I watched this docu and thought may be I will try it. Then watched What the Health and did it. From July 3rd to August 3rd this year, I lost 12 lbs. Still ate sweets and bread though. Then I watched Dr. Oz regarding stomach fat and cut down on sweets and bread. Nothing changed my before weight and eating one meal a day still did nothing and in fact I gained weight.

Many years ago, I wrote an article about Hippocrates Institute in Florida, so I had to go there. Hippocrates concentrates on a whole food diet, wheat grass juice, with a day of fasting drinking only juice (not just wheat grass as I recall).I hated it. I lost my appetite totally and the wheat grass juice was beyond awful.I came back after a week, ten pounds thinner, and I hadn't been overweight to begin with. I also saw the results it had for the other people there, mostly people who had been given a terminally ill diagnosis for cancer. By using whole, unprocessed, raw foods, Hippocrates has cured people all over the world.I had no idea that "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" extolled the virtues of juicing and of whole food. For some reason I thought it was about eating junk food, like Supersize Me or whatever it was. Instead, it was about a man named Joe Cross who "rebooted" and lost a tremendous amount of weight by doing a 60-day juice fast and then moving on to a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and continuing with his exercise program. He also was able to get off of all of his medications - he has a chronic immune disorder.Walking around New York City, Joe interviews a lot of people, and some of their answers are not only funny but expressed how many people feel. "I want to die happy," someone said, which reminded me of a big Hollywood producer interviewed about Chasen's Restaurant: "We led shorter lives, but fuller lives," he said. Joe also is able to help people, a woman with migraines who did a short juice fast and fits it into her lifestyle now, with no more migraines.Then we meet Phil, a 429-pound truck driver, who meets Joe and later begs him for help. His transformation was unbelievable, down to something like 227 pounds, off all of his meds, blood work excellent, and on an exercise program. He also opened a community juice bar and is now a nutritional trainer.I should point out that Phil's story is a complicated one and I believe is continued in FS&ND-2, which I haven't seen. I have read about Phil's journey since the end of the first film, though.One can't help but be moved and inspired by this film. A 60-day juice fast would be tough, but the health aspect of eating better is something to think about. Having seen the difference in women's appearances after just 14-days following Dr. Perricone's health plan - it's obvious that a healthy lifestyle, with the occasional treat, is critical.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2010) *** (out of 4)Good documentary in the same line as SUPER SIZE ME but this one here focusing on the importance of juicing. The film starts off as Joe Cross heads to America where he plans on eating nothing for sixty-days and instead of fast food it's all juicing. After this story we meet a truck truck weighting close to four-hundred pounds and then we see his journey as he tries to save his life. There are so many "health" documentaries out there that as a film fan you must go through at least half a dozen before you're going to find a winner. There's no question that this one here is a winner as it's quite inspirational and I'm sure that was the main goal of the film. Yes, some will complain that it's a sells ad for juicing and perhaps it is but the film doesn't get preachy and it never gets to the point where it's just bashing the viewer over the head with its own views. I think the film did a pretty good job at showing what juicing could do for someone if they're willing to do it and if they actually need to do it. I enjoyed the various interviews with people as they discuss their eating habits and I especially enjoyed those people who just refuse to juice even if it does mean helping their health. Cross, who co-wrote and co-directed the picture, makes for a strong lead and someone who can enjoy spending this journey with. The real breakthrough is with Phil Staples, the truck driver whose story is quite shocking in how well it goes. FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is a good little gem that gets its point across while being entertaining as well.

On the surface, the film almost seems like an infomercial, as for its first half it follows Cross on a trek to America, to go on a 60 day juice fast. That is, the fortysomething Cross, who weighed in at over 300 pounds, at the start of the documentary, decides to end his years of dependency on steroids and medicines, to treat an autoimmune deficiency, as well as his high-flying lifestyle, so that he can get and stay healthy. He sees a doctor, gets an OK to begin his change in diet, then spends the first month in New York City, before heading out on a cross-country trek to spread his gospel of juicing fruits and vegetables for their easily digested vitamin and nutrient content. The film then follows the lives of a few people Cross encounters, gets the typical man in the street condescension, as well as a few converts, until, at about midpoint, Cross encounters a truck driver, in Arizona, named Phil Staples, who dwarfs Cross's weight, and checks in at over 400 pounds.When Cross's fast ends, and he is almost a hundred pounds lighter, he heads back down under until, a few months later, he gets a call from Staples, desperate to change his life, who asks Joe for the help he offered when they met. The second half of the film thus becomes Staples' even longer journey to health, and the film follows him for almost a year, as he loses weight, gains local celebrity, and nurses his older brother, Barry (also obese), into a healthy lifestyle after he suffers a heart attack.The film gets its message across well, and never comes off as preachy. Cross seems genuine in his mission, and even has his own website dedicated to the cause. The lone negative in the film is the really bad animation that is repeatedly used, for any other critiques of the film would center on what it is obviously not, instead of what it is: a well made biography of two men and their struggles with eating and health.