Modern Monsters A trailer for the collapse of the United States under its own obesity during the first half of the 21st century, Fed Up is a nightmare. Produced and voiced over by Katie Couric, this documentary is serious investigative work, crammed with interviews of politicians (including Bill Clinton), a few representatives of the food industry, scientists and obese teenagers who sure are the most distraught of the lot, considering they are the victims of a deeply sick system who has conditioned them to crave for sugar since they were toddlers. Feeling like a dystopian movie? Look no further, the future is happening right now.Four facts will help you measure up what's at stake here:Sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine. There are for the first time in history more obese people than starving people on the planet. After intense lobbying from Schwan, a corporation producing 70% of industrial pizza consumed in the US, it was made official in 2012 that pizza was indeed a vegetable. 51% of the US population is either obese or TOFI 'Thin Outside, Fat Inside", meaning they present the same metabolic symptoms than obese people, namely diabetes and an excessive fat ratio. What happened to the tobacco industry at the end of the 20th century might be a glimmer of hope for those who revolt at the idea of their children being enslaved by the Sugar Lobby to eat always more; if nothing is done 95% of the US population will be overweight in the space of a generation. And it won't stop here, as the middle East and North Africa face the same problem."In truth I had no idea what the truth was", concludes one of the obese teenagers, demonstrating how solipsistic is a system in which a government subsidises an industry while launching programmes to lessen the impact said industry has on public health. These acrobatics have lasted for the last 40 years, and it's a matter of time before the balls come tumbling down. Scarier than any horror movie, Fed Up makes one want to rage against the machine. But no one was fat in The Matrix, right?

The Couchpotatoes Fed Up is a very interesting documentary about everything what is wrong in the food industry, especially the American one. It's all about the lobbyists and making as much profit as possible. The same like it was with the tobacco industry in the past, and the same as what is still happening with the firearm and oil industry. It's almost impossible to fight those big companies because they have so much money that they will corrupt the majority of people that are in charge of the laws. On the other hand you will still have people that are not selfish and that will try to make this world a better place. A place where money has no role and where people can live healthy and in peace. For that Fed Up is ideal because they can't ban a documentary like this one, where the truth about the food industry is being said. What makes the documentary sad sometimes is seeing how badly informed and brainwashed that a lot of Americans are. Seeing those morbidly obese children being desperate and trying to figure out why they are so fat is sad to see. What I found utterly disgusting as an European was the food those kids eat in their school. I had absolutely no clue that all those fast-food companies ruled the whole cafeteria. That would be absolutely impossible in any European country. There is no way our schools would serve our children hamburgers with fries, pizzas, nachos and all other crap food every day. I just can't believe parents in America don't say anything about that. Well most of them are obese as well so I guess they are used to it since they were kid themselves, but it's just appalling that something like that is possible in schools where your kids should learn to grow up healthy. Anyways, Fed Up, is a well done documentary that should be mandatory in every American family. A must see for every citizen of the world, fat or skinny, it doesn't matter.

abrownj-66817 The movie titled Fed Up is about the effects of sugar and its contribution to the worldwide obesity and type 2 diabetes pandemic, a situation so serious that children were beginning to get this disease, which was initially classified as adult onset diabetes. The movie does a good job of describing the politics of food and the complicity of the USDA with multi-national agribusiness/food companies, mostly revealed by Marion Nestle's, PhD in her Food Politics and Soda Politics. The movie breaks down in having revealed the evils of sugar, it failed to adequately discuss the alternatives to sugar. Just eating vegetables and fruits is an incomplete answer. This omission arises because there is eclectic group of scientist/doctors with conflicting view as to what constitutes a healthy diet. To that end, one needs to look at the cast of characters in this movie and those who are missing but should have been included.First and foremost there is First Lady Michele Obama with her "let's move" program, yet she does not want to "demonize" the food and beverage industries. Both Dr Nestle and Mrs. Obama seem to me to be proponents of the lipid hypothesis that saturated fat is bad promulgated by the 1977 McGovern Committee report. This has its roots Ancel Keys M.D. who was co director of the Framingham heart study. The other Co director, George V Mann, M.D. thinks, "This is the greatest public health scam perpetrated on the American public." Former President William Clinton pursues a vegan or perhaps lacto-vegan diet promulgated by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MDin his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.Michael Pollan, in The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eat Real Food, Mark Hyman M.D. Robert Lustig's M.D. Fat Chance , Mark Hyman, M.D. and Gary Taube's Good Calories Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat all emphasize the importance of quality fats, both saturated and unsaturated from animals, properly raised, and plants. David Perlmutter, MD, not mentioned in this movie, in his Grain Brain notes primitive hunter-gatherers ate a ketogenic (high fat) diet. This is also confirmed in medical anthropologist Weston A. Price's DDS 1939 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.Gary Taubes presents good historical data in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was generally known one could eat all the meats, fats, vegetables dairy, and whole fruits desired so long as one avoided or strictly limited the consumption of starches (bread, potatoes, cereals, etc) and sugars By so doing, Lustig points out the hormone leptin, which tells one's body it can stop eating, would not be overwhelmed by the hormone insulin, which insists one must keep eating. Both Taubes and Lustig assert the calories in-calories out is a failed paradigm; it's not physics but biology. To push the matter into the absurd, if one over eats, even slightly, one ends up morbidly obese and if one under eats, even slightly, one ends up terribly emaciated!

Dr_Sagan Although I am a Doctor of medicine and these facts are known by me since decades, I'll try to evaluate the efficiency of this documentary more than the facts which are undisputed.The "not enough data" or "the relation is unclear" for many global hazards, are arguments that is constantly presented by all the major corporations. The pollutants in the atmosphere, the radiation emitted by cellphones and many other dangers are overlooked by the governments because of the enormous profits of major industries. To tell you the truth if these factories were to be closed probably millions of people would lose their jobs and their families could starve, literally.That's not an excuse though. You can't (I heard the exact example in some TV series) to sell drugs with the excuse that YOU need to survive and provide to your family.Fed Up, if nothing else, seems like a very credible Documentary. With interviewees such as professors of medicine from universities like Harvard, an ex-head of the FDA, and even an ex-POTUS (Bill Clinton) it's difficult to have doubts about that.The "emotional" segments with actual families who suffer from obesity and what goes with it, are occupy a large part of the film but aren't too melodramatic.The facts are presented with a clear way. Modern infographics are merged with real life examples to make each message as comprehensible it can be. You also get to realize some "weird" truths like the fact that while the US government is trying make the citizens and especially kids to eat healthier, at the same time tries to promote the use of agricultural products like corn when corn syrup is the number one provider of the sugar in many many foods.The statistics are to be feared. 50% of American will experience the consequences of obesity even if their weight is in normal range. The movie rings the bell for the future generations too.The production has high production values and a modern feel.Just read that some critics wrote things like "A whirlwind of talking heads, found footage, scary statistics and cartoonish graphics". Well...that's a good thing! The problem is that all these facts and guidelines are often written in poorly made pamphlets or boring videos. You want nowadays to pass your messages in a modern way. Fast cuts, graphics and music are essential so the movie won't get boring and the viewers stop watching and miss the message.A good effort overall. I recommend to see it, and to take it seriously.