BBC Babble – Trimming the fat

I’ve always been a sucker for weight loss TV. The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Fit Club normally make for amusing and educational entertainment. I can now add BBC America’s You Are What You Eat to this list. And I thought America was the only country battling the bulge. Apparently, people from faraway lands enjoy stuffing their faces with junk food, smoking like chimneys, and binge drinking just as much as us here in the good ol’ US of A. Welcome to the party, Britain.

How’s this for an episode opening: a low angle shot of a fat, hairy stomach; camera pans up over the mountainous gut to the smiling face of Nick Hughes. Nick has a robust daily diet. He eats pizza for breakfast, fried eggs for lunch, a beef sandwich for an afternoon snack, Chinese takeout for dinner and shepherd’s pie before bedtime. Geesh… even a T-Rex ate the odd carrot now and again. Have no fear, diet guru Gillian McKeith is here.

McKeith, a holistic nutritionist, is an elfish gal weighing in at about 90 pounds. It’s her job to turn slovenly blokes like Nick into pictures of health. This is no easy task once you get a gander at the amount of “rubbish” being consumed. Gillian lays out Nick’s weekly intake on a thirty foot long table. I gained five pounds just by looking at it. Nick’s reaction is, “It makes me hungry.” A perturbed Gillian counters with, “Do you want to die?” Nick chuckles a “no.”

Bad breath, lack of energy, pallid skin and a colon packed full of rotting meat are the least of Nick’s problems. Gillian informs him he’s hurtling toward a certain heart attack if he doesn’t change his lifestyle. She reveals  malnutrition has nothing to do with size. Nick’s body is starving for vitamins and nutrients, which accounts for his voracious appetite. To prevent a premature death, Gillian maps out an eight week cleanse-the-system menu of fruits, veggies and fish.

Then she has a sit-down with Nick regarding his poop. She compares it to “chocolate mousse.” Sticky poo means a lack of fiber. Uhm… I did not know that. It’s always nice to learn something new. In addition, I also learned tiny lateral cuts on the tongue are evidence the spleen is not functioning properly, and fatty acids are needed to break down bad fats. Oh, Flaxseed oil is an excellent source of fatty acids.

You Are What You Eat airs weekdays at Noon on BBC America. They don’t pull any punches on the show; the talk can be very descriptive, bordering on disgusting. I have no issue with the sight of a colonic tube shoved up a dude’s ass pumping out all matter of liquid waste… wait a second… I have a BIG issue with that. Nevertheless, I guess the old adage is true: You are what you eat.

Clacked by Scott Tunstall
on Mar 25, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT