or corn concoction instead of real pig food.
Artificial fat (cottonseed oil labeled as SPF) permeates our diet these days. Did you see any information the effects of these “non saturated” fats?
Yes, lots of it. The stuff is an abomination. Humans living in the wild would never consume those fats, and we’re not adapted to them. Many of those Frankenstein oils are full of Omega 6 fats, which can cause inflammation. And despite what we’ve all heard about fat and cholesterol, it’s inflammation that is most likely the root cause of heart disease and many other ailments.
What is your stance on the use of animal fat for biofuel purposes?
I don’t I have a stance, but I hate to think some engine is going to be getting the fat from my pork chop before I eat it.
What are your plans now that you have gone to the mainstream?
I’ve recently turned the fathead-movie.com site into a blog, and I’m loving it. My wife loves it too, because I rant about bad dietary information in online instead of aloud in the kitchen. Meanwhile, we’re promoting the film and kind of waiting to see how far it goes. If it does well, maybe I’ll make another one.
Thank you so much for your time on this interview!
My pleasure, Jason. Thanks for having me.
There you have it! Now, for the juicy part. I recently reviewed the Fathead DVD. I am now going to give it away to a lucky person who leaves a comment below. Keep it clean, and note that the comment will be chosen at random! You all have until April 15th, 2009.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Animal fat for biofuel is a joke…
a) Producing and retrieving animal fat in a manner fit for combustion uses more energy than it creates.
b) Every so often I see feelgood news articles about people filling up their SUVs with recycled cooking oil. Yeah, sure, as long as fast food joints outnumber cars 4 to 1 I think this is a solution to the oil crisis.
Really, the whole biofuel industry (while it has some merits) is largely a waste of time. People idolise Brazil for having bioethanol at the pump, but even I’m old enough (22 yrs) to remember people not liking Brazil for cutting down the rainforest. Where do people think the land for the cane fields came from?!
People also don’t seem to realise that the conversion of farmland to biofuel crops is driving food prices UP. Yes your milk is expensive, blame farmer Brown who sold his cows to grow corn to make biofuel because you want it. Whatever happened to wanting to solve world hunger?
Breaking down waste products for biofuel has its merits, though we don’t produce enough waste to power everything, so this is at best a supplement.
Biohydrogen from cyanobacteria is the best bet, as producing arrangements can be placed on rooves, deserts etc… i.e. not getting rid of farm land. It also doesn’t have harmful toxic metals and organics such as solar cells when they outlive their relatively short lifespan. Too bad nobody has designed a hydrogen car that doesn’t explode on impact.
There’s my two cents. Sorry if it was a bit rantish, my pet peeve.
Fat head is a great doco. Personally I’ve never known anyone whose cooking has integrity to be obese or unhealthy. Mainly because they like unprocessed, fresh ingredients and care how their food tastes (i.e. use fat).
Our body has developed mechanisms to ensure its survival. You injure yourself, feel pain, learn to not injure yourself. Similarly, we have evolved to like fatty, meaty food instead of say, algae or tree bark.
I’d love to see this movie.
I agree with some points you bring up Tony. Thing is, we are conditioned to believe that biofuel from animals is not an ethical, nor efficient way to power our hungry lives. Thing is, if these doomsayers has their way, we would all be eating vegetarian, biking to wherever we need to go, and buying local only. That means if a dude lived in the great north, he would be screwed in the winter. There are not a lot of plants aside from the salt tree and gravel bushes up here. It is so easy to spout off veggie lore when you live in a sub-tropical area. How demonic is it to have agriculture. The irony is that their diet is not only killing them, but they are also funded by the very thing they hate the most. LOL.
As for milk prices? Here in Canada, it has nothing to do with Farmer Brown driving the prices up, more like the Dairy board that has a monopoly. It is weird that there is always a price increase in the month of January, huh?
As for Cynobacteria, I am in agreement. I was just reading about a bacteria battery today. That would be cool, until it becomes cool to lament the bacteria’s fate. Sheesh.
Finally, I ask anyone, would you trust a skinny cook? Fat has flavor. Vegetarian food does not. Why do you think they always make “chicken” flavored tofu. I mean, come on. What did that poor tofu do to deserve fulfilling someone’s sick fetish/fantasy before it met it’s end?
Thank you for the great comments Tony!
nonegiven – Maybe you will get lucky!
I just got through watching Fat Head for what will be the first of (what I suspect will be) many times. Well done Tom Naughton!
Great interview! Thanks for posting it.
There is a groundswell of low carb/eat primal advocacy going on right now … the current scientific research is flying in the face of the low fat dogma we’ve been fed for decades. Why would grain be healthy? Whole grain isn’t really whole, it’s not like we’re yanking wheatberries up from the ground and tossing them in the oven with eggs and water and making bread out of it. Plenty of processing going on there and our bodies aren’t evolved to handle it … I have been mostly off wheat for 6 months now, and I am excited to see that the asthma that usually starts to affect me in the winter, and the pollen allergies which start to affect me around now, are nowhere to be found.
I thoroughly enjoyed this morning’s breakfast which I ate at 6:30 AM …. step 1 pour a couple tbsp olive oil in pan. Step 2, crack 4 eggs in pan. Step 3 sprinkle with frozen chopped kale, cheddar cheese and hot sauce. Cover pan, set to medium, come back in about 10 minutes. I think I’ll be set till 2PM.
Matt – LOL. I am sure that a bread made with just wheat berries, eggs and water would taste pretty crummy! There has been a disturbing, growing trend of people with gluten allergies. I am not sure if it is the amount of grain products we consume, or if we are paying the price for the amount of pesticides used to increase production. Either way, no one can say a gallon of DDT is very natural, any way you spin it. Your breakfast sounds lovely. I would start them in bacon fat, but that is just me. LOL.
D. – Not a problem, that is what the Well Done! Chef! is all about!
gary k – I agree, I have already watched it twice. The wife is starting to give me dirty looks as I mouth the words to the video though, so I might have to cool it a bit!
I love Tom Naughton’s sense of humor about it all!
Annikki – I agree. If the film was just a dry serving of the facts, it would probably be produced by the grain board of Canada. LOL
lol matt… ya totally… I love that my husband doesn’t wake up with wicked heartburn anymore… and I can get rid of the gas mask!!!
All because we stopped grain consumption about 2 months ago. I really have a hard time watching tv commercials, and usually end up yelling at the poor actor advocating some weight loss or heartburn drug… :S
Tony… I agree with you on the algae-for-biofuel stuff, looks really promising. I also agree that some granola-chewing, Silk-drinking hippie is going to start a PETA group… lol people for the ethical treatment of algae!!!
Kudos and a big thanks to Tom for opening my eyes, and looking forward to adding Well Done! Chef! to my bookmark tab!
Wandalovesfat – Great comments. I imagine that not having to wear a gas mask has greatly enhanced the love life, which perhaps is the angle that Tom was looking for in his Documentary.
I don’t mind hippies or bio-eco-friendly types, as long as they are not hypocrites. While those types of people do some good, it is when they enjoy all the benefits of society while calling down the big business that makes my skin crawl. Sustainable food is where it is at. Eat what you can get your hands on, locally if possible. That is the key to the environment. Thing is, don’t ask me to do that when it is -50 below in the middle of February.
Thanks for posting this review. I have seen a few snips on YouTube and thought it looked great! I am officially adding your blog to my bloglines list. I came here from the Fat Head blog, which I am also adding – lol. Looks like I have lots of back-reading to do to catch-up on! I have four children ages 3 months to 6 years, and two have asthma. I have recently become VERY interested in changing their diets to REAL FOOD. I was researching online today and came across a site from Nina Planck, who has a book called Real Food for Mother and Baby coming out in April. She linked up to FatHead’s info, and thus how I came here. I’m loving all of this new information, and it honestly sits with me so much better than the crap I had heard before. I could never allign all the theories with my belief system: God Created world, God created man to be in world and to eat of the world, God did not give man boxed or canned foods. Get my drift? Not that I’m pushing Christianity here, I’m just saying that this is where my journey began. Trying to understand what I believe to be true about what my body needs, and what the best way to obtain it may be. I think the supermarket is starting to look like one of the last places on the list. I’ve recently contacted local grass-fed beef producers, as well as local eggs, through my state’s coop. Can’t wait to start a garden this year as well! :O) I would love more info on the whole grain issue, any ideas or favorite spots to point me to for that? Thanks again for the site, looking forward to learning more!
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Cassandra
Cassandra – Welcome here! There is definitely a place for you here. I find a lot of people talking about their asthma disappearing when they get over their highly-refined grain diets. I always say that you can never go wrong with the coop in your area. That is the rule ~ local first. Thing is, you might even get to know some of the guys working on creating your food, and the pride within. Do I want to eat a bag of chips or a nice juicy steak I KNOW will be good. Not a hard choice.
As for whole grains… I am still looking into it. I am not willing to give up all of my grains… pasta is in my blood. LOL. Gotta have my rice. Can’t really argue with 2 billion Asians.
I’d also love to see the movie.
Sharon – Good luck then, maybe you will be picked!
I read somewhere once that if agriculture was abolished (i.e. went back to hunter/gatherer), something like 96-98% of the population would starve to death. Personally I would imagine the survivors would be the small minority that know how to effectively hunt/gather.
Not to get too philosophical, but lets look at some of the generally accepted ideas about what the major impacts on human society have been.
Language/culture allows the spread and proliferation of ideas and communities to form.
The cooking of meat allows the effective release of nutrients for good brain development.
Agriculture allows the aggregation of people into townships and communities, rather than tribes.
Now these three are all inextricibly linked, and that certain groups want the abolition of the two latter points irks me somewhat.
You will also find that the rise in milk price in January is due to the fact that not many farmers milk in winter and it is associated with the storage costs and reduced supply in those months. In the event that the price doesn’t go down it is probably inflation/corporate greed but the international dairy price is pretty firmly based on commodity prices, so the effect of a dairy board monopoly would be minimal.
I don’t see many skinny cooks, though I don’t see fat ones either. All seem to be about healthy weight. I do see plenty of fat bakers though…carbs anyone?
On the topic of soy, it contains phytoestrogens that can really mess with childrens’ development, cause reproductive problems and breast cancer. Gimme normal milk please. It’s also extracted using hexane (a fossil fuel) that I would find hard to believe if it was completely removed. The only way to do this would be freeze drying or some other high vacuum technique, which they can’t be using cause the stuff is too cheap. Search ‘MSDS hexane’ and see what goodies are in your soymilk/oil.
Matt: I am in no way an expert in the field, but I would suspect that, given that a large number of cell receptors (that trigger allergic reactions) are oligosacharides (type of carbs), then restricting their intake would fix some imbalance that causes them to be over expressed.
Cassandra: That isn’t pushing christianity at all. You can arrive at the same conclusing using evolution (which I don’t believe is mutually exclusive to religion but lets not open a can of worms). Whether you believe in a creator’s hand or not is really rather irrelevant to the point. Ultimately you have to do what works for you, which seeing as you are putting independant thought into it bodes quite well for you. Also, if you read the comments for the blog posts on Tom Naughton’s site http://www.fathead-movie.com he links to a study on the validity of the wholegrains argument.
Jason: I havn’t given up grains either. Everything in moderation and balance. Though I try to keep as much processing out of it as possible. Speaking of local, if you have any microbreweries and drink beer then go for it. Highly commercial beer (particularly North American) has no flavour next to a good craft beer or homebrew.
This is the same Tony as before, so don’t enter me twice. Also, I’m in New Zealand, so it’s fine if you exclude me from the draw, seeing as the postage may be so high that it would be cheaper to give everyone else a DVD instead, I really don’t know what your post charges would be.
Tony – A valid set of points. No worries if it would go to N.Z. I understand and am willing to get it out there.
Good interview, thanks.
Moderation and balance don’t seem to work for me. No wheat does. Gotta say, though, it breaks my heart. I used to love to bake, make pasta. I wish there were something I could take to make it ok. You know, like taking lactase with dairy.
Willa Jean – Thank you for your comment. I wish there was a pill as well. I think the main culprit would be “refined” pastas, IE Catelli that are made of white flour. The pasta that I eat is with semolina flour. I make my own as well. I am wondering if that is better or not. Thing is, normally someone can eat the stuff, just limiting their intake. So, instead of 500g of pasta, maybe just 100g.
Thanks for the replies, it’s always nice to be in good company. Today we are starting a “real food revolution” project in our own home. My middle two children (2 and 4 year old boys) cleaned out the pantry and fridge. We then took pictures of all the food in each. We then sorted out which items would not be considered “real food”. It was quite an eye opener. It was also a time for me to settle on some guidelines that fit our family. For example: Where do we draw the discriminating line between food and non-food? If an item has ingredients we can not recognize, much less pronounce = probably not real food. How many steps away from the original food is this product? But what if my family REALLY LIKES it? Is there a “real food” substitute for this item, or do we need to just forget about it altogether? What about time constraints? Do I really have time to fix everything from scratch? Can I involve the family more in our eating decisions and preparations? On and on it went, questions swirling through my head about what will fit best to provide the needs of our family, and will that ideal fit into our budget? I’ve decided to document our journey and keep a journal so we can look back and see what we’ve changed, what worked, what didn’t, etc. Perhaps I will start a blog, but for now I just want to get real food into my family’s very real bodies! :O)
Cassandra! How will your children get their adequate daily intake of generic synthetic flavour substitute number 632?
But seriously, what sort of things are you needing substitutes for? I’m sure we could help somewhat. I remember some friends being bewildered at me making wedges once, as they didn’t come from a bag. They’re not hard, little flour, lemon pepper and chili powder to taste. Much less processed additives rubbish, though probably not fitting with the “low carb” theme.
Cassandra – Congrats on your new start. Now, when it comes to “real” food and time to prepare, the question can be asked, do you have to always prep everything from scratch? Not so. You can have your stuff prepared by someone who is ACTUALLY preparing the stuff. That means a mom and pop place where they actually make your burger in front of you, and it takes more than 8 seconds to assemble. Perhaps you could all make a time of it preparing it. After all, I became a chef because my Mum instilled a love of the kitchen in me.
I think I *could* rustle up some more posts and stuff about this topic. I just need to get through my birthday first. Hic!
Hi. In regards to Tom’s point that McDonald’s doesn’t make people fat… yes that’s true (depending on your point of view). But I still think McDonald’s is evil!
Why?
Last time I went to McDonald’s (many years ago) I looked at the meat in my burger, it was grey. Grey meat? I looked at all the food, processed crud re-heated by staff who didn’t care. And I stopped to taste what I was eating, when I actually paid attention to my mouth it was awful. If the food is nutritionally good or bad is not the point – it still need sot be treated well!
Anthony Bourdain wrote something about avoiding franchise fast-food outlets and walking around the corner to eat at the local independent place. I agree, where’s the adventure in another bland McCombo Meal? Even before I trained as a chef I would often just throw some random things in a pan and see how they turned out… and no-one spat in my food.
Max – Great point! The thing about the gray disk of doom – it tastes like cardboard until you put all the condiments on it. Skip it, and have a condiment sandwich. I remember reading Bourdain’s thing about eating from someone who is older than 13 making your food. Haven’t really looked back. I still catch myself at the arches though, every once in a while. Mainly when I am so tired I do not wanna cook. You know what the hours in this business are like, as a chef. After 70 hours a week, that burger is looking real good for dinner.
Thanks, I would love to see more posts related to that issue. And yes, I think we could all do prep work together in the kitchen, it would be great for the kids, and they would probably be more willing to try the food! :O) At least, that’s what I hear.
Anywho, so far we are doing really well with our challenge. The remainder of this week has been spent trying to use up the items that were considered “semi-healthy” foods, meaning they weren’t completely processed beyond recognition, but they still weren’t very nutritious. Ex: Lots of different brands of boxed crackers, non-organic produce and dairy, canned veggies, canned refried beans, white pasta, bread crumbs (Um, have you ever READ the ingredients on a can of those? What the heck? They’re BREAD crumbs for Pete’s sake!) veggie oil, white flour and sugar, etc. So we’re making meals with all of those ingredients as to not completely wreak havoc on my budget. Some items that were just beyond help that we donated to friends and food banks: Karo syrup, dark and light (ahem), canned soups (yikes), instant potatoes, rice and pasta sides, fake vanilla (I know, I know, but it was cheap! gimme a break!) drink mixes, etc. So far no one has rebelled, lol, but we’re baby steppin’ for now. I’ll keep you updated as the saga continues…dun Dun DUN! Meals this week have all been homemade, and have included fairly decent ingredients. Nothing that they’ve never had before though, so I don’t think anyone suspects anything…Now to see if they will notice a difference next week…
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Cassandra
Cassandra – Re the comment on breadcrumbs, have you read the ingredients on a cheap loaf of bread recently? bout 6 lines long.
As far as mixing/matching ad lib cooking goes, my approach is this:
Find ingredients associated with different regions (greek, italian, thai etc.) There will be overlap. Make a table if need be, then when you are making something, just throw in a few random ingredients from a particular region and it seems to work for me 99% of the time. My favourite recipe at the moment is a greek beef thing (kind of a souvlaki). Marinade cubed beef in olive oil, lemon juice, mint, oregano and pepper, fry until liquid has mostly boiled off. Serve in a pita (or other flatbread) with cucumber and tsasiki (sp) or if you don’t have, greek yogurt with a bit of mashed garlic and mint.
Easy, takes about 5 min to prepare and 10 min to cook. Makes the beef real tender.
We have been recommending Fat Head to all our family, friends, and clients. It is a wonderful documentary and I’m so happy for it. After preaching to our clients about getting off the crack (breads and pastas) and eating more healthy fats we got looks from them like we’d grown 3 heads out of our shoulders. Fat Head took care of that problem and the resistant ones have switched to low carb and had significant improvement in their weightloss.
Most frustrating for me is family members who refuse to abandon the low fat/high carb way. Given the serious medical conditions they have it is especially hard to see them continue on with their destructive eating. There is a mentality that now that they have these medical problems their bodies need the carbs….I just throw up my arms and pray that they switch to a doctor that knows what they’re talking about.
My family switched to low carb to treat my husband’s type 2 diabetes. His blood sugar numbers are now incredible! My 15 year old son watched Fat Head with us and now quotes it. He just loves the way the old faulty studies are continually promoted. But then, he doesn’t trust the government anyway. Glad we now have more tools to make people think. Maybe the next generation will figure it out.
Julie – That is great! Spread the love for this film, and hopefully we can erase the propaganda about carbs. I am not putting too much stock in that, because it sometimes feels like we are floating in the matrix, and agent Corn is going to get us. Do we take the blue pill? Perhaps the red pill? Ahh… choices!
Lisa ~ I think it is great that you brought your son up to use logic to look at the world. When presented with facts, it seems that it would be an easy sell. Unfortunately, logic seems to go out the windows with the home economics classes that they teach today!
Tom, I’d love it if you made a second film! On the other hand, you pretty much said it all with this one. I’m re-watching it today. Thanks for the great work!
Kim ~ I would love it if he made another film as well. How could he top this one though?