About

Its official; there are now more fat people than skinny people in the world. Obesity is the biggest health crisis on the planet. For the first time in history children are facing shorter lives than their parents. Over the last 35 years, obesity rates have more than doubled leading to a massive and rapid increase in heart disease, kidney problems, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. How did we go from obesity rates of 9%, to 30% in less than a generation? Presented by overweight and diabetic Chef Simon Gault, these three documentaries examine the science behind a re-examination of traditionally accepted health advice, and the emergence of new evidence that at last makes sense of the looming health problems we face. Gault talks to experts from around the world and allows himself to be a human guinea-pig in an attempt to improve his own health.

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Episodes

1. Episode 1

44m

Simon goes to the doctor and finds out the bad news – like most us, he's fat - in fact he's borderline obese – and to make matters worse, he has type 2 diabetes. But he's not alone - world obesity rates have soared and so have heart disease and kidney problems - diabetes in the United States alone has increased an astonishing 900% in just 50 years. So how did we all get so fat so fast, and what is diabetes? Simon goes to the United States and talks to the experts including Professor Robert Lustig who tells him the problem is sugar and the food it lives in – low fat processed food that now dominates our diet. Simon goes to the supermarket, on taking a closer look at packaged food he is shocked to find almost everything contains surprising amounts of sugar. History expert Gary Taubes explains how fat has been demonised and sugar and refined carbohydrates got a free pass, which led to the 1990 food pyramid dominated by grains. We visit the lab of Professor Jenny Brand Miller who demonstrates how refined grains convert rapidly to glucose that spikes blood sugar levels. Back in the USA we see what happens to rats when they are fed a highly processed diet- they get fat, sick and diabetic just like humans do. To find out exactly how much fat Simon he enters the futuristic BodPod only to get the shocking result that he is 40% fat. An MRI scan reveals that most of this fat is packed inside his abdominal cavity, his pancreas carries excess fat, and his liver is a frightening one third fat. He's given 3 months to turn things around.

2. Episode 2

45m

Simon, an exercise avoider, gets on the treadmill and has his fitness assessed – it's not great – there's work to do there as well. The results of Simon's gene tests are back and Simon's doctor explains how his genes contribute to his weight gain and diabetes. However, Simon learns that with the right diet and exercise detrimental genes can be down regulated. Simon gets a wakeup call when he goes to visit the diabetic ward in a major hospital. He meets patients who have lost their sight and their limbs. What he sees and hears shocks him - he thought diabetes was not that serious. Simon gets advice from the experts about how to eat and what sort of exercise he should be doing to treat his diabetes and burn off internal fat, and starts his regime. Simon goes to an ethnic market and asks an expert about the high rates of obesity and diabetes. H much of this in our genes, are some nationalities more likely to get fat for cultural or genetic reasons. He finds out poor people a more likely to be fat but it's not impossible to change things. Simon visits a primary school in a poor part of town where they banned sugary drinks - soft drinks and fruit juices. Overnight children's behaviour improved, and they have got dramatically thinner. In Australia Simon talks to Dr Kieran O'Dea who showed took Australian Aboriginals back to live on their hunter gatherer diet and saw how diabetes reversed in just 2 weeks. The episode finishes on the streets of San Francisco where Simon looks for something healthy to eat that fits with his new diet recommendations.

3. Episode 3

45m

Simon visits a night market and asks everyone what they are eating – it tastes good and is great value for money, but most of it seems to contain large amounts of added sugar and fat. Clearly getting slim and eating healthy is not easy – life seems set up to make us fat. Simon's shares an exercise session, he still finds enjoying exercise a challenge and the exercise he needs to do is hard going. All of Simon's advisors to his surprise stress that his lack of sleep is critical to address if he is to turn his health around. He meets a sleep expert who explains the importance of sleep on staying trim and controlling diabetes. Simon also learns about the millions of microbes in our gut and discovers they need a specific diet so they in turn keep him healthy. We get tips from all our experts on what makes a healthy diet, and how we can eat to control hunger. How do we change people's behaviour? Simon talks to a researcher who's been doing experiments varying the price of heathy food and putting taxes on unhealthy food to see if it makes a difference Simon visits a boy's boarding school where they show how they successfully changed the diet of a large group. They have taken a tonne of sugar each year out of the school's menu, even the chef had a surprising 27kg weight loss. Boys waistlines shrank, and everyone loves the new food. It's now 3 months into Simon's journey – he goes back on the treadmill and the scales, and finally the MRI to see if the advice he's been following has had any effect.

Extended Details

SeriesWhy Are We Fat?

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Mark McNeillDirector

Will SergeantDirector

Mark McNeillProducer

Simon GaultActor

Why Are We Fat? - Season 1

About

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Episodes

Extended Details

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