Joe Cross was a mess. There is really no other way to put it. Back in 2010, when the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead movie first hit the scene, we weren't exactly drowning in health documentaries like we are now. Joe was a successful Australian businessman who had everything except his health. He weighed 310 pounds. He was gut-loaded with steroids to manage a rare autoimmune disease called Chronic Urticaria. Basically, his skin would break out in hives at the slightest touch. He was miserable.
He decided to drink nothing but green juice for 60 days.
Most people think this movie is just about a guy losing weight. It isn't. It’s actually a road trip movie about the crumbling state of the Western diet and what happens when you decide to stop eating "garbage" for two months. It’s raw. You see Joe sweating, looking gray, and struggling through the streets of New York City with a juicer in the back of his car. It’s not a polished Hollywood production. That’s probably why it still resonates over a decade later.
The Reality of the 60-Day Juice Fast
Let’s be real for a second. Drinking nothing but kale, apples, celery, and ginger for 60 days sounds like a nightmare to most people. Joe Cross did it under medical supervision. That is a detail people often skip. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a well-known physician and author of Eat to Live, was the one monitoring Joe’s bloodwork. You can’t just stop eating solid food and expect your body not to freak out.
Joe’s journey took him across the United States. He talked to random people at truck stops and diners. He’d ask them, "Do you want to live forever?" or "When was the last time you ate a vegetable?" The answers were usually pretty depressing. Most Americans he encountered were essentially in the same boat he was—overfed but malnourished.
The Fat Sick and Nearly Dead movie works because it doesn't just focus on Joe. About halfway through, we meet Phil Staples. Phil was a truck driver Joe met at a rest stop in Iowa. Phil was even bigger than Joe. He weighed 429 pounds. He had the same autoimmune condition. Watching Phil’s transformation is arguably more powerful than watching Joe’s. Phil was a guy who felt like he had already died inside. Watching him regain his life, start a community juice walk, and eventually get off his medication is the emotional core of the film.
Why the Science Matters (Even if it’s Controversial)
Juicing isn't magic. It’s basically just a massive delivery system for micronutrients. When you remove the fiber—which, honestly, is the main criticism of juicing—you’re allowing your digestive system to take a break while flooded with vitamins. Critics often point out that the human body has a liver and kidneys to "detox." That’s true. But the argument Joe Cross makes is that we’ve overloaded those systems so much with processed sugars and fats that they need a "reboot."
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It’s about the "Reboot." That’s the term Joe uses.
- Micronutrient Loading: You’re getting more spinach in one glass than most people eat in a month.
- Caloric Deficit: Obviously, if you only drink juice, you’re going to lose weight. It's simple math.
- Taste Bud Reset: This is the part people underestimate. After 10 days of no sugar, a red bell pepper starts to taste like candy.
However, we have to look at the limitations. Juicing for 60 days isn't sustainable for the average person. It can lead to muscle loss if you aren't careful about protein. It can be expensive. Buying 20 pounds of produce every few days isn't cheap. Joe was wealthy; Phil was not. The movie shows Phil struggling to find the time and resources to keep it up while working a grueling trucking job. That’s the reality of health in the 21st century. It's a luxury for many.
The Cultural Impact of Joe Cross
Before this film, juicers were something your grandmother had in the back of her cupboard. After the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead movie, Breville (the juicer brand Joe used) saw sales skyrocket. It started a movement. People weren't just "dieting" anymore; they were "rebooting."
The film avoids the preachy tone of many vegan documentaries. Joe isn't telling you that meat is murder or that you’re a bad person for eating a burger. He’s just showing you what happened to him when he stopped. He’s a likable guy. He’s funny. He’s self-deprecating. When he eats his last meal—a massive spread of processed food—he does it with a sense of "I can't believe I've been doing this to myself."
The Phil Staples Factor
Phil's story is the one that sticks. He was a man who had lost his connection to his family because of his health. He couldn't play with his kids. He was essentially waiting to die. When Joe offers to help him, Phil has to make a choice. The scenes of Phil in the hospital, getting his blood checked, and then slowly starting to walk are incredibly moving.
It highlights a major issue: the "food desert" problem. Phil lives in a place where fresh produce is harder to find than a pack of cigarettes. The film subtly critiques the industrial food complex without being a "conspiracy theory" movie. It just shows the results of that system on a human body.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Juicing
A lot of people watched this movie and thought, "Cool, I'll never eat solid food again." That’s a mistake. Joe Cross eventually went back to eating solid food. He just changed what those foods were. The juice was a bridge. It was a way to break the addiction to salt, sugar, and fat.
- Fiber is your friend. You need it for gut health. Long-term juicing without fiber can mess with your microbiome.
- Sugar spikes. If you juice too many fruits (like pineapples and oranges) without the fiber to slow down absorption, you’re basically drinking a soda made of fruit. Joe focused on "Mean Green" juice—mostly veggies.
- Maintenance is the hard part. Losing 100 pounds is a sprint. Keeping it off for ten years is a marathon.
The movie doesn't spend enough time on the "what happens next" phase, though Joe did release a sequel, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2, which addresses the struggle of staying healthy in an unhealthy world. It turns out, even the "Juice Man" himself struggled to stay on track once the cameras stopped rolling and he went back to his high-stress life.
How to Actually Apply This Today
If you're looking at the Fat Sick and Nearly Dead movie as a blueprint for your own health, don't just jump into a 60-day fast. That’s extreme. Instead, look at the philosophy behind it. It's about increasing the percentage of your diet that comes from plants.
Start by adding one green juice a day. Replace one meal. See how you feel. The "Mean Green" recipe is famous for a reason: it's balanced. It’s 1 bunch of kale, 4 stalks of celery, 1 cucumber, 2 Granny Smith apples, 1/2 a lemon, and a thumb-sized piece of ginger. It’s crisp. It’s refreshing. It’s also a hell of a lot of vitamins.
Practical Steps for Your Own "Reboot"
First, check with a doctor. Seriously. If you have underlying issues, a massive change in diet can cause electrolyte imbalances.
Second, get a decent juicer. You don't need a $500 machine, but the $30 ones will burn out in a week if you're shoving carrots into them. Look for a centrifugal juicer if you're in a hurry or a masticating juicer if you want more nutrients and less foam.
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Third, don't do it alone. The reason Phil Staples succeeded was because Joe Cross was there. Then, Phil's brother joined him. Then his community joined him. Accountability is the only reason these radical changes stick. If you’re trying to do a juice fast while your partner is eating pizza next to you, you will fail. It’s almost a guarantee.
Fourth, understand the "healing crisis." In the movie, Joe gets headaches. He gets grumpy. He feels like crap for the first few days. This is often called the Herxheimer reaction. Your body is processing out all the junk, and it doesn't like it. If you can get past day five, that's usually when the "euphoria" Joe talks about kicks in.
Final Thoughts on the Legacy of the Film
The Fat Sick and Nearly Dead movie isn't a perfect documentary. It’s essentially a long infomercial for a lifestyle. But it’s an honest one. It doesn't hide the struggle. It doesn't pretend that Joe and Phil didn't want to quit every single day.
In a world where we are constantly marketed "miracle pills" and "bio-hacks," there is something refreshing about a guy saying, "I just ate way too much junk, and I need to eat some plants." It’s a simple message. It’s a hard message. But for millions of people, it was the message they needed to hear to finally take control of their own skin.
If you haven't seen it, it's worth a watch, even if you never intend to touch a kale juice in your life. It's a study in human willpower. It shows that the body is incredibly resilient if you just give it a chance to heal. Joe Cross didn't just lose weight; he found a version of himself that wasn't "nearly dead." And that’s a pretty powerful thing to witness.
Actionable Next Steps
- Watch the movie with a critical eye. Don't just buy into the hype; look at the emotional journey Phil takes. It’s the most honest part of the film.
- Try the "Mean Green" juice once. See if you can actually handle the taste of liquid kale. Most people are surprised that the lemon and ginger mask the "grass" taste quite well.
- Audit your current diet. You don't have to go 100% juice. Just look at how many "processed" items you eat versus "plant" items. Aim for a 50/50 split as a starting goal.
- Read Joe Cross's book. He goes into much more detail about the medical side of his journey than the movie allows for.
- Find a community. Whether it's an online forum or a local hiking group, don't try to overhaul your health in a vacuum. Isolation is the enemy of consistency.