Carb-loaded: the best low-carb movie ever?
This might be the best low-carb movie ever. It’s just been released and you can watch it online:
Back in August 2013 the readers of this blog (and its Swedish cousin) helped kickstart production of Carb-Loaded.
The creators, Lathe Poland and Eric Carlsen, have since done a terrific job of interviewing almost everyone in the low-carb community – like professor Tim Noakes, Gary Taubes et al (and me) – plus many other experts in food and nutrition, like Drs. David Katz, Marion Nestle and Yoni Freedhoff.
They’ve done loads of interviews, but that’s not what’s most impressive about this movie. What’s most impressive is how funny it is. I’ve basically heard all the information covered before, but I still found myself sitting with a silly grin on my face through much of the movie.
There’s some pretty impressive animation work lightening up the film too. But my favorite is the obnoxious doctor who sort of represents the conventional “wisdom” of our time. Reportedly the character was inspired by “dr Spaceman” in the TV series 30 Rock – if you’ve seen him you know what to expect.
Here’s a sneak peek of Carb-Loaded:
Did you like that? Check out the whole movie online here:
If you’d rather order a physical DVD or Blu-Ray disc, or if you want to check out other Carb-Loaded merchandise (like T-shirts) have a look at their online store. I you’d like, you can use the coupon code “DIETDOCTOR” for a 25% discount.
What do you think about the movie?
Note: I have no financial interests in the video streaming or the merchandise above.
Whenever they talked about eating real food, they showed fruits and vegetables as if they are equivalent. There was one graphic showing a pineapple and broccoli as if they are just as good for you. Whenever they talked about junk food, they showed a hamburger as if that’s as bad as an ice cream shake and they showed throwing away the whole hamburger. One can eat at fast food restaurants and get good food. Why didn’t they interview Steve Phinney who is known to stop at fast food restaurants and get lettuce wrapped burgers? Just because it’s fast, doesn’t make it bad.
They talked about eating real food as if that’s the ultimate decision to be healthy, and yet they used a picture of a little girl proudly carrying a pineapple as an illustration of good eating. Pineapple is the absolute highest sugar fruit on earth.
They only in passing talked about eating good fats, and left them out of the graphics and illustrations altogether. They showed a chicken breast as being better than what appeared to be chicken tenders or nuggets. Yet the chicken breast appeared to be skinless and had little if any fat on it. Although Andreas did say, “I’m not afraid of fat”, the dinners and grocery items that they purported to be healthy appeared to not include any fat whatsoever. Someone watching this movie who is not already up on the LCHF issues would come away thinking that they should eat fruits and vegetables. It did not make clear that if you give up carbs, you should increase fat intake or you will be hungry.
They even had one of their interviewees saying that sugar is fat. We rewatched that statement on the video 3 times. It is clearly there. That’s clearly wrong.
The message that there are three things a person can eat: fat, carbs or protein and the carbs must be limited and replaced with fat was neglected, overlooked, or given short shrift in this movie.
To say that it was a disappointment is an understatement.
What is the point of low-carbers paying to watch a movie about low-carbing?
Who, outside of the low-carb sphere, is going to watch a movie like this? Donations would be a better option to fund such a movie.
And besides that, the movie doesn't seem to be that good.
NOTE: a movie featuring David Katz is never going to get my money.
"In the absence of clear evidence that low-carbohydrate diets are more healthful than alternatives, their potential liabilities in other areas are noteworthy."
"Ethical concerns have been raised about meat-eating in general"
Not with my money.