Last night, I watched Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead.
Focusing on two men whose bodies have been trashed by steroids, obesity and illness, this documentary chronicles the rigorous healing path — including a two-month diet of fruits and vegetables — that both attempt in a bid to rescue their health.
I figured I’d watch 5-10 minutes of it while I was falling asleep. I ended up watching the entire movie. I found it to be a very interesting documentary. The documentary is focused on two men, the first being a man named Joe. He has struggled with his weight his whole life. He also has a weakened immune system that causes rashes to break out on his skin. He recalled that when he was a kid and he was sick, his body would correct itself in time. Now that he was older and overweight, he felt that his body was unable to heal itself.
In order to correct the problem, he decides to do a juice fast for 60 days. In other words, he ate no solids for 60 days and only drank a juice made of blended fruits and vegetables. He ends up losing 80 pounds in 60 days. While fasting, he travels around the USA to talk to people about what they eat. Normally, a movie like this could get very preachy but he wasn’t scolding people about their diet. He just wanted to have a honest conversation with them about what they eat. He talked to many people who said they will eat what they want, when they want, because they only have a short time here on Earth and “the good Lord will take them fat or skinny when it’s their time.”
One guy he met along the way was a truck driver named Phil. He and Phil had the same disease that weakened their immune system and caused them a lot of pain. Joe told Phil if he ever wanted help losing weight to give him a call. Months later, he gets a desperate call from Phil asking for help. He flies to the USA to help Phil with his juice fast. Phil takes off work to focus on his health. At the beginning of the fast, he weighed close to 500 pounds. With the juice fast, he lost a ton of weight. He began walking every day, and swimming in the lake. By the end of the fast, he lost over 200 pounds.
I have thought about doing a short juice fast, but there are not a lot of scientific claims to back them up. Studies show that many people quickly lose weight and then their metabolism slows down because of the lack of solids. When they begin eating again, they quickly put the weight back on.
However, I liked that the focus of the movie was mostly on eating more fruits and vegetables because you will feel more full and have more energy.
Another reason I liked the movie? Phil’s brother’s name was Bear. His brother has a heart attack from being overweight and he convinces his brother to try out the juice fast for even a short period of time.
I’ll give it a three out of five.
Hungry Like the Bear 