Published 2.18.2025: These are the notes taken while watching a series of food documentaries on YouTube… I assume they are all still available. Frankly, these notes read as though I was bored during the pandemic looking for something to watch. As an aside, I'm not sure why YouTube attracts me more than the variety of streaming services I actually pay for… but it does.

This is a documentary (Follow Me by Tony Vassallo) talking to 15 people who lost weight and how they did it. It doesn’t really discuss food much at all and doesn’t push a particular diet. Amazing how many people talked about a sugar addiction. And ALL of them used other people for support.

Food Serenity is mentioned a number of times. Overall, they did all the usual things.
They claim that only 1% of people keep their weight off. Michael Prager (who used to blog about maintenance and weight loss) appears. He does say that Prager has lost 130 lbs THREE times (and he no longer blogs about it).

This was made before the weight loss drugs (GLP-1s: glucacon-like peptide-1). According to people taking GLP-1s, "food serenity" or "quieting the food noise" is exactly what the drugs do. The drugs make it easier to eat less (because in the end, it's the energy balance that matters. Excess weight doesn't come from nothing.

THAT is actually one of the reasons that the YouTuber Graphically Alex is so interesting to me. He is not taking weight loss drugs, but a big part of the channel is related to avoiding bingeing (or as he would say b followed by the letter e followed by the letter d), Apparently YouTube demonetizes any video that actually mentions the word "eating disorder."

Others have noted that binge eating disorder is almost never mentioned, though anorexia and bulimia are. Both are types of a restrictive eating disorder, whereas most fat activists (per Alex) suffer from the opposite, a binge eating disorder. I suppose bulimia could be part of the a BED.

The Pyramid Scheme (which is obviously a low carb documentary). Dr Katz shows up in this (I find him problematic). The production levels are better and more costly in this video. And the Grain Brain guy…. So first they give the obesity stats.

Part 2 is how did it happen… "teh ebil carbz…" when the reality is that we eat too much food. Wansink is in this…. isn’t he the guy who’s research got pulled? Yes he is.
So it’s all down to the food pyramid… and of course, Ancel Keys— whose research they misrepresent a la Teicholz… I”m surprised she hasn’t shown up yet. And there’s Gary Taubes… And Adele Hite… who I think is dead (yes she is— low carb didn't help her longevity).

Oh lord… Tim Noakes… I have no trust in anything he says. That’s my bias, but I”m not noting anything from him.

Carbz increase inflammation? Even whole carbs? Refined maybe….
Let’s see if they talk about the replacement. People lowered fat, but upped REFINED carbs…. not unrefined carbs. And they have yet to show an unrefined carb in their montages. Bread is typically NOT made with unrefined carbs.

Not sure why I watch these things…. and there she is… Nina herself
So the real message here is avoid ultra-processed food (UPF? Yes, if you cook at home that’s better… but the food can still be hyper-palatable.Going low carb won’t increase your physical activity or exertion. PIZZA is not carb loading, there's a ton of fat on a pizza. Tim Noakes is a tool. but I can admit that carbs without protein would be not good. And now the anecdotes about how “teh ebil carbz” is bad…

This movie was made 7 years ago…
Oy… food deserts… Definitely 7 years ago…
OMG… they mention highly palatable foods!! (hyper-palatable)
Oy… glycemic load… But at least they are drawing a distinction between types of carbs
Type 3 diabetes… a term I haven’t heard recently… but I haven’t paid attention
HOLY SHIT… Jimmy Moore?!? Oh my… he’s in jail for sexually abusing a minor…
The truth is: THE BODY MAKES WHATEVER CHOLESTEROL IT NEEDS
AS DOES THE BRAIN

So then they go through all the (7 year old) programs that existed…. Where are they now? (mycitykitchen.org)
Oy lord…. now the essential carb… (now essential sugar or starch)
“real food” nothing with a barcode…
Going from living to Eat to Eat to Live…. Dr Fuhrman would like a word…. as that was his book.

Diet Fiction is the next movie. This might be a vegan or plant based movie.
It is a plant based movie, and WOW are the meat eaters out in force in the comments.
I actually watched this after The Pyramid Scheme Both documentaries make many of the same arguments…. though I assume Diet Fiction won’t slam Keys.

They do discuss the cherry picking. You have to look at the preponderance of the evidence, not just quote a single study. Garth Davis shows up, he's a vegan bariatric surgeon. Says that exercise isn’t how to lose weight. You have to fix your diet.

Ray Cronise comments that if you’re 100+ overweight, you’re getting a lot of extra energy just moving your body around. You can’t outrun a bad diet… “You can’t out exercise your mouth” in the words of Rip Esselstyn…

I think everyone in this doc is going to be vegan— so far they are.
Then they discuss supplements. Not surprisingly, real food FTW

So Calories in - calories out (CICO) is mentioned… but who thinks all calories are the same? Nobody I know. They make the point that FIBER is what satiates the stomach. Even if the brain knows that you’ve eaten. Not just the amount of food but the type of food. And interestingly they are talking about FAT gain not muscle.

So here they aren’t discussing the low fat craze, but rather the ultra-processing of food.
Fat sugar and salt are what food companies use. Okay, sugar vs sat fat is mentioned, Sugar isn’t off the hook, but they point out that it’s more complicated.

Whole foods vs processed foods.
Sugar and Sat fat are bad. Sugar is refined and processed.
Excess amounts of either is bad… and we’ve been eating a LOT of both. We eat too much. And then oil and its high calorie density are discussed. Oil is high calorie and doesn’t fill you up. Again, it’s the whole foods, not the oil.

And now there's push back against the sat fat is good. argument and people
So the US never really ate low fat… which reminds me of the no true scotsman fallacy.
It’s hard for the body to turn carbs into fat (it is possible) but fat gets stored right away (that is true.)

So they are not a fan of portion control… they just think it’s plants plants plants.
And now they discuss the Paleo diet— which they really can’t argue against, they just say it’s not “optimized” Paleo isn’t necessarily low carb… though they don’t eat grains.

But now we get to keto… which ain’t paleo but it’s hard to stay on keto
Now gluten is the topic— pretty basic. Only for people with allergies or celiac disease
Personalized diets based on genes “hooey” Ornish says…
Meat is associated with weight gain (from a study that they don't link to). Don’t count protein, count fiber says Garth Davis

Big interlude of why eating plant forward is best. Nothing new here.
Mental health and stress are mentioned next.
Lots of headless fatties in this

Now a segment on how little doctors know about nutrition. Doctors in general don’t eat well…They interviewed a cardiologist who learned from a documentary that diet could reverse heart disease

Now the paranoia starts… big business and government is keeping the truth from you… but farm subsidies are real, and so is the lobbying on the basis of food industries
ZERO mention of B12— I do like the idea of counting fiber not protein…

So those are my notes. This may be the last archival piece. No promises though.