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Super Size Me

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General fitness, health and nutrition
Published
26 January 2004
Last activity
29 January 2004
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Jack Schidt®
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22
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  1. 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.

    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general

    Jack Mac

  2. The subject line got me, Jack. When I first read it I thought it was about an -- umm --
    enhancement patch.

    Over to you, Sheldon.

    Felice

  3. "Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    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

    Quoted message said:

    of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's


    Diary.

    Quoted message said:

    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.


    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general

    Quoted message said:


    Jack Mac

    Interesting article..thanks for posting. The very thought of eating McD's every day for a month
    makes my stomach turn...I can't even eat it for a day, much less 30! Still, I'd love to see all the
    medical info mentioned, and see the changes he went through.

    kimberly

  4. "Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    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

    Quoted message said:

    of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's


    Diary.

    Quoted message said:

    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.


    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    D=3545438&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=ge neral

    Quoted message said:


    Jack Mac

    Wow, great article, Jack. Now if someone could be brave enough to try let's say, Jack In The Box,
    for 30 days, then try McDonald's for 30 days (after cleaning out the system), then try KFC for 30
    days, we could figure out which fast food restaurant was worse. Not that anyone would do it, nor
    am I endorsing the idea, I'm just thinking one step further than Mr. Spurlock. Could anyone
    survive that?

    kilikini

  5. Jack Schidt® said:

    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.

    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general

    Jack Mac

    Try using www.tinyurl.com for these long links. The 150+ one is now:

    tinyurl.com33epb

    jim

  6. "Nexis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:12bRb.15$IF1.11@fed1read01...
    :
    : "Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    : "]news:[email hidden]...
    : > 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.
    : >
    : >
    :
    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general
    : >
    : > Jack Mac
    : >
    : >
    :
    : Interesting article..thanks for posting. The very thought of
    eating McD's
    : every day for a month makes my stomach turn...I can't even eat
    it for a day,
    : much less 30! Still, I'd love to see all the medical info
    mentioned, and see
    : the changes he went through.
    :
    : kimberly
    :
    : =============

    Do you remember when the teeny Beany Babies were in the Happy Meals several years ago? DH Rick and I
    were team driving OTR back then... for about 6 weeks we were eating at McD's 2 and 3 meals a day so
    that we could collect 6 each of all 10 of those silly things. I was so grateful when some of the
    McD's finally started letting me "buy" some of the critters without getting the meals!

    For somebody who loves Happy Meals... I couldn't eat at McDonalds for about 2 months after that
    experience.

    Cyndi

  7. Nexis said:


    Interesting article..thanks for posting. The very thought of eating McD's every day for a month
    makes my stomach turn...I can't even eat it for a day, much less 30! Still, I'd love to see all the
    medical info mentioned, and see the changes he went through.

    kimberly


    i guess it's performance art. sounds as grisly to me as that yoyo who gave himself successive
    'circumcisions.'

    your pal, blake

  8. kilikini said:

    Wow, great article, Jack. Now if someone could be brave enough to try let's say, Jack In The Box,
    for 30 days, then try McDonald's for 30 days (after cleaning out the system), then try KFC for 30
    days, we could figure out which fast food restaurant was worse. Not that anyone would do it, nor
    am I endorsing the idea, I'm just thinking one step further than Mr. Spurlock. Could anyone
    survive that?

    kilikini


    i see james woods in the role.

    your pal, blake

  9. "kilikini" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:


    "Jack Schidt®" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    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

    Quoted message said:

    of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's


    Diary.

    Quoted message said:

    Directors, of course, never have to undergo such torture. Or so it used


    to

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    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

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    sometimes comic but serious look at America's addiction to fast food.



    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm

    Quoted message said:


    D=3545438&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=ge

    Quoted message said:

    neral

    Quoted message said:


    Jack Mac

    Wow, great article, Jack. Now if someone could be brave enough to try


    let's

    Quoted message said:

    say, Jack In The Box, for 30 days, then try McDonald's for 30 days (after cleaning out the
    system), then try KFC for 30 days, we could figure out which fast food restaurant was worse. Not
    that anyone would do it, nor am


    I

    Quoted message said:

    endorsing the idea, I'm just thinking one step further than Mr. Spurlock. Could anyone
    survive that?

    kilikini

    Well, the "safer" (using the term *very* lightly) way would be to have three people in roughly the
    same physical shape do the different restaurants for 30 days. Monitor their health the entire time
    and see who's in the worse shape in the end. I think, also, there would have to be some tracking of
    their choices for the most accurate results. After all, someone who goes to McD's every day and eats
    salad for say, 2 of the three meals, would be alot different than someone at Jack in The Box eating
    sourdough bacon burgers every day. Still and all, I wouldn't do it on a bet.

    kimberly

  10. kilikini said:

    Wow, great article, Jack. Now if someone could be brave enough to try let's say, Jack In The Box,
    for 30 days, then try McDonald's for 30 days (after cleaning out the system), then try KFC for 30
    days, we could figure out which fast food restaurant was worse. Not that anyone would do it, nor
    am I endorsing the idea, I'm just thinking one step further than Mr. Spurlock. Could anyone
    survive that?

    tinyurl.com33epb

    To be fair, I expect many would have the same problems if they ate pizza 3X a day for a month or a
    complete breakfast, lunch, & dinner at Mom's diner or IHOP. McDonald's (eventually) replied that
    diners *could* make healthy choices from their menus, while Mr. Spurlock said he felt obliged to
    "supersize" whenever the option was offered. "Performance Art" indeed. An illustration to back up
    the "McDonald's made me fat" lawsuits, implying no choice at all.

    Spurlock says one of his goals was to show that (school) diets composed entirely of burgers and
    pizza aren't healthy, which I agree with entirely. The 'nutrition' breakdown on many of these meals
    appear to fall into a 'healthy' range, but anecdotal evidence suggests children discard the
    (separate compartment) fruit & veg and fight for the pizza and fries, supplemented with soft drinks.

    It may be true it has to be pointed out that 3 meals a day at a fast food joint isn't good for
    anyone. But that kind of eating isn't (one hopes) normal. Even the most nutritionally-oblivious
    recognize that an all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch implies a little restraint at dinner.

  11. "Frogleg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

    Quoted message said:


    To be fair, I expect many would have the same problems if they ate pizza 3X a day for a month

    Quoted message said:

    .... he felt obliged to "supersize" whenever the option was offered.

    I agree, the original article offered several clues as to how overblown the process was -- I suspect
    in order to make the very point that they did make. The article mentioned that Mr. Spurlock's
    girlfriend is a vegan chef. My strong suspicion is that Mr. Spurlock's routine diet was very light
    on meat of any kind. Eating one meal per day at McDonald's would probably have been enough to make
    him sick. Also, his system was likely accustomed to a substantially smaller daily quantity than is
    contained in three McDonald's per day. Had he been required to simply double the quantity of vegan
    or near vegan foods he was accustomed to, his body still would have likely revolted, although
    probably not with quite the degree of deleterious effects. Being required to accept "supersize"
    whenever offered is a guaranteed loser -- McDonalds employees are *required* to offer supersize!

    All in all, my take is that we're not talking about research here, we're talking about a statement.
    I think he started the process wanting to make a particular point, and figured out a way to do it,
    voluntarily and knowingly making himself sick in the process.

    All that having been said, nothing in my point alters the truth of what eating a lot of McDonald's
    will do to you, even if you're not a vegan!

    JG

  12. A condemned person in China was put in a room and fed exclusively meat and wine. The failure
    mechanism would probably have been scurvy. How about a new method of execution? "DEATH BY
    McDONALDS". How about a TV series like survivor except give it a different name. Various miscreants
    (Murderers, Democrats etc.) are sent to some exotic location and fed exclusively McDonalds items
    until they expire. The "survivor' gets to eat at Burger King!!!

    Farmer John

    "JimLane" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Jack Schidt® said:

    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

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's


    Diary.

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    Directors, of course, never have to undergo such torture. Or so it used


    to

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    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

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    sometimes comic but serious look at America's addiction to fast food.


    nzherald.co.nzentertainmentstorydisplay.cfm
    tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:


    Jack Mac

    Try using www.tinyurl.com for these long links. The 150+ one is now:

    tinyurl.com33epb

    jim

  13. In article <[email hidden]>, "Fudge"

    Quoted message said:

    A condemned person in China was put in a room and fed exclusively meat and wine. The failure
    mechanism would probably have been scurvy. How about a new method of execution? "DEATH BY
    McDONALDS". How about a TV series like survivor except give it a different name. Various
    miscreants (Murderers,

    Your average person has a 90 day supply of vitamin C stored up in their body. 170 grams of cooked
    pork (6 ounces) has 1.02 mg of vitamin C.

    --
    Dan Abel Sonoma State University AIS [email hidden]

  14. O.K., what would be the failure mechanism of someone fed only meat and wine? How long would it take
    to die? Any volunteers? Only the best of flesh and fine French wines.

    Farmer John

  15. This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is yogurt
    and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's "McDonalds
    food" too.

    By his logic, no restaurant is healthy. I could choose to eat steak everyday from pretty much any
    major chain. Normally I love bashing giant evil corporations, but this is just a slam scam. I don't
    eat at mcd's but I feel sorry for them, they're the victim here.

  16. (mrbog) said:

    This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is yogurt
    and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's "McDonalds
    food" too.

    It wasn't a "study," but a film project. A premise carried to extremes to make a (personal) point.

  17. "Frogleg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    (mrbog) said:

    This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is yogurt
    and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's "McDonalds
    food" too.

    It wasn't a "study," but a film project. A premise carried to extremes to make a (personal) point.

    "It's only a movie."

    Jack DeMille

  18. mrbog said:


    This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is yogurt
    and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's "McDonalds
    food" too.

    If you read his web site about the movie, you see this point:

    3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

    So he did eat the items you mention, if they were available where he was. The point wasn't, "can you
    generate a healty meal there?" You probably can, but what are vast vast vast majority of people at
    McDonalds ordering? The same kind of stuff that wrecked him. Go stand in line, report back how many
    people were getting salads and yogurt vs. Big Macs and fries.

    Brian Rodenborn

  19. Default User said:
    mrbog said:

    This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is yogurt
    and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's "McDonalds
    food" too.

    If you read his web site about the movie, you see this point:

    3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

    So he did eat the items you mention, if they were available where he was. The point wasn't, "can
    you generate a healty meal there?" You probably can, but what are vast vast vast majority of
    people at McDonalds ordering? The same kind of stuff that wrecked him. Go stand in line, report
    back how many people were getting salads and yogurt vs. Big Macs and fries.

    Brian Rodenborn

    How many people eat there more than once a day? (BTW, I suspect his girlfriend was disgusted with
    him before all this)

    Bob

  20. zxcvbob said:


    Default User said:
    mrbog said:

    This guy, and this "study" is ridiculous. Look, McDonalds sells salads, parfaits (which is
    yogurt and granola), and even has the mclean "lowfat" burger. Why didn't he eat that? That's
    "McDonalds food" too.

    If you read his web site about the movie, you see this point:

    3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

    So he did eat the items you mention, if they were available where he was. The point wasn't, "can
    you generate a healty meal there?" You probably can, but what are vast vast vast majority of
    people at McDonalds ordering? The same kind of stuff that wrecked him. Go stand in line, report
    back how many people were getting salads and yogurt vs. Big Macs and fries.

    Brian Rodenborn

    How many people eat there more than once a day? (BTW, I suspect his girlfriend was disgusted with
    him before all this)

    Very few, but that doesn't really matter. Once a day is pretty bad.

    The goal of the docu-editorial was to make a point about the fast food industry. And that is that
    the increasing (and believe it, it increasing) reliance of Americans on fast food as a major portion
    of their diet is unhealthy, and just exactly how unhealthy it is.

    As pointed out above, you can get a pretty healthy meal there, but few people do.

    Was the test outside the norm? Sure. Does that invalidate what he says? No.

    Brian Rodenborn

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