There is no sugar in most soda pops in the United States. It's corn syrup that is the problem. A&W root-beer from the restaurant has a lot of natural ingredients, like tree bark, licorice root, berries and other spices and is made with cane sugar as are just about all home-made root-beers. Diet soda is even worse for obesity, because it makes you hungrier. Stop giving sugar a bad name.

One can talk politics and debate on which side to blame for the obesity epidemic. This is definitely a politically slanted documentary, but that should not dissuade a discerning critically-eyed reviewer. Whether it's the consumer, corporations or government, the documentary makes a cogent case that there needs to be significant changes in our society and our personal lives.The comparison between cigarettes in the 1950's and sugary foods today is undeniably spot on. With an ongoing marijuana vs alcohol debate, it's also fair game to ask, why exactly do we prohibit kids from consuming one unhealthy addictive cigarettes but practically encourage them to consumer unhealthy addictive junk food? It's a documentary ahead of its time.

The movie titled Fed Up is about the effects of sugar and its contribution to the worldwide obesity and type 2 diabetes pandemic, a situation so serious that children were beginning to get this disease, which was initially classified as adult onset diabetes. The movie does a good job of describing the politics of food and the complicity of the USDA with multi-national agribusiness/food companies, mostly revealed by Marion Nestle's, PhD in her Food Politics and Soda Politics. The movie breaks down in having revealed the evils of sugar, it failed to adequately discuss the alternatives to sugar. Just eating vegetables and fruits is an incomplete answer. This omission arises because there is eclectic group of scientist/doctors with conflicting view as to what constitutes a healthy diet. To that end, one needs to look at the cast of characters in this movie and those who are missing but should have been included.First and foremost there is First Lady Michele Obama with her "let's move" program, yet she does not want to "demonize" the food and beverage industries. Both Dr Nestle and Mrs. Obama seem to me to be proponents of the lipid hypothesis that saturated fat is bad promulgated by the 1977 McGovern Committee report. This has its roots Ancel Keys M.D. who was co director of the Framingham heart study. The other Co director, George V Mann, M.D. thinks, "This is the greatest public health scam perpetrated on the American public." Former President William Clinton pursues a vegan or perhaps lacto-vegan diet promulgated by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MDin his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.Michael Pollan, in The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eat Real Food, Mark Hyman M.D. Robert Lustig's M.D. Fat Chance , Mark Hyman, M.D. and Gary Taube's Good Calories Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat all emphasize the importance of quality fats, both saturated and unsaturated from animals, properly raised, and plants. David Perlmutter, MD, not mentioned in this movie, in his Grain Brain notes primitive hunter-gatherers ate a ketogenic (high fat) diet. This is also confirmed in medical anthropologist Weston A. Price's DDS 1939 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.Gary Taubes presents good historical data in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was generally known one could eat all the meats, fats, vegetables dairy, and whole fruits desired so long as one avoided or strictly limited the consumption of starches (bread, potatoes, cereals, etc) and sugars By so doing, Lustig points out the hormone leptin, which tells one's body it can stop eating, would not be overwhelmed by the hormone insulin, which insists one must keep eating. Both Taubes and Lustig assert the calories in-calories out is a failed paradigm; it's not physics but biology. To push the matter into the absurd, if one over eats, even slightly, one ends up morbidly obese and if one under eats, even slightly, one ends up terribly emaciated!

Although I am a Doctor of medicine and these facts are known by me since decades, I'll try to evaluate the efficiency of this documentary more than the facts which are undisputed.The "not enough data" or "the relation is unclear" for many global hazards, are arguments that is constantly presented by all the major corporations. The pollutants in the atmosphere, the radiation emitted by cellphones and many other dangers are overlooked by the governments because of the enormous profits of major industries. To tell you the truth if these factories were to be closed probably millions of people would lose their jobs and their families could starve, literally.That's not an excuse though. You can't (I heard the exact example in some TV series) to sell drugs with the excuse that YOU need to survive and provide to your family.Fed Up, if nothing else, seems like a very credible Documentary. With interviewees such as professors of medicine from universities like Harvard, an ex-head of the FDA, and even an ex-POTUS (Bill Clinton) it's difficult to have doubts about that.The "emotional" segments with actual families who suffer from obesity and what goes with it, are occupy a large part of the film but aren't too melodramatic.The facts are presented with a clear way. Modern infographics are merged with real life examples to make each message as comprehensible it can be. You also get to realize some "weird" truths like the fact that while the US government is trying make the citizens and especially kids to eat healthier, at the same time tries to promote the use of agricultural products like corn when corn syrup is the number one provider of the sugar in many many foods.The statistics are to be feared. 50% of American will experience the consequences of obesity even if their weight is in normal range. The movie rings the bell for the future generations too.The production has high production values and a modern feel.Just read that some critics wrote things like "A whirlwind of talking heads, found footage, scary statistics and cartoonish graphics". Well...that's a good thing! The problem is that all these facts and guidelines are often written in poorly made pamphlets or boring videos. You want nowadays to pass your messages in a modern way. Fast cuts, graphics and music are essential so the movie won't get boring and the viewers stop watching and miss the message.A good effort overall. I recommend to see it, and to take it seriously.