McDonald's to Start Taking Credit Cards

[CrimsonTide4]

ONLY ate McDonalds for 30 days, 3 times a day? Then read on. . .


Film records effects of eating only McDonald's for a month

25.01.2004 12.00pm - By DAVID USBORNE
NEW YORK - Normally sane actors have been known to gain or lose huge amounts of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary. Directors, of course, never have to undergo such torture. Or so it used to be, until Morgan Spurlock had a bright idea for a film project.

The first clue to his particular misery comes in the title of his documentary, which has become the darling of this year's Sundance Film Festival. It is called Super Size Me: A Film of Epic Portions and it is a sometimes comic but serious look at America's addiction to fast food.

Spurlock, a tall New Yorker of usually cast-iron constitution, made himself the guinea pig in this dogged investigation into the effects of fast food on the body. He ate only at McDonald's for a month - three meals, every day - and took a camera crew along to record it. If a server offered to super-size his order, he was obliged to accept - and to ingest everything, gherkins and all.

Neither Spurlock, 33, nor the three doctors who agreed to monitor his health during the experiment were prepared for the degree of ruin it would wreak on his body. Within days, he was vomiting up his burgers and battling with headaches and depression. And his sex drive vanished.

When Spurlock had finished, his liver, overwhelmed by saturated fats, had virtually turned to pate. "The liver test was the most shocking thing," said Dr Daryl Isaacs, who joined the team to watch over him. "It became very, very abnormal."

Spurlock put on nearly 12kg over the period and his cholesterol level leapt from a respectable 165 to 230. He told the New York Post: "I got desperately ill. My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I've never had in my life ... It was amazing - and really frightening." And his girlfriend, a vegan chef? "She was completely disgusted by me," he said.

Making the film over several months last year, Spurlock travelled through 20 states, interviewing everyone from fast-food junkies to the US Surgeon General and a lobbyist for the industry. McDonald's, for whom the film can only be a public relations catastrophe, ignored his repeated entreaties for comment.

Spurlock had the idea for the film on Thanksgiving Day 2002, slumped on his mother's couch after eating far too much. He saw a news item about two teenage girls in New York suing McDonald's for making them obese. The company responded by saying their food was nutritious and good for people. Is that so, he wondered? To find out, he committed himself to his 30 days of Big Mac bingeing.

The film does not yet have a distributor and, given the advertising clout of McDonald's, that may prove problematic. But the critics at Sundance seem to have been captivated. Certainly, the film is blessed by good timing. Obesity has in recent months captured headlines as America's new health scourge. The humour of the approach - and Spurlock's own suffering - obviously helps.

At the festival in Park City, Utah, he has had teams handing out "Unhappy Meal" bags on the streets with a few "Fat Fun Facts". For instance, one in four Americans visits a fast-food restaurant every day. And did you know that McDonald's feeds more people around the world every day than the population of Spain? The makers have self-rated the film "F" - for "fat audiences".

McDonald's has finally been forced to comment. "Consumers can achieve balance in their daily dining decisions by choosing from our array of quality offerings and range of portion sizes to meet their taste and nutrition goals," it said in a statement last week.

Spurlock claims that the goal was not to attack McDonald's as such. Among the issues he highlights is the willingness of schools to feed students nothing but burgers and pizza. "If there's one thing we could accomplish with the film, it is that we make people think about what they put in their mouth," he said. "So the next time you do go into a fast-food restaurant and they say, 'Would you like to upsize that?' you think about it and say, 'Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll stick with the medium this time.'"

[carolyne]

I don't know what this guy expected by eating fried food EVERYDAY and supersizing it. That would have happened had he cooked the same meal for himself from home. It would be different if he said that he was trying different options like the grilled sandwiches and salads and not super sizing it but he only talked about Big Macs. He didn't give himself a balanced diet. I rarely eat McDonald's so it's not like I'm just trying to support them. But I also can't sit back and let people blame their problems on restaurants when it's their CHOICES that make them unhealthy.

[CrimsonTide4]

Soror, I agree. When I read it, I shook my head like okay now if you had only ate salads 3 times a day and this had happened, I might say lawsuit but you ate GREASE and SALT 90 times, DUUUUH!!!

[lovelyivy84]

That. Is. So. Nasty.

[dzfan]

I mean, what does he expect! Obesity has become a problem b/c of people like this who think that thier overeating will have no impact on their health. This guy and others should take more personal responsibilty in my opinion.

Sheesh!

[Eclipse]

I agree that it is gross, but I think his ultimate point was we cannot eat the way we as Americans are conditioned to eat. I know someone who says her daughter refuses to eat veggies or drink water. THe girl is 3 and survives on hotdogs, Wendy's chicken nuggets and juice boxes. She needs to read this article.

I think he and his doctors were probably prepared for some weigh gain, increased blood pressue and the like, but such significant changes in a relatively short period of time? That suprised me too.

There are a lot of folks who eat fast food every day or for multiple meals every week. They need to see this. My husband is one of them. Because of our schedules we don't cook at home a lot so he has absolutely no problem eating McDonalds for lunch and the ordering a pizza for dinner. I try to have healthy fast stuff and home, but he doesn't want it most of the time. And he wonders why he has high blood pressure!

[9dstpm]

Ewwww Was he that desperate for a documentary subject?? Heck, he could have filmed the financial struggles of me and Hubby. College educated couple deals with raggedy hand-me-down car, one child (and trying to have another), and bills while working at a social services agency that pays enough to have our ends wave to each other each month!! He could have filmed Hubby on a job search!! He could have filmed our 8 year old singing on his Spongebob karaoke machine!!

[Diva_01]

I'm seeing Eclipse's side on this one. I eat out a lot myself due to the jobs I have coupled with being to tired/lazy to cook and make myself some food at home, and McDonald's is one of my favorite places to stop. I think this would be good for america to see, because as most of us know, we don't stop at Mickey Dee's for a salad. I know I don't. I want a quarter pounder with cheese and some greasy fries. So, he was eating what the majority of people eat at the home of the BIG MAC. The big mac. I'm enlightened...now maybe I will take the time to eat a salad or prepare my meals ahead of time...a lot of my friends live on fast food, and it is not healthy!

[Strive]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4


Spurlock, a tall New Yorker of usually cast-iron constitution, made himself the guinea pig in this dogged investigation into the effects of fast food on the body.

Cast-iron constitution. I need to look this one up because I thought anyone with a cast-iron constitution would not do anything this stupid.

Sounds like Spurlock wanted to get his fifteen minutes of fame.

[CrimsonTide4]

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Say goodbye to those super-sized fries -- McDonald's is slimming down its menu.

The hamburger giant has started phasing out its trademark Supersize fries and drinks in its U.S. restaurants as part of an effort to simplify its menu and give customers choices that support a balanced lifestyle, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

By the end of 2004, super size will no longer be available at the nation's 13,000-plus McDonald's outlets except in certain promotions, McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said.

The move comes as the world's largest restaurant company, and fast-food chains in general, are under growing public pressure to give consumers healthier food options in a nation that has suddenly become aware of its bulging waistline and the health dangers that come with it.

McDonald's added entree salads last year and has been moving to provide more fruit, vegetable and yogurt options with its Happy Meals. But the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company remains a magnet for public concerns -- and legal actions -- when it comes to obesity.

Riker said the changes started going into effect in January.

"This core menu, which has been under development since 2002, simplifies our menu and restaurant operations and provides a balance of choices for our customers," he said. "A component of this overall simplification, menu and balanced lifestyle strategy is the ongoing phase-out of the Supersize fry and the Supersize drink options."

The company did not immediately disclose other details of the menu changes.

Two lawsuits claiming McDonald's hid the health risks of eating Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets were thrown out in federal court in New York last year.

But the issue hasn't disappeared.

An award-winning documentary called "Super Size Me" has heaped on more unwanted publicity for McDonald's. The documentary, which chronicles the deterioration of filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's health during a monthlong experiment eating nothing but McDonald's food, won a directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is set for wide release this spring.

Riker said the phasing out of super-sizing has "nothing to do with that (film) whatsoever."

The company earlier issued a statement calling the documentary "a super-sized distortion of the quality, choice and variety available at McDonald's." It says the film is not about McDonald's but about Spurlock's decision to act irresponsibly by eating 5,000 calories a day -- "a gimmick to make a film."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is bogus!! Just exercise dayummit or order a diet coke with extra ice. . . SUMPIN!!!!

[Im_just_me]

The thing is, the way I see it, no one is MAKING these people go to McDonalds. No one is making these people order anything Supersized. That's on them. They need to learn to exercise CONTROL. Besides, pregnant me can't get enough of supersized fries...

[SummerChild]

Originally posted by Im_just_me
The thing is, the way I see it, no one is MAKING these people go to McDonalds. No one is making these people order anything Supersized. That's on them. They need to learn to exercise CONTROL. Besides, pregnant me can't get enough of supersized fries...

Im_Just_Me,
I felt the way that you do at first as well. Then I found out that heart disease is the number killer of Americans and am now beginning to believe that the public may indeed have to pay for these sick Americans (consider all of the sick Americans who are on government assistance). I, for one, would like to see a healthier America - even if only for the reason that I would rather not have to pay medical care for all of these Americans with heart disease.

I'm sure that we all know of relatives who have had heart attacks, bypass surgeries, hypertension, etc. High fat/high cholesterol diet is often a factor. Many of these americans are on public assistance and we are therefore, at some level, footing the bill.

[tazzyboo21]

The guy that did this study was on Good Morning America today. He ate everything on the McDonald's meal not just fried food and super sizing things. So you can image how many times he ate something healthy. But I personally feel like this study does show the damaging effects of fast food. Companies always claim to have healthy and nutrious food but its a lie.

McDonalds and other companies are in schools limiting the food option for kids. Personally at my high school we had the most unhealthest food ever. And the healthy food was always unfresh so you tell me what you would eat.

French fries or rotten salad?

[Im_just_me]

Originally posted by SummerChild
Im_Just_Me,
I felt the way that you do at first as well. Then I found out that heart disease is the number killer of Americans and am now beginning to believe that the public may indeed have to pay for these sick Americans (consider all of the sick Americans who are on government assistance). I, for one, would like to see a healthier America - even if only for the reason that I would rather not have to pay medical care for all of these Americans with heart disease.

I'm sure that we all know of relatives who have had heart attacks, bypass surgeries, hypertension, etc. High fat/high cholesterol diet is often a factor. Many of these americans are on public assistance and we are therefore, at some level, footing the bill.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see a healthier America as well. BUT, I also feel like if these people have to money to spend on McDonalds everyday, they have to money to go to the grocery store to buy fruits and veggies. There are options and people chose not to exercise their options. Place the blame where it belongs, with themselves, not a giant corporation like Mcdonalds.

[SummerChild]

Originally posted by Im_just_me
Don't get me wrong, I want to see a healthier America as well. BUT, I also feel like if these people have to money to spend on McDonalds everyday, they have to money to go to the grocery store to buy fruits and veggies. There are options and people chose not to exercise their options. Place the blame where it belongs, with themselves, not a giant corporation like Mcdonalds.

I totally agree! I was just saying that even if we place the blame squarely where it belongs (with the person buying the food), many of us will *still* have to foot the bill when these Americans become unhealthy.

SC