Joe Cross's "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead"

The documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" is about an overweight guy named Joe Cross from Australia who goes on a 60 day juice fast under the supervision of Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

The idea of Dr. Fuhrman's approach is to consume lots and lots of fruits and vegetables that are full of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and few macronutrients (fat, proteins and carbohydrates). The idea is to consume so many fruits and vegetables that it's easeier to juice them than it is to eat them.

Joe was very successful. He lost 82 pounds in 2 months and quit taking prescription drugs for his autoimmune disease called chronic urticaria.

The most interesting aspect of the documentary to me was the ripple effect. Joe met an extremely obese truck driver named Phil Staples. After some time passed Phil asked Joe for help, and Joe helped him. And so Joe's journey turned into Phil's journey. Phil was successful too, losing "six bowling balls" in 60 days and getting off his meds. And his ripple started community fasting, as well as his brother who suffered a heart attack.

There were some funny zingers in the documentary. Joe asked a guy how long he thought he would live. The guy rubbed his belly and replied, "I don't know, but I hope God has ribs in heaven." Phil was talking to his brother who was also obese about just trying 1 week of juice fasting. His brother responded, "I would try to juice a steak, that's my problem."

There were also some tear jerker moments near the end of the movie. Both Joe and Phil lived more balanced lifestyles after losing the weight. Watching both of them run while INXS's "New Sensation" played in the background brought tears to my eyes. And when Phil started his journey, Joe gave him a goal to fit into a yellow T-shirt that clearly wouldn't fit him without big changes. At the end of the movie, Phil was running in that yellow T-shirt. Awesome!

The full movie can be viewed on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/

or watch this trailer on Youtube:



If you want to try the "Mean Green" juice from the documentary, then check this out: