Tc
Mon, Mar-10-08, 17:16
http://www.cbc.ca/thelens/bigfatdiet/
My Big, Fat Diet
Supersize Me meets Northern Exposure in My Big Fat Diet when
the Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay gives up sugar and junk
food, returning to a traditional style of eating for a year to
fight obesity and diabetes. Alert Bay Alert Bay, B.C.
If you visit Alert Bay off the coast of Vancouver Island,
you'll find a picturesque fishing village inhabited by two
cultures, the Namgis First Nation and their non-native
neighbours. Here an epidemic is undermining the health and
vitality of community. Like most aboriginal communities across
North America, the rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and
diabetes here are up to five times the national average.
No one's life is untouched by this problem, everyone is
related to someone who is either at risk, or coping with one
of these health issues. Mainstream medical professionals cite
sedentary lifestyles and a diet rich in fat as the underlying
reason for the growing epidemic. grocery store Making new food
choices at the local grocery store.
But after two decades of service in public health and a
distinguished career, M=E9tis physician, Dr. Jay Wortman,
believes that the western diet which replaced the traditional
diet is the primary cause of the epidemic. "Obesity, diabetes
and heart disease were unknown in these populations until very
recently. No aboriginal language has a word for diabetes."
Wortman's conviction comes from personal experience. Four
years ago, he discovered that he had type 2 diabetes. "My
immediate instinctive response was to stop eating any food
that caused my blood sugar to rise. So I eliminated
carbohydrates from my diet. Within four weeks, my blood sugar
and blood pressure had normalized and I began to feel much
better." Jay and diet participant
Dr. Jay Wortman with one of the diet particpants.
Directed by Mary Bissell, My Big Fat Diet chronicles how the
Namgis First Nation goes cold turkey and gives up sugar and
junk food for a year in a diet study sponsored by Health
Canada and the University of British Columbia. Through the
stories of six people, it documents a medical and cultural
experiment that may be the first of its kind in North America.
My Big Fat Diet, like Super Size Me, looks at the problem of
obesity, through the eyes of a man who straddles two cultures,
Western and First Nations. It also looks at the history and
present-day status of traditional food gathering, and the link
between individual health and that of the immediate
environment. cutting culiflower Cauliflower became a new
'favourite' in Alert Bay.
Bare Bones Productions is a collaboration between
award-winning, First Nations film-maker, Barb Cranmer of Alert
Bay and Mary Bissell and Christian Bruyere of Vancouver. My
Big Fat Diet was produced by Bare Bones Productions in
association with CBC Newsworld.
PLEASE NOTE: The research in this study is still being
evaluated. Anyone taking medication for diabetes or high blood
pressure should consult their doctor before starting a
low-carb diet.
My Big, Fat Diet
Supersize Me meets Northern Exposure in My Big Fat Diet when
the Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay gives up sugar and junk
food, returning to a traditional style of eating for a year to
fight obesity and diabetes. Alert Bay Alert Bay, B.C.
If you visit Alert Bay off the coast of Vancouver Island,
you'll find a picturesque fishing village inhabited by two
cultures, the Namgis First Nation and their non-native
neighbours. Here an epidemic is undermining the health and
vitality of community. Like most aboriginal communities across
North America, the rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and
diabetes here are up to five times the national average.
No one's life is untouched by this problem, everyone is
related to someone who is either at risk, or coping with one
of these health issues. Mainstream medical professionals cite
sedentary lifestyles and a diet rich in fat as the underlying
reason for the growing epidemic. grocery store Making new food
choices at the local grocery store.
But after two decades of service in public health and a
distinguished career, M=E9tis physician, Dr. Jay Wortman,
believes that the western diet which replaced the traditional
diet is the primary cause of the epidemic. "Obesity, diabetes
and heart disease were unknown in these populations until very
recently. No aboriginal language has a word for diabetes."
Wortman's conviction comes from personal experience. Four
years ago, he discovered that he had type 2 diabetes. "My
immediate instinctive response was to stop eating any food
that caused my blood sugar to rise. So I eliminated
carbohydrates from my diet. Within four weeks, my blood sugar
and blood pressure had normalized and I began to feel much
better." Jay and diet participant
Dr. Jay Wortman with one of the diet particpants.
Directed by Mary Bissell, My Big Fat Diet chronicles how the
Namgis First Nation goes cold turkey and gives up sugar and
junk food for a year in a diet study sponsored by Health
Canada and the University of British Columbia. Through the
stories of six people, it documents a medical and cultural
experiment that may be the first of its kind in North America.
My Big Fat Diet, like Super Size Me, looks at the problem of
obesity, through the eyes of a man who straddles two cultures,
Western and First Nations. It also looks at the history and
present-day status of traditional food gathering, and the link
between individual health and that of the immediate
environment. cutting culiflower Cauliflower became a new
'favourite' in Alert Bay.
Bare Bones Productions is a collaboration between
award-winning, First Nations film-maker, Barb Cranmer of Alert
Bay and Mary Bissell and Christian Bruyere of Vancouver. My
Big Fat Diet was produced by Bare Bones Productions in
association with CBC Newsworld.
PLEASE NOTE: The research in this study is still being
evaluated. Anyone taking medication for diabetes or high blood
pressure should consult their doctor before starting a
low-carb diet.