Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Ripsnort on January 26, 2004, 10:17:22 AM
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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.'"
Source:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general
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Did he eat 3 Big Mac meals a day for 30 days?
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McDonald's food is teh sukc, but this guy is a total a-hole. He claims to get extremely ill by eating McDonald's food for a few days. As bad as that junk is, it won't make a healthy person sick that quickly. He is probably a loser with no original ideas who wants to make a film which will grab some attention. So he puts on this "McDonald's food is poison" act. How many million people work at McDonalds or own the stock? They are being hosed by this a-hole who is disquising his film as a documentary when his agenda is to get his film viewed by an increasing health-obsessed public.
Maybe his next film will be about cell phone usage giving him seizures.
ra
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The article says that he had 3 doctors monitoring his health. I presume that they were on hand when he fell sick, but we can only conjecture.
Ravs
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I just did a Yahoo search on McDonalds, clicked on "McDonalds food and Nutrition" (2nd item)
and this is what I got
http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/usa/food/
A Froudion slip perhaps?
funny in a warped way "I'm loven it"
If he was not used to salt the sodium could do it.
http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.nutrition.index.html
but the stuff aint freegen poison
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My senior year in college was spent at the university library, Monday through Friday. Conveniently located across the street was Burger King. Every day (except weekends and holidays) I'd do the same lunch: plain burger with small fries and small drink, because it was the cheapest meal within walking distance. After 3 months I'd gained 15 pounds with a noticable bulge in my midsection, and that was with a pretty good exercise regimine including crunches, pushups, weight machines, and daily volleyball practices. To do that meal 3 times a day for a month, supersized, yeah, I can see why this guy ballooned and his cholesterol shot up.
After I graduated, I cut down eating at burger joints and ate a lot of spaghetti and cereal at home instead ($5 at Burger King equals a whole box of cereal, ya know). I lost the 15 pounds I'd gained at Burger King, plus I lost another 10 pounds because I cut my volleyball playing to 4 or 5 times a week and was running the other days (something I did sporadically during college), which contributed to the weight loss.
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http://www.maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=lovin_it
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Originally posted by gofaster
My senior year in college was spent at the university library, Monday through Friday. Conveniently located across the street was Burger King. Every day (except weekends and holidays) I'd do the same lunch: plain burger with small fries and small drink, because it was the cheapest meal within walking distance. After 3 months I'd gained 15 pounds with a noticable bulge in my midsection, and that was with a pretty good exercise regimine including crunches, pushups, weight machines, and daily volleyball practices. To do that meal 3 times a day for a month, supersized, yeah, I can see why this guy ballooned and his cholesterol shot up.
After I graduated, I cut down eating at burger joints and ate a lot of spaghetti and cereal at home instead ($5 at Burger King equals a whole box of cereal, ya know). I lost the 15 pounds I'd gained at Burger King, plus I lost another 10 pounds because I cut my volleyball playing to 4 or 5 times a week and was running the other days (something I did sporadically during college), which contributed to the weight loss.
Good story. I had a similiar situation but it was not weight gain, just overall feeling of ones health. My wife, a nurse, told me to go without junk food for a month straight (this about 10 years ago) on a bet. I did. The 31st day I ate at McDonalds, then went to the gym about 2 hours later. Only then did I feel the full effect of sugar and saturated fats in my bloodstream. Today, when we do occasionally hit a fast food place (usually due to limited time, travel) I will only eat the Fish.
Bottom line: Junk food makes you feel junky. If you're on a diet of junkfood, you'll be amazed how much more energy you'll have if you give it up.
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Originally posted by Tarmac
http://www.maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=lovin_it
That's pretty good. The hip-hop targeted demographic is spot on.
My wife does some volunteer work at an elementary school, working with a 5th-grader. As part of the program, she brings lunch to the student and they spend lunch period together. Sometimes she brings burgers, sometimes sandwiches, but usually its burgers.
Last Friday it was McDonald's.
She'd gotten large fries for both of them, along with burgers and large Coca Cola drinks. The two of them were joined by her student's "friends" who quickly became french fry beggars and Coke fiends - "Can I please have a sip of your Coke?" . She said she never gets that sort of attention when she brings Subway or Checkers; only McDonald's and Burger King.
Hail to the mighty power of Happy Meals indoctrination to brand loyalty.
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She said she never gets that sort of attention when she brings Subway or Checkers; only McDonald's and Burger King.
Jeeez, if there's anything more toxic than McDonald's it's gotta be Checkers.
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I havent been to a burger joint in over a month, been eating Japanese food, and then yesterday I went to mcdonadls and had a bigmac. I felt sick, nasty stuff. :(
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
Good story. I had a similiar situation but it was not weight gain, just overall feeling of ones health.
Yeah, I felt like I had a pound of raw meat stuck in my intestines. Once I cut back on eating the meat and went with the cereals, I felt a lot better.
I still eat McD's and BK, but in moderation because I usually feel "greasy" after eating their burgers. Blegh. Recently I've discovered the spicy chicken sandwich with plain baked potato combo at Wendy's. ;) Try it if you haven't already.
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Stay away from the fries and you would be ok i would think...
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Originally posted by ra
Jeeez, if there's anything more toxic than McDonald's it's gotta be Checkers.
You and me both, but she digs their fries.
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Crispy chicken (breast, not processed stamped out crap) sandwiches. Yummy, good, not greasy enough to weigh you down. Add a cheeseburger or two if you're still hungry, and cut out the fries and coke.
Doesn't slow me down at all.
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Mmm..gotta love Checkers.
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Local paper was running a story about people trying to lose weight, the Adkins and South Beach diets, and fast food. Blimpy and Subway were shone in a positive light, while BK and McD's were the dens of evil trying to change their image.
Buried in the story was this interesting tidbit:
In Florida, concern about how rising obesity rates might devour the state's health care budgets prompted Gov. Jeb Bush to appoint a Task Force on the Obesity Epidemic. The panel's conclusions are to be delivered to state legislative leaders next month. Bills have been filed that could affect school lunches, nutrition and physical education.
Currently, most Florida schools have meals prepared by fast food companies as special offerings. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Burger King are examples. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
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They wont change the school lunches. They like to farm stuff out to corporations, and it never works out well. They care about profits not the well being of the children.
Its like my school, University of South Florida. They give control of the on campus book store to barnes and noble this year. Teachers put in orders for books, and barnes and noble dosnt fufill all the orders. Their mentality is that the classes might not all be full, so if a teachers says they need 50 books , they order 30. And if more are needed they will order them. Well its a good business move(less left over books sitting on the shelves), but its bad for the students. 3 out of 4 of my classes i will have to wait till sometime next month for the rest of my books.
There are some things that should just be left to the public sector. Sure the book store had alot of leftover books in past semesters, but the students were always able to have books in time for class.
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Yeah I think the government should decide what we eat. We are just too stupid to make decisions for ourselves.
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Shows how hard being married to a vegan is on your constitution. That guy would survive like a week in the wild.
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McDonalds definately causes problems with me, especially the fries, stomach turns to knots usually.
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Originally posted by FUNKED1
Yeah I think the government should decide what we eat. We are just too stupid to make decisions for ourselves.
The government should never decide what we eat. If people want to be idots and eat at fastfood, by all means let them.
The issue is that in alot of schools the kids dont have any options but fast food.
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Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
I havent been to a burger joint in over a month, been eating Japanese food, and then yesterday I went to mcdonadls and had a bigmac. I felt sick, nasty stuff. :(
i trough, that my stomach is having problem with sutch things, because of my age....
but it seems to be an international issue
i didnt visit MC for 4 years now, execpt one on malta and it was same crap may be even worster that we have here...
i have no balls to call that *food*
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Originally posted by Frogm4n
The issue is that in alot of schools the kids dont have any options but fast food.
Then we should end socialized education. :)
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my schools cafeteria makes poutine...wich in the end cant be much better for ya than mcdonalds...
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I'm surprised none spotted the obvious conspiration.
I'll give you a hint: french fries.
I've myself nothing against fast food (how strange is it for a frog :D) it's just that it should not be anything than an occasionnal temptation.
Once or two a month won't kill you if you have a normal nutrition
One of the more surprising think I've heard of is the difference of size between an US and a French portion.
Vort. I think the poutine is a less than subtil attempt of crime againt cooking :p
changing mind while typing lead to strange sentences :D
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Man, what a bunch of rutabagas. "Oh no, not fatht food. My tummy sthimply can't take it."
-SW
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Originally posted by Frogm4n
Its like my school, University of South Florida. They give control of the on campus book store to barnes and noble this year. Teachers put in orders for books, and barnes and noble dosnt fufill all the orders. Their mentality is that the classes might not all be full, so if a teachers says they need 50 books , they order 30. And if more are needed they will order them. Well its a good business move(less left over books sitting on the shelves), but its bad for the students. 3 out of 4 of my classes i will have to wait till sometime next month for the rest of my books.
My wife is finishing her MIS degree at USF this semester and this is the first time the book buying has been a complete clusterchunk. She likes to get her books early so she can read ahead and be prepared for first day of class, but this year she was extremely frustrated because the books for her class didn't arrive until the 2nd week of class. We made 2 trips to the main bookstore and 2 trips to the St. Pete campus (she's taking 2 classes, 1 at each campus), and each time they said on the phone that the inventory showed the textbooks had come in, but by the time we got there the shelves were bare.
I guess all the student griping about the high cost of textbooks has come back to bite the next generation.
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I eat pretty much whatever I want. I don't think anyone would call me 'fat". I have never had heartburn or even a stomach ache except for when I got my gut split open in a car wreck and food poisoning twice.
everything in moderation. I don't eat out a lot tho... had to inspect to many kitchens I guess.
lazs
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And his girlfriend, a vegan chef? "She was completely disgusted by me," he said.
OK, so we don't know the whole story. But it sounds to me like he might have been on a majorly different diet before doing the McD's thing. Hardly scientific is it.
I know McD's isn't the healthiest stuff around but what this guy describes (vomiting after a few days of eating it) sounds like pure melodrama from a bunch of left wing tree hugging vego's.
I'm sure if you took me OFF my fast food diet and put me on that rabbit food I'd be vomiting, getting the shakes and nausea after a few days too.
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mmm.. I could go for a #3 right now...
had to inspect to many kitchens I guess.
this is waaay more scarey than eating lard-ass-food.. er.. McD's
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Originally posted by Vulcan
I know McD's isn't the healthiest stuff around but what this guy describes (vomiting after a few days of eating it) sounds like pure melodrama from a bunch of left wing tree hugging vego's.
Yep, I've gone on fast food and pizza diets for exam week and while I felt tired (from exams or from food, I don't know) I wasn't sick or anything. I did pick back up as soon as I got some real food in me, though.
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A friend's son is a chemist, and for kicks he and his lab coworkers analyzed french fries from a few fast food joints. Turns out McDonald's uses chemical none of the others do to give it a unique small and taste.
But what's the point of this documentary? That McDonald's food eaten every day will wreck you? Wow, I really had no idea, *******, thanks. I don't think the masses who consume McDonald's frequently are exactly the type who attend the Sundance Film Festival, so great work getting your pat on the back from your intellectually-elite peers, bub.
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Last Big Mac I had was over a year and a half ago in Split Croatia. Tasted the same there as is does in North America, how do they do that? :eek:
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You are what you eat - doh
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Polymer technology, and radiation.
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Goat's spleen and sub-aqua cavitation.
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Originally posted by Ripper29
Last Big Mac I had was over a year and a half ago in Split Croatia. Tasted the same there as is does in North America, how do they do that? :eek:
What were you doing there? Vacation, visting family or (unlikely) business?
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Originally posted by Ripper29
Last Big Mac I had was over a year and a half ago in Split Croatia. Tasted the same there as is does in North America, how do they do that? :eek:
Soylent Green....
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Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
What were you doing there? Vacation, visting family or (unlikely) business?
Did a 9 month tour in BiH with CIVPOL. Had the chance to visit Split and Dubrovnik a number of times... Enjoyed the local Pivo.... Lashko (I think..but I drank a lot of it) :D
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
25.01.2004 12.00pm - By DAVID USBORNE
NEW YORK - Normally sane actors
I stopped reading after that. Mr. Usborne has obviously never met an actor. ;)
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Just back from a meal at McD's...
I'm livin wild!
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Originally posted by Eagler
You are what you eat - doh
Thats what the beef ranchers thought, and the Mad Cow reared it's head.
This guy should make other documentaries. Maybe he could make one about America's gun culture.... it could open at a bowling alley....
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Originally posted by Ripsnort
...Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary...
now that pises me off... she looked hot and normal in that movie.
kinda like the reports around titanic comparing kate winslet to the fat chick from wilson philips.
then that same "media" blames society on making women bulemic or whatever.
man that little sentence pisses me off.
sry rant off.
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Originally posted by Wolfgang
mmm.. I could go for a #3 right now...
1/4 puunder with cheese for you non-regulars
#3, diet coke, $1 mcchicken .... that'll be $4.96 please pull around.
before you all flame me... the diet soda is because of steroid induced diabetes i had 3 years ago (prednisone a BAD drug to be on for 4 years) also diet soda doesnt make the holes in my teeth bigger. also i like the taste (regular soda tastes like pure sugar syurp to me).
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Make that a double quarter pounder with cheese. Supersize please.
You'd think I stumbled into the Peta fansite.
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Originally posted by Fatty
You'd think I stumbled into the Peta fansite.
no cht... arent these the same guys that wanted to troll the PETA site?
LOL
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Originally posted by Frogm4n
The issue is that in alot of schools the kids dont have any options but fast food.
Well..........
Their parents could always take 2 minutes in the morning to pack them a lunch.
Oh wait, that would mean taking some kind of responsibility for raising their kids, what was I thinking?
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Originally posted by mjolnir
Their parents could always take 2 minutes in the morning to pack them a lunch.
Oh wait, that would mean taking some kind of responsibility for raising their kids, what was I thinking?
Ding ding!
I had bag lunch, K-12. I was given money for a school lunch once a week, as a treat. I hated my parents for it - everybody else got pizza 5 days a week.
By the time I got to high school, I was packing my own lunches and just pocketing my $3 for the weekly school lunch.
Those parents and kids all need a kick in the nuts.