Super Size Me

Super Size Me is a documentary about filmmaker Morgan Spurlock who embarked on a one-month McDonald’s binge.  He signed up three medical professionals to monitor his health while in this extreme experiment – a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner.  He also worked with a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist. 

For 30 days, he was to eat only foods from McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch and supper.  He could also drink coffee and water provided they were bought at Mickee Dees. 

He started out very healthy.  As a matter of fact, his exercise physiologist said that he had above average fitness for his age group.  He stood 6’2” and weighed 185 ½ lbs.  His cholesterol was 168 and his body fat was 11%.  He was sexually active.  He was a previous smoker but had quit many years ago. 

So Day 1 came, he started his McDonald’s binge and he was fine.  On Day 2 he experienced a stomachache and even vomited while having his meal.  On Day 7, he was experiencing chest pressure.  By Day 18, he was feeling fatigue and he had less sexual drive. 

These are the final stats by Day 30: 

·         He gained 24.5 lbs. 

·         His cholesterol shot up to 65 points. 

·         He had 18% body fat. 

·         His liver had turned into fat. 

·         He had twice the risk for a heart attack. 

·         His sexual life was worthless.

·         He had terrible mood swings. 

·         He was depressed and exhausted. 

·         He had massive cravings. 

·         He craved these foods the more he ate them and he got massive headaches if he didn’t. 

For 30 days of eating only McDonald’s food, he consumed 30 lbs. of sugar and 30 lbs. of fat. That’s pretty scary.  No wonder his body broke down by Day 30. 

It took him five months to lose 20 lbs and another nine to lose the last 4 ½ lbs. 

It’s quite alarming to know these statistics.  And I thought that I was eating healthy by ordering the Chicken Ranch Salad until I learned from this film that it actually contains more fat than a Big Mac.  Whoa! 

I can count in the fingers of my left hand the average number of times my family eats at McDonald’s or A&W in a year.  But I noticed that when I was working out of the home during my office training a couple of months ago, we went to McDonald’s two times in that three-week period.  I was tired after work, especially at the end of the week, and I didn’t feel like cooking supper.  It was convenient to just go out and eat.  And looking back now, when my kids were still a lot younger, when my youngest one was still a baby, we often ordered from Kentucky Fried Chicken on Fridays.  And I think that’s the biggest lure of these fastfood restaurants.  The convenience it brings to our very busy lives. 

There was another interesting experiment that Morgan did at the end of the film.  He bought different sandwiches and French Fries from McDonald’s and an unknown burger joint.  He sealed each one in different clear jars and he monitored what happened to the sandwiches as the days went by.  The sandwiches soon developed molds in them, even the French Fries from that unknown burger joint.  But the French Fries from McDonald’s surprisingly looked the same after two months as it did the first day it was placed in the jar.  You wonder why?  These French Fries were cooked in trans fat.  I’ve learned from another show that food manufacturers use trans fat in their products to lengthen the shelf life of let’s say cookies.  Trans fat remains solid at room temperature whereas oil remains liquid at room temperature.  When we take trans fat, it doesn’t dissolve in our body and could clog our arteries.  Frightening, isn’t it? 

Morgan made this film to prove that fastfood chains like McDonald’s can be the cause of high obesity rates in the U.S.A.  But is it really?  Yes, it might have something to do with it.  But I think that it’s up to each individual if they want to eat out or be lured by the larger or super size portions that these companies are selling.  What do you think?