This looks really interesting. A new documentary called “In Defense of Fat – Rethinking the Bad Science Eating at America’s Health” is just starting pre-production. The plan is to – among other things – interview a number of people including Mark Sisson, dr Robert Lustig… and me. This movie could possibly make a significant difference.

Here’s the thing. The producers need to raise money to help them start production. They need combined pledges of $50 000 in 30 days (in portions as small as $1) otherwise this attempt at funding will fail. Completing that mission should be difficult but not impossible. Here’s how it’s going:

I decided to help out. Check out my pledge: 

My pledge: $50

For $50 I get an exclusive DVD with extra content, among other things. Plus a good feeling in my gut.

But wait… you only have to pledge $1 (one dollar!) to be a part of this. And if the $50 000 funding does not happen it will cost you nothing.

It’s time to change the world. Will you help out?

Read more and help fund In Defense of Fat

PS

I have no financial interests in this.

This site is growing like crazy. A year ago there were about 300 visits a day, which seemed like a nice start. Last month the daily number of visits hit 5,000 for the first time. And yesterday there were almost 10,000 visits!

Feel free to keep spreading the word. This Food Revolution is just getting started.

As you can see from the map above about half the visits yesterday (5,655) were from the US. The rest of the visits came from over a hundred different countries all over the world, including Quatar, Aruba and Kyrgyzstan. Where are you visiting from?

Dr Briffa and me

Finally I found my long lost twin.

The English doctor John Briffa was one of the funniest and cleverest people on the low carb cruise. Apart from that we were so identical that we’ve been selected to star in a sequel to the movie Twins.

There is no reason to fear fat anymore. High fat food is even good for diabetics, according to a new high-quality Swedish study of 61 patients:

• Diabetes patients randomized to a high fat (20% carb) diet improved their blood sugar, cholesterol and could reduce their diabetes medications.
• Patients randomized to conventional (obsolete) low fat advice did not improve anything.

No surprises. Previous trials have shown similar results: Fat is good for the health of diabetics. So why do most diabetics still get the failed old low fat advice? By now it should be borderline criminal.

MedicalXpress: High-fat diet lowered blood sugar and improved blood lipids in diabetics

The study

Things are getting worse. According to a new report, severe obesity (BMI > 40) will soon be normal in the United States.

Looking at past trends and calculating the likely future, 42 percent of the American population will be obese by 2030, compared to 34 percent today. The trend for severe obesity looks even worse:

Prediction for severe obesity

Here is the actual increase of severe obesity from 1990 to today, and different projections into the future:

During the next two decades the number of people suffering from severe obesity (BMI > 40) is predicted to more than double, from 5 to 11 percent. That’s just insane.

Morbid obesity is becoming normal. The old conventional thinking (”eat less and exercise more”) is clearly not working well enough. It has failed. It’s the approach that’s been used for decades, as the situation has gone from bad to worse.

Besides, having to count calories is very unnatural. It’s basically an eating disorder. No animal in nature needs to count calories – they just eat real food when they are hungry.

We desperately need to rethink the foundation of the advice we give. The simplistic calorie thinking needs to be replaced with an understanding of the hormonal regulation of fat tissue. We need to go from an basic engineering perspective (”calories in, calories out”) to actually understanding how the human body works.

We can’t ignore biology. We can’t ignore hunger. We need a way to make people with weight problems want to eat less calories than they burn.

Luckily there is such a way: avoid eating the high-sugar, high-starch food that increase your appetite. Basically avoid the normal American diet.

More

ABC News: Fat Forecast: 42% of Americans Obese by 2030

Gary Taubes has also written an interesting new article on the problems we face:

• Newsweek: Why the Campaing to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing

More about the obesity epidemic

This is the weirdest thing ever. We must be in America or something. One of the speakers I was most looking forward to meeting got thrown off the cruise ship by police, FBI and Homeland Security.

Nobody will be surprised that I’m talking about the always controversial dr Jack Kruse. Apparently someone tweeted that he was planning a bioterrorism attack, spreading Legionnaires disease on the ship. Thus he was met by police on the ship and escorted off, missing the cruise. Dr Kruse was eventually cleared by Homeland Security.

Rumor says that the offending tweet came from a long time stalker of prominent low carb people such as Gary Taubes and Jimmy Moore. Perhaps she will not laugh as hard when questioned by police about false terror warnings, apparently a felony that could result in 20 years of jail time…

Not one to miss an opportunity for publicity, dr Kruse was soon in front of television cameras. Have a look:

More news report videos on dr Jack Kruse’s webpage.

Now the cruise is really on! After a lovely dinner and a couple of glasses of wine last night I had to get to bed early, still jetlagged. Rising early today I went to the deck gym with Monique Forslund and did some pullups at sunrise. Very Paleo.

Today the lectures start with people like dr Eric Westman, dr John Briffa and many others. Looking forward to it!

PS: Do you want more cruise reports? Check out Monique Forslund’s English blog.

This year’s Low Carb Cruise started in style last night. A few hundred people (including about 20 Swedes!) gathered for dinner the night before we sail. Comedian Tom Naughton presented this year’s speakers in the form of a roast.

Naughton’s speech was quite funny. However, it wasn’t really surprising that I was presented like this:

Photo: Monique Forslund

Is sugar potentially addictive, like alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs? The answer is likely yes.

Here is the fourth part of the UCTV-series “The Skinny on Obesity”. Well worth watching.

Earlier parts:

• Part 1
• Part 2 – Sickeningly Sweet
• Part 3 – Hunger and Hormones
• Trailer for part 5 – Generation XL (online next Friday)