Fast Food Article - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Plan9Senior · 01-24-2004, 08:36 PM

Pretty interesting read. I want to check out this documentary for sure.

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/16393.htm

Quote:

January 22, 2004 -- LAST February, Morgan Spurlock decided to become a gastronomical guinea pig.
His mission: To eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's and document the impact on his health.

Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds.

But his supersized shape was the least of his problems.

Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated.

"It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post.

His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression.

Spurlock charted his journey from fit to flab in a tongue-in-cheek documentary, which he has taken to the Sundance Film Festival with the hopes of getting a distribution deal.

"Super Size Me" explores the obesity epidemic that plagues America today - a sort of "Bowling for Columbine" for fast food.

As well as documenting his own burger-fueled bulk-up, Spurlock travels to 20 cities across America, interviewing people on the street, health experts and a lobbyist for the fast-food industry.

Despite making dozens of phone calls, Spurlock fails to get anyone from McDonald's to agree to an on-camera interview.

A spokeswoman for McDonald's told The Post yesterday that no representatives from the corporation had seen "Super Size Me."

"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," McDonald's said in a statement.

Over the course of the film, Spurlock is regularly examined by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist and SoHo-based general practitioner Dr. Daryl Isaacs.

"He was an extremely healthy person who got very sick eating this McDonald's diet," Dr. Isaacs told The Post.

"None of us imagined he could deteriorate this badly - he looked terrible. The liver test was the most shocking thing - it became very, very abnormal."

Spurlock has since returned to normal health. "The treatment was to just stop doing what he was doing," Dr. Isaacs says.

Spurlock, who says he ate at McDonald's only sporadically before his total immersion in the Mickey D's menu, says he even began craving fat and sugar fixes between meals.

"I got desperately ill," he says. "My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I've never had in my life.

"My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It was amazing - and really frightening."

Spurlock's girlfriend, Alex Jamieson, was horrified - she's a vegan chef.

"She was completely disgusted by me, not happy at all," he says. "But she realized what my goals were in trying to educate people."

Spurlock, a film producer who grew up in West Virginia and studied ballet for eight years, was spurred to make his first feature film while watching TV on Thanksgiving Day, 2002.

"I was feeling like a typical American on Thanksgiving - very bloated and happy on the couch - and at some point on the news they were talking about two women who were suing McDonald's.

"People from the food industry were saying, 'You can't link kids being fat to our food - our food is nutritious.'

"I said, 'How nutritious is it really? Let's find out."

Not surprisingly, Spurlock has steered clear of the Golden Arches since filming wrapped.

"I have not had McDonald's for seven months, but yesterday, during an interview, I had a bite of a Big Mac," he says.

"I chewed it up, swallowed it and I said, 'You know what, I'm pretty much done after that bite.' "

Sleepyjack · 01-24-2004, 09:08 PM

Looks pretty interesting

I am actually reading Fast Food Nation, at the moment as well, so i am in the mood for this kinda of thing.

AfterBurn · 01-25-2004, 12:20 AM

Fast food once in a while is delicious but just like with anything else, variety is the key

cait987 · 01-25-2004, 12:44 AM

Fast food is just like soda personally, If eaten / drank in moderation its pretty good for you after you exercise or something you should reward yourself occasionally however when you get fast food for a meal once a day like most people in america do these days you will be putting your self in health hell.

Its really not the calories either honestly, Its the grease and lack of nutrition, calories and fat really arent that bad and you can get a pretty nice boost from fast food however when your main meal each day lacks any nutritional value your in a world of hurt age 30+ thanks to alot of age health issues due to no nutrition in the early years.

Im not sure people realize this but for the calories you waste on a large french fries and drink you can eat like 10 of any kind of fruit really, Honestly it is much lighter much better for you since almost all fruits have some vitamins/minerals your body requires and it is also much lighter and they provide much more energy overall honestly.

I could go on all day with the short-comings and my fast food whines but I dont want to put you all to sleep :

forseti-6 · 01-25-2004, 12:43 PM

Very interesting. 25 lbs in 30 days, is rather sad. They say losing more than 2-3 lbs a week is overdoing. Gaining 6-7 lbs a week is just sickening. I guess now you know how some people get to be 300+ lbs and obese.

Plan9Senior · 01-25-2004, 02:02 PM

I think it is crazy how his liver started going bad so quickly and how he said his skin on his face started looking slotchy. Scary stuff. America has this crap on every corner, no wonder our nation is getting fatter and fatter. Even worse is the attitude of the masses thinking this crap is good for you in any way. Somebody above mentioned that it is good for you once in a while. I totally disagree. Not only is it bad for you, but once you get your body used to not eating that poison, you will not even crave it... better yet, you will get sick if you were to eat it (happens to me and others I know who avoid fast food).

forseti-6 · 01-25-2004, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Plan9
Even worse is the attitude of the masses thinking this crap is good for you in any way.

Yeah scary stuff. Last friday I was working through lunch, and decided to go to McDonalds because their salads are good (about the only thing aside from the McFlurry I'll eat), and saw signs like "life decisions." This was referring to low-carb stuff, trying to pass off their greasy foods as healthy Atkins foods, without mentioning Atkins. I think I read in a magazine article that some fast food restaurants (I'm not sure if this includes McDonald's or not) were doing such things like "eat two hamburgers without the buns, and it's healthy". It's pretty sickening. People will believe anything.

ronan · 01-25-2004, 02:55 PM

its the muscle gaining secret...

Plan9Senior · 01-25-2004, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ronan
its the muscle gaining secret...

I hope you are joking

Blackthorn · 01-25-2004, 03:32 PM

Only if completely famished would I go into a fast feeder and eat anything from one of their menus. To think that they are trying to sell their food as nutritious and that people buy it is amazing. The reason you feel hungry again within an hour of eating from one of these places, even at the super size, is becuase the product is devoid of most if not any nutritional value. Once in a while for me means about every three or four months and then when I feel like ass afterwards I remember why I choose not to go there. When I want a burger treat I'll go to TGIF's and get mushroom swiss burger ... now that's livin! But stay away from the fast feeders. They are bad news.

Plan9 - thanks for the post.

alec · 01-25-2004, 03:45 PM

dude, TGIFs is just as bad as McD's or anywhere else --- the Family American Feedbags just mass produce their foods in central processors and have it reheated in their kitchens. i mean, it does taste good, but if you are spending $10 + for a meal, why not just go to a slightly better restaurant that will give you much better food?

ronan · 01-25-2004, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Plan9
I hope you are joking

your right kfc is much better...

Grondar · 01-25-2004, 04:08 PM

Very interesting read all around..

I think it will be neat to see this documentary and would also give a lot of folks a reality check regarding the healthiness of fast food.

I find it odd that McDonalds and other fast food retailers are trying to sell their products like they are healthy. However, I had also assumed that the general public was intellegent and informed enough to realize they weren't.

Thanks for sharing this article. It's a nice find, and ideally will make for a great documentary.

forseti-6 · 01-25-2004, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alec
dude, TGIFs is just as bad as McD's or anywhere else

That's total BS, I'd like to see where you get your facts from. I ate at TGIFs this past friday. I ordered grilled chicken fajitas, caesar salad and replaced my fries with broccolis. Just as bad as McDonald's? I don't think so.

Now you *can* make it pretty unhealthy - ordering potato skins, a Jack Daniels meal with a beer, but that still is better than McDonald's.

I would eat at TGIFs, Fridays, Applebees etc any day, because their menus have a lot of healthy food on it.

Quote:

Originally posted by alec
why not just go to a slightly better restaurant that will give you much better food?

Like what? Olive Garden? Outback? Lonestar? They're all the about same!

forseti-6 · 01-25-2004, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grondar
However, I had also assumed that the general public was intellegent and informed enough to realize they weren't.

Well the general public knows how to find the best deal, but not neccesarily the most logical deal. The general public is *smart* in theory, but in reality, they're all sheep. They like fast service and it looks like they would take fast service over health. Seems like where this country is heading.... fast fast fast

Blackthorn · 01-25-2004, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alec
dude, TGIFs is just as bad as McD's or anywhere else ---

*nodding* you're right but I go there for a "burger treat" which means about once a month or so. I don't get fries or skins and opt for a salad with fresh cracked pepper and no dressing because yes I like the taste.

Don't get me wrong...I know TGIF's isn't exactly the cisctine chapel of healthy dining. You can make healthier choices there though than for example at BURGER KING.

I've gone from 22% to 9% body fat so I know a little about what I'm talking about but that doesn't mean I resist all temptation. I've never been a big fast food eater and would generally go hungry before stopping at one of those places.

But after all one can only eat so much grilled, broiled, boiled, or baked chicken, turkey, or tuna. Every now and then I just have to get my steak on and go knock down a chunk of good ol fashioned red meat. Sometimes it's on a bun sometimes it's stuck to a bone. Either way I still enjoy every bite.

billege · 01-25-2004, 08:38 PM

The sad fact is the general public is a bunch of dumbasses. The fact is this: smart people are an anomoly. The great majority are idiots. It's sad, but most people need a "study" like this to show the astonishing fact that McD's three meals a day is shit for your body. Why this isn't glaringly obvious is beyond me...

forseti-6 · 01-25-2004, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by billege
Why this isn't glaringly obvious is beyond me...

It's called corporate misinformation. Education by not educating. I'm sure secretly some of these businesses pay off publications to be hush hush about such topics because there is A LOT of money involved here. Money talks (or prevents it)

alec · 01-25-2004, 10:54 PM

Well, you could always get a fish filet at McD's or a salad there too. To limit your comparison to your specific choices (which may be more healthy then their average meal) to an average McD's meal is a failure to make a solid argument. Also, caesar salad isn't very hot -- crotons and caesar salad dressing are very very fatty. Anyhow, I definitely agree, I eat crappy food on a semi regular basis (and when i eat crappy food, I go to a good restaurant) but try to have very good meals and exercise a lot to counter balance that.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that McD's is not entirely to blame. Shitty eating is a fact of society -- how else would national Moe Family Feedbags become a staple (the fact that an above poster named his only other choices as being other similar style restaurants is pretty coincidental). McD's and every other restaurant is an entrepreneurial enterprise, so they want to maximize their profit; why bother changing if people don't care and you can give them basically anything? in my opinion, McD's is just proof that people will pay to put just about any type of shit into their body. Maybe just a biproduct of an overly succesful capatilistic society that has degenerated into laziness and compliance. But whatever, that is another argument.

if one goes out to eat, try to go to independent run restaurants. chances are they will actually cook their own food, have fresher ingredients, and you won't be supporting some towering national corporation.

-alec

Plan9Senior · 01-25-2004, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alec

if one goes out to eat, try to go to independent run restaurants. chances are they will actually cook their own food, have fresher ingredients, and you won't be supporting some towering national corporation.

-alec

Well said, and very true.

pocon1 · 01-26-2004, 06:16 AM

Reality check time. I crunched some numbers, and this is what I came up with. These numbers are from McDonalds website.

Spurlock started out weighing 185. Rough estimate of caloric need: 185 X 15= 2775.

Article claimed he gained 25 lbs in 30 days. Assume that maybe 5 lbs was muscle, and 20 lbs fat (when you overeat, you put on some muscle for a little while, until your metabolism kicks in to level things out, that is why bulking programs do add some muscle).
To gain 20 lbs of fat (you need 3,600 cal. per lb of fat), he would need 72,000 extra calories. 5 lbs muscle (800 cal. per lb muscle), 4,000 extra calories.
his daily metabolic needs, 2,775 cal.
grand total to gain 20 lbs muscle and 5 lbs fat=159,000 calories, or 5,300 calories a day.
Now, if he ate:
Breakfast: egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, orange juice=570 cal.
Lunch: 2 cheeseburgers, medium fries, medium coke=1260 cal.
Dinner: Big Mac, Supersize Fries, Quart of Coke=1500 cal.
Grand total= 3330 calories a day.
potential weight gain= 4.6 lbs of fat.

Now, what the hell was this guy actually eating? Most people could handle the food I laid out and feel like they ate a hell of a lot, and some people would be mentally sickened by the amount of food. This guy was purposefully overeating so much that he was throwing up. He was overeating by 2525 calories a day. I could drink too much water, end up in hypowhatever(covered in water thread) and claim that water was really toxic. Again, like everything, it boils down to what you do with it.

Sleepyjack · 01-26-2004, 07:17 AM

In Australia, McDonalds has now gone all out and now has salad, breakfast cereal, yoghurt, fruit, chicken, vegetarian dishes and a whole heap of other stuff. I was wondering if America has done this as well? or if it's just an Aussie thing?

Apparently it's doing extremely well as well?

edit: Heres a link -> http://www.mcdonalds.com.au/home/quickstart_default.asp

Plan9Senior · 01-26-2004, 12:15 PM

Pocon1, we will have to watch the documentry to find out. Gaining that much weight that fast is very doable. You have to remember that when you put on that much weight in a month, you have to account for more things then muscle (which i bet he gained none) and fat. You have to factor in water as well as glycogen, and both of those can be lost and gained very quickly depending on your diet.

alec · 01-26-2004, 12:19 PM

I tend to agree, this seems to be an exercise in stupidity rather than some interesting exploration. If you eat McDonalds for all of your meals, you are going to be fat and disgusting. Is anyone surprised?

-alec

Charlatan · 01-26-2004, 12:33 PM

You've also calculated based on him having a coke (or some sort of pop) with his meal. I believe he had a shake. The shakes alone have something like 600 calories in them... two a day would bring up the total considerably...

pocon1 · 01-26-2004, 12:52 PM

But the point is that he was purposefully overeating. He chose to consume that massive quantity of food and then make a story about it demonizing Mcdonalds. My point is that you can eat a lot, and not gain that much fat. He was massively overeating. It would be like if I got a gun and shot myself in the leg and said "look, guns are bad, look what it did to me".
Also, the quart of soda has about as many calories or more than a regular shake.
Mcdonalds is a business. Their job is to make shareholders money. That is the job of all businesses. How the make their money is up to them, until it directly puts people in danger. Having a wide variety of choices, some less "healthy" than others, does not make Mcdonalds bad. No one put the burger in this guy's hand. It always boils down to what the consumer does.

Plan9Senior · 01-26-2004, 12:59 PM

He might have been overeating, or he might not have been. We will have to watch and see. Based on a seperate artical I read he even said how his appetite for crap was increasing and he would crave more even after an hour past a greasy fatty meal at McDonalds. All that crap food will definately fuck with your insulin levels and cause you to be hungry all the time.

forseti-6 · 01-26-2004, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alec
if one goes out to eat, try to go to independent run restaurants. chances are they will actually cook their own food, have fresher ingredients, and you won't be supporting some towering national corporation.

-alec

I guess I had an oversight. I am lucky and live in Manhattan, the land of the independant food establishment. However, when I used to live in central New Jersey, such indepedant restaurants were non-existent. I fear many other suburban areas are the same. You can probably find an occasionaly restaurant that isn't franchised, but you will quickly get bored at the lack of variety. I fear outside of big cities, large chain and franchise restaurants are just squashing the little guys to death. That perhaps has something to do with "America's Obesity."

BigBlueWrecking · 01-30-2004, 05:04 PM

Here is my main problem....I travel for work a lot and when I am dieing of hunger and in the car...I only have 10 minutes to eat...where do I go? I don't eat fast food anymore, but it is very hard to find something. I eat a lot of salads for lunch.

The other thing is fast food is cheap. Many of my friends are a little overweight and they eat there because it is so cheap. Health food is expensive as shit in comparison.

forseti-6 · 01-30-2004, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigBlueWrecking
Here is my main problem....I travel for work a lot and when I am dieing of hunger and in the car...I only have 10 minutes to eat...where do I go? I don't eat fast food anymore, but it is very hard to find something. I eat a lot of salads for lunch.

The other thing is fast food is cheap. Many of my friends are a little overweight and they eat there because it is so cheap. Health food is expensive as shit in comparison.

Well even the fast foods have some healthy foods. I.E. salads... that's about it, haha. I go on travel a lot, and I just bring a ton of snacks with me, i.e. fruit, granola bars. Service stops usually have little delis where you can get sandwiches or fruit. That's always good.

Plan9Senior · 01-30-2004, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigBlueWrecking
Many of my friends are a little overweight and they eat there because it is so cheap. Health food is expensive as shit in comparison.

I'm not sure what country you live in, but in the USA buying healthy food at the grocery store is a LOT cheaper then buying fast food. The problem is people are too lazy to prepare their meals ahead of time and rather spend the extra money to have somebody fry them up a greasy meal.

forseti-6 · 01-30-2004, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Plan9
I'm not sure what country you live in, but in the USA buying healthy food at the grocery store is a LOT cheaper then buying fast food. The problem is people are too lazy to prepare their meals ahead of time and rather spend the extra money to have somebody fry them up a greasy meal.

Well that's half the problem. I'm very lazy when it comes to cooking, and still manage to eat good. The trick? Make things in bulk and freeze!

BigBlueWrecking · 01-30-2004, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Plan9
I'm not sure what country you live in, but in the USA buying healthy food at the grocery store is a LOT cheaper then buying fast food. The problem is people are too lazy to prepare their meals ahead of time and rather spend the extra money to have somebody fry them up a greasy meal.

I don't agree. I live in the US, and I can go to McDonalds and buy two double cheeseburgers for a total of $2. I don't do that, although I used to every once in a while, and I do prepare my breakfast's and dinner's/ Lunch is the one meal I really can't prepare because I travel so much (even car trips in the day) and never know when or where I will be able to eat. I would literally have to carry around a cooler with me to keep things from going bad. The thing that helps me is going to grocery stores at lunch and getting a salad from the salad bar.

alec · 01-30-2004, 07:57 PM

yah, i would say sometimes that getting healthy food (or what one may term "better food") is often times a lot more expensive then fast food or other grocery stores. trader joes, fresh fields, or whatever else are often times pretty expensive. i mean i think its worth it for the freshness, but maybe not to others on more restricted budgets.

but i think in manhattan, pretty much anything is expected to be expensive; i suppose its as much as where you live as what you buy

-alec

forseti-6 · 01-30-2004, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alec
yah, i would say sometimes that getting healthy food (or what one may term "better food") is often times a lot more expensive then fast food or other grocery stores. trader joes, fresh fields, or whatever else are often times pretty expensive. i mean i think its worth it for the freshness, but maybe not to others on more restricted budgets.

but i think in manhattan, pretty much anything is expected to be expensive; i suppose its as much as where you live as what you buy

-alec

Well yes and no. You can buy loads of healthy food anywhere if you know where to go.

I can go to the Gristedes (supermarket) across the street from me and pay $4 for 3 apples, or I can walk a little bit into Alphabet City, and go to the Korean market and get 4 apples, 3 pears and 6 bananas for $4. It's all about brand name...

Plan9Senior · 01-30-2004, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigBlueWrecking
I don't agree. I live in the US, and I can go to McDonalds and buy two double cheeseburgers for a total of $2.

No you cant. Also, you aren't getting a great macronutrient ratio by eating these fat filled things so it is basicaly a waste of money. Here is ONE McDonald's double cheeseburger nutritional breakdown:Calories

490 Calories
Total Fat 26g
Saturated Fat 12g
Cholesterol 85mg
Sodium 1220mg
Total Carbohydrate 38g
Protein 25g

For $2 I can buy a very top grade loaf of whole wheat bread. For another $5 I can get some nice deli turkey or chicken. Add another $3 for tomato and lettuce and I can then make healthy nutricious andwiches all week for a total of 10 dollars (+whatever money mustard costs). Not sure where you are shopping but you are getting ripped off kiddo

. Oh, and you are getting fat by eating that McPoison Cheesburger.

*Edit* Here is the nutritional breakdown of the sandwich I just mentioned:
207 Calories
3.3g Fat
18.8g Carbs
24g Protein
800 Sodium

...In comparison, you could even add more food (hell, you could add another sandwich) and STILL be under the amount of calories and fat that you would be getting eating that McDonalds cheeseburger. I am confused why you wouldn't make an effort to eat this stuff over the McDonalds crap if you are actually wanting to be healthier.

BigBlueWrecking · 01-31-2004, 09:24 AM

Like I said, I don't eat that stuff anymore. i also live in a very expensive city, so your prices do not really apply. I know there is no way I could just buy a week's supply of bread, turkey, and mayo or mustard for 10 bucks. It is impossible where I live.

As for your other argument, nowhere did I say it was healthy. I said it was easy, and that is one of the main reasons it is so popular.

alec · 01-31-2004, 11:30 AM

i dont think a lot of McD's food couldn't be made healthy in the first place. i mean even if you used a lean burger, a wheat bun, light mayo, ketchup & whatever else you put on your burger, its gonna be a fatty entity pretty much.

plan9, good call. i wish there was a thread for good recipes around here (especially easy stuff that a college kid like me could learn)

-alec

aphex140 · 01-24-2005, 01:03 AM

Watched the film last night is it not in the US searched the forum and this was the only link!

Mood swing alleviated by eating mac ds - the guy was addicted to the stuff.

Hate the company and the sh*te they peddle- I though that the suing of the co by the girls was stupid until this program showed that as with the tobacco companies they are trying to create customers who are emotionally and psychologically addicted to their product

The guy needs a medal- 30 days

cyrnel · 01-24-2005, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pocon1

Reality check time. I crunched some numbers, and this is what I came up with. These numbers are from McDonalds website.

Spurlock started out weighing 185. Rough estimate of caloric need: 185 X 15= 2775....

His sodium intake would have skyrocketed and he'd pack on water weight. Easy to lose again, but the weight is secondary to me. It sounds like he had toxic side-effects with constant exposure to their food.

Anyway, you can be sure McD's attorneys will be running his claims over their grille. *Ding!* Either the fries are ready or someone's serving him papers.

01-25-2004, 12:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
AfterBurn Psycho	Fast food once in a while is delicious but just like with anything else, variety is the key __________________ smoking weed everyday keeps the doctor away

01-25-2004, 12:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
forseti-6 Existentialist Location: New York City	Very interesting. 25 lbs in 30 days, is rather sad. They say losing more than 2-3 lbs a week is overdoing. Gaining 6-7 lbs a week is just sickening. I guess now you know how some people get to be 300+ lbs and obese. __________________ "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss

01-25-2004, 02:55 PM	#8 (permalink)
ronan Crazy Location: Australia	its the muscle gaining secret... __________________ i am enlightened

01-25-2004, 03:32 PM	#10 (permalink)
Blackthorn Beware the Mad Irish Location: Wish I was on the N17...	Only if completely famished would I go into a fast feeder and eat anything from one of their menus. To think that they are trying to sell their food as nutritious and that people buy it is amazing. The reason you feel hungry again within an hour of eating from one of these places, even at the super size, is becuase the product is devoid of most if not any nutritional value. Once in a while for me means about every three or four months and then when I feel like ass afterwards I remember why I choose not to go there. When I want a burger treat I'll go to TGIF's and get mushroom swiss burger ... now that's livin! But stay away from the fast feeders. They are bad news. Plan9 - thanks for the post. __________________ What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?

01-25-2004, 04:08 PM	#13 (permalink)
Grondar Junkie Location: Pa, USA	Very interesting read all around.. I think it will be neat to see this documentary and would also give a lot of folks a reality check regarding the healthiness of fast food. I find it odd that McDonalds and other fast food retailers are trying to sell their products like they are healthy. However, I had also assumed that the general public was intellegent and informed enough to realize they weren't. Thanks for sharing this article. It's a nice find, and ideally will make for a great documentary. __________________ "Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that." -Stewie

01-24-2004, 09:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sleepyjack Fast'n'Bulbous Location: Australia, Perth	Looks pretty interesting I am actually reading Fast Food Nation, at the moment as well, so i am in the mood for this kinda of thing.

01-25-2004, 12:44 AM	#4 (permalink)
cait987 Insane	Fast food is just like soda personally, If eaten / drank in moderation its pretty good for you after you exercise or something you should reward yourself occasionally however when you get fast food for a meal once a day like most people in america do these days you will be putting your self in health hell. Its really not the calories either honestly, Its the grease and lack of nutrition, calories and fat really arent that bad and you can get a pretty nice boost from fast food however when your main meal each day lacks any nutritional value your in a world of hurt age 30+ thanks to alot of age health issues due to no nutrition in the early years. Im not sure people realize this but for the calories you waste on a large french fries and drink you can eat like 10 of any kind of fruit really, Honestly it is much lighter much better for you since almost all fruits have some vitamins/minerals your body requires and it is also much lighter and they provide much more energy overall honestly. I could go on all day with the short-comings and my fast food whines but I dont want to put you all to sleep :

01-25-2004, 02:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
Plan9Senior Banned Location: Orange County, California	I think it is crazy how his liver started going bad so quickly and how he said his skin on his face started looking slotchy. Scary stuff. America has this crap on every corner, no wonder our nation is getting fatter and fatter. Even worse is the attitude of the masses thinking this crap is good for you in any way. Somebody above mentioned that it is good for you once in a while. I totally disagree. Not only is it bad for you, but once you get your body used to not eating that poison, you will not even crave it... better yet, you will get sick if you were to eat it (happens to me and others I know who avoid fast food).

01-25-2004, 03:45 PM	#11 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	dude, TGIFs is just as bad as McD's or anywhere else --- the Family American Feedbags just mass produce their foods in central processors and have it reheated in their kitchens. i mean, it does taste good, but if you are spending $10 + for a meal, why not just go to a slightly better restaurant that will give you much better food?

01-25-2004, 08:38 PM	#17 (permalink)
billege Watcher Location: Ohio	The sad fact is the general public is a bunch of dumbasses. The fact is this: smart people are an anomoly. The great majority are idiots. It's sad, but most people need a "study" like this to show the astonishing fact that McD's three meals a day is shit for your body. Why this isn't glaringly obvious is beyond me... __________________ I can sum up the clash of religion in one sentence: "My Invisible Friend is better than your Invisible Friend."

01-25-2004, 10:54 PM	#19 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	Well, you could always get a fish filet at McD's or a salad there too. To limit your comparison to your specific choices (which may be more healthy then their average meal) to an average McD's meal is a failure to make a solid argument. Also, caesar salad isn't very hot -- crotons and caesar salad dressing are very very fatty. Anyhow, I definitely agree, I eat crappy food on a semi regular basis (and when i eat crappy food, I go to a good restaurant) but try to have very good meals and exercise a lot to counter balance that. Anyway, the point I'm making is that McD's is not entirely to blame. Shitty eating is a fact of society -- how else would national Moe Family Feedbags become a staple (the fact that an above poster named his only other choices as being other similar style restaurants is pretty coincidental). McD's and every other restaurant is an entrepreneurial enterprise, so they want to maximize their profit; why bother changing if people don't care and you can give them basically anything? in my opinion, McD's is just proof that people will pay to put just about any type of shit into their body. Maybe just a biproduct of an overly succesful capatilistic society that has degenerated into laziness and compliance. But whatever, that is another argument. if one goes out to eat, try to go to independent run restaurants. chances are they will actually cook their own food, have fresher ingredients, and you won't be supporting some towering national corporation. -alec

01-26-2004, 06:16 AM	#21 (permalink)
pocon1 Banned	Reality check time. I crunched some numbers, and this is what I came up with. These numbers are from McDonalds website. Spurlock started out weighing 185. Rough estimate of caloric need: 185 X 15= 2775. Article claimed he gained 25 lbs in 30 days. Assume that maybe 5 lbs was muscle, and 20 lbs fat (when you overeat, you put on some muscle for a little while, until your metabolism kicks in to level things out, that is why bulking programs do add some muscle). To gain 20 lbs of fat (you need 3,600 cal. per lb of fat), he would need 72,000 extra calories. 5 lbs muscle (800 cal. per lb muscle), 4,000 extra calories. his daily metabolic needs, 2,775 cal. grand total to gain 20 lbs muscle and 5 lbs fat=159,000 calories, or 5,300 calories a day. Now, if he ate: Breakfast: egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, orange juice=570 cal. Lunch: 2 cheeseburgers, medium fries, medium coke=1260 cal. Dinner: Big Mac, Supersize Fries, Quart of Coke=1500 cal. Grand total= 3330 calories a day. potential weight gain= 4.6 lbs of fat. Now, what the hell was this guy actually eating? Most people could handle the food I laid out and feel like they ate a hell of a lot, and some people would be mentally sickened by the amount of food. This guy was purposefully overeating so much that he was throwing up. He was overeating by 2525 calories a day. I could drink too much water, end up in hypowhatever(covered in water thread) and claim that water was really toxic. Again, like everything, it boils down to what you do with it.

01-26-2004, 07:17 AM	#22 (permalink)
Sleepyjack Fast'n'Bulbous Location: Australia, Perth	In Australia, McDonalds has now gone all out and now has salad, breakfast cereal, yoghurt, fruit, chicken, vegetarian dishes and a whole heap of other stuff. I was wondering if America has done this as well? or if it's just an Aussie thing? Apparently it's doing extremely well as well? edit: Heres a link -> http://www.mcdonalds.com.au/home/quickstart_default.asp Last edited by Sleepyjack; 01-26-2004 at 07:21 AM..

01-26-2004, 12:15 PM	#23 (permalink)
Plan9Senior Banned Location: Orange County, California	Pocon1, we will have to watch the documentry to find out. Gaining that much weight that fast is very doable. You have to remember that when you put on that much weight in a month, you have to account for more things then muscle (which i bet he gained none) and fat. You have to factor in water as well as glycogen, and both of those can be lost and gained very quickly depending on your diet.

01-26-2004, 12:19 PM	#24 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	I tend to agree, this seems to be an exercise in stupidity rather than some interesting exploration. If you eat McDonalds for all of your meals, you are going to be fat and disgusting. Is anyone surprised? -alec

01-26-2004, 12:33 PM	#25 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	You've also calculated based on him having a coke (or some sort of pop) with his meal. I believe he had a shake. The shakes alone have something like 600 calories in them... two a day would bring up the total considerably... __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

01-26-2004, 12:52 PM	#26 (permalink)
pocon1 Banned	But the point is that he was purposefully overeating. He chose to consume that massive quantity of food and then make a story about it demonizing Mcdonalds. My point is that you can eat a lot, and not gain that much fat. He was massively overeating. It would be like if I got a gun and shot myself in the leg and said "look, guns are bad, look what it did to me". Also, the quart of soda has about as many calories or more than a regular shake. Mcdonalds is a business. Their job is to make shareholders money. That is the job of all businesses. How the make their money is up to them, until it directly puts people in danger. Having a wide variety of choices, some less "healthy" than others, does not make Mcdonalds bad. No one put the burger in this guy's hand. It always boils down to what the consumer does.

01-26-2004, 12:59 PM	#27 (permalink)
Plan9Senior Banned Location: Orange County, California	He might have been overeating, or he might not have been. We will have to watch and see. Based on a seperate artical I read he even said how his appetite for crap was increasing and he would crave more even after an hour past a greasy fatty meal at McDonalds. All that crap food will definately fuck with your insulin levels and cause you to be hungry all the time.

01-30-2004, 05:04 PM	#29 (permalink)
BigBlueWrecking Psycho	Here is my main problem....I travel for work a lot and when I am dieing of hunger and in the car...I only have 10 minutes to eat...where do I go? I don't eat fast food anymore, but it is very hard to find something. I eat a lot of salads for lunch. The other thing is fast food is cheap. Many of my friends are a little overweight and they eat there because it is so cheap. Health food is expensive as shit in comparison.

01-30-2004, 07:57 PM	#34 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	yah, i would say sometimes that getting healthy food (or what one may term "better food") is often times a lot more expensive then fast food or other grocery stores. trader joes, fresh fields, or whatever else are often times pretty expensive. i mean i think its worth it for the freshness, but maybe not to others on more restricted budgets. but i think in manhattan, pretty much anything is expected to be expensive; i suppose its as much as where you live as what you buy -alec

01-31-2004, 09:24 AM	#37 (permalink)
BigBlueWrecking Psycho	Like I said, I don't eat that stuff anymore. i also live in a very expensive city, so your prices do not really apply. I know there is no way I could just buy a week's supply of bread, turkey, and mayo or mustard for 10 bucks. It is impossible where I live. As for your other argument, nowhere did I say it was healthy. I said it was easy, and that is one of the main reasons it is so popular.

01-31-2004, 11:30 AM	#38 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	i dont think a lot of McD's food couldn't be made healthy in the first place. i mean even if you used a lean burger, a wheat bun, light mayo, ketchup & whatever else you put on your burger, its gonna be a fatty entity pretty much. plan9, good call. i wish there was a thread for good recipes around here (especially easy stuff that a college kid like me could learn) -alec

01-24-2005, 01:03 AM	#39 (permalink)
aphex140 Psycho Location: northamptonshire	Watched the film last night is it not in the US searched the forum and this was the only link! Mood swing alleviated by eating mac ds - the guy was addicted to the stuff. Hate the company and the sh*te they peddle- I though that the suing of the co by the girls was stupid until this program showed that as with the tobacco companies they are trying to create customers who are emotionally and psychologically addicted to their product The guy needs a medal- 30 days __________________ Computers allow us to make more mistakes at a faster rate than any other man-made thing, with the exception of handguns and tequila. [/QUOTE=BAMF]Do they role a die, with a 1/3 chance of being flacid?[/QUOTE]