Morgan Spurlock decided to eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald’s. The result? A gain of 25 pounds, a 65-point cholesterol spike, vomitting, toxic liver, depression and headaches. According to the New York Post, this was all for his documentary, “Super Size Me,” which he’s entering in the Sundance Film Festival.
After stories like this and books like Fast Food Nation, I wonder why I even consider eating fast food. Yet I still do.
I tend to think of fast food like candy. Probably shouldn’t be eaten for sustenance day after day, but OK to have once in awhile for fun, or to hold you over until something healthy. But no one would get mad at the candy manufacturers for not making candy that you can eat for 30 days straight. We just expect that’s not a good idea and we change our eating habits accordingly.
I don’t love McDonalds. Of course it might be nice if they would change their ingredients, but I’m glad that no one can force them to. If they want to offer food that isn’t really good for you, they should be allowed to.
Do you know what I love? In-N-Out. You folks in Minnesota don’t have this fast food luxury. They don’t freeze or pre-package anything. You watch them slice the tomatoes for you sandwich and peel the lettuce off of reall lettuce heads to put on your sandwich. They take whole potatos and put them through this crazy cutter thing that makes them turn into french fries before your very eyes. There menue is simple – you can get a hamburger, cheeseburger, or double cheeseburger. If you want a side, you can have fries. That’s it. AND IT IS SOOOOOO GOOD!!! I wonder how that place compares to McDonalds on a health level. I cringe at the thought of eating McD’s daily…but In-N-Out I could definitely handle. Oh, and they have a secret orange goo that they put on their sandwiches. Mmmmmmmm…
Mmmm, In and Out is VERY good.
Not that anyone was thinking it was that scientific of a study, but I’m always suspicious of things like this, especially since it joins the anti-bad food lynch mobs chorus. No offense or anything to any restaurant, but if I had to eat from any one restaurant for 30 days at every meal, I would have the exact same symptoms (perhaps not the cholesterol, but most food at restaurants is far more and far richer than I have at home, so I would gain weight I don’t doubt).
It basically establishes what we all knew: fast food isn’t as good for you as “real” food, something I knew prety much my whole conscious life. The fact that some idiots don’t want to realize this and eat it too much shouldn’t throw a wrench in the works. I was shocked a year or two a go when I heard that there was a rather large movement that was looking to do to McDonald’s the same that was done to the Cigarette industry. Please victimisation, go away, you’re making me sick.
I have a friend that knows the location of just about every McDonalds in the Twin Cities area.
Seriously.
People call him on their cell phones and say “I’m in Roseville near Guitar Center… where’s the nearest McD’s?”
And he knows. It’s scary.
I haven’t read Fast Food Nation, but my wife has — and despite all the disturbing stuff in that book, she still eats fast food occasionally. Is it because the food is really that good? No. I’d say it’s all about convenience — being able to order out your car window, get the food, and keep drivin’.
That Super Size Me sounds fascinating — and disgusting. I must watch it!!!