Tom Naughton

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Tom Naughton
Potentially edible!
Food woo
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Fabulous food!
Delectable diets!
Bodacious bods!
There's never been a single study that proves saturated fat causes heart disease.[1]
—Tom Naughton
When I see a guy in the men's room standing at a urinal and checking message on his phone, I secretly hope he drops it. Does that make me a bad person?[2]
—Tom Naughton

Tom Naughton (1958–) is an American low-carb high-fat (LCHF) author, comedian, cholesterol denialist, conspiracy theorist and film-maker. Naughton directed the 2009 documentary film Fat Head which aimed to refute the documentary Super Size Me and the lipid hypothesis.Wikipedia

Fat Head[edit]

In a nutshell, the documentary claims that:[3][4][5]

  • The entire medical community and practically every qualified nutritionist is wrong about dieting
  • Government agencies have been lying for years to people about food and obesity
  • Saturated fat and high cholesterol do not cause or increase the risk of heart disease
  • Low cholesterol is unhealthy, high cholesterol is healthy ("the higher your cholesterol the longer you live")
  • Ancel KeysWikipedia fabricated his results
  • Nobody should take statins

Most of the "experts" interviewed in the documentary were LCHF promoters, thus biased. The documentary was a hit with the low-carb community and quacks such as Joseph Mercola.[6][7] It was given a thumbs up by the Weston A. Price Foundation.[8] Naughton gave a presentation at the Foundation's Wise Traditions 2018 Conference.[9]

The documentary was not taken seriously by the medical community. It was not reviewed in any medical or scientific journals.

Irrational conspiracy theory[edit]

Naughton promotes a ridiculous conspiracy theory that involves food advisory bodies, media, scientists, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. According to Naughton, the public has been lied to, and all the evidence from studies proving high cholesterol and saturated fat are bad for health is entirely fake.[10] Nutrition scientist Seth Yoder has noted:

First of all can you imagine the effort needed to carry this out? Picture 99% of all the scientists and medical doctors being involved, plus all (or at least most) of the US government. That would be some X-Files level operation right there, and we're just scratching the surface! What about other countries? They also have research scientists. What do their studies show? As it turns out essentially every study around the world supports the FACT that circulating levels of cholesterol and intake of saturated fat play a huge role in atherosclerosis. So there goes that little conspiracy theory, unless you want to go even further and claim it’s not just a US conspiracy but a global conspiracy!!![10]

Fat Head Kids[edit]

In 2017, Naughton authored a strange book for children titled Fat Head Kids: Stuff About Diet and Health I Wish I Knew When I Was Your Age. The book explains how certain foods make "boy boobs".[11] One critic wrote "I just get utterly creeped out by the whole thing, and Tom Naughton specifically. Books for children should not include shirtless pictures of the middle aged author who goes on about boy boobs."[12]

See also[edit]

External link[edit]

References[edit]