Super Size Me



J

Jack Schidt®

Guest
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.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=en-
tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general

Jack Mac
 
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
 
"Jack Schidt®" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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.
>
>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=en-
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
 
"Jack Schidt®" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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.
>
>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyI
D=3545438&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=ge neral
>
> 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
 
Jack Schidt® wrote:

> 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.
>
> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=-
> entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general
>
> Jack Mac
>
>

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

http://tinyurl.com/33epb

jim
 
"Nexis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:12bRb.15$IF1.11@fed1read01...
:
: "Jack Schidt®" <[email protected]> wrote in message
: news:[email protected]...
: > 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.
: >
: >
:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=en-
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
 
On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 08:14:56 -0800, "Nexis" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>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
 
On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:44:18 GMT, "kilikini"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>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
 
"kilikini" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Jack Schidt®" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > 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.
> >
> >
>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyI
>
D=3545438&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=ge
> neral
> >
> > 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
>

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
 
On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:44:18 GMT, "kilikini"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>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?

http://tinyurl.com/33epb

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.
 
"Frogleg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> To be fair, I expect many would have the same problems if they ate pizza 3X a day for a month

>.... 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
 
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 protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Jack Schidt® wrote:
>
> > 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.
> >
> >
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3545438&thesection=en-
tertainment&thesubsection=film&thesecondsubsection=general
> >
> > Jack Mac
> >
> >
>
> Try using www.tinyurl.com for these long links. The 150+ one is now:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/33epb
>
>
> jim
 
In article <W%[email protected]>, "Fudge"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> 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 protected]
 
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
 
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.
 
On 28 Jan 2004 00:49:40 -0800, [email protected] (mrbog) wrote:

>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.
 
"Frogleg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 28 Jan 2004 00:49:40 -0800, [email protected] (mrbog) wrote:
>
> >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
 
mrbog wrote:
>
> 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
 
Default User wrote:
> mrbog wrote:
>
>>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
 
zxcvbob wrote:
>
> Default User wrote:
> > mrbog wrote:
> >
> >>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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