Did Somebody Say McDonalds?

[Dogmudgeon]

Morgan Spurlock went on the All-McDonalds Diet for 30 days. He was in superb physical shape before he started -- he wanted to document the health effects that eating fast food would have, but he never counted on it being so bad.

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.

...

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.

Read all about it here.

--bkl
Did Somebody Say "Public Health Risk"?

[ClintonTyree]

1. Thank gawd.............

I gave up eating that crap years ago. I was overweight, bordering on diabetic, when my Doctor told me to start eating better or die.
I chose the former, stopped eating that poison, lost 40 pounds and feel sooooooo much better for it.
This sounds like an extreme case, but the fact that this crap isn't good for you is undeniable.

[Liberal Christian]

3. Um .... it sounds like you chose the former

Since you're still alive and all.

[ClintonTyree]

5. Right you are..............

I shouldn't try to eat melon, drink coffee and type at the same time.

[wildmanj]

2. McDonalds

Stupid is as Stupid does----anyone who would eat nothing but burgers, fries (Freedom), and milk shakes should suffer a deteriorating body :crazy:

[SoCalDem]

7. Lots of McDonald's employees DO eat there most of the time

I am sure that they get an employee discount, and we all know that they do not make much.. They probably have a half hour meal break.. where else would they go??

I wonder how many of them bring home a bag of delicious McMorsels when their shift is over..:shrug:

and add to that the "mall workers" who eat similar food every day at the "food court"..

and the millions of school kids who are served similar stuff INSTEAD of a regular lunch line like most of us had...

This "McFood" is EVERYWHERE.. I would be willing to bet that lots of households eat a lot of it..

Mom & Dad leave for work at 6:30 or before out here where I live.. Kids drive thru (so do Mom & Dad) instead of making breakfast..

They all probably do the fast food thing at lunch

Kids drive thru again after school..a lot..

Mom or Dad does a drive thru on the ay home at 6:30 or later (who's got time to cook?)

Fast food is pervasive and it's killing us..:(

People think they are getting "cheap" and "easy"..but they are getting ....diabetes...by-passes...obesity...and much more than they think they paid for..

and the weird thing is this.. It does not even taste that good anymore..

There was a chain back east called Griffs.. They broiled their burgers and you put your own stuff on it.. Those were good.. Their fries were real too..

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

16. Ahhhh. Griffs Burger Bar....... how I long to go back to one

Alas, they are gone.

If anyone is ever near Massapequa, NY (south shore, Long Island) the original American Burger still hangs on.

Real cut-before-your-eyes french fries, good broiled burgers, hot dogs and even knishes!

Worth a trip at least once.

[Wcross]

4. Major source of litter also

I boycott all fast food places because of the litter they generate. I have never once seen any effort on their part to educate their clientele about proper disposal.

[curse10]

6. Unfortunately some people will be surpirsed by this

it's a sad, sad world we live in

[BeatleBoot]

8. Everything in moderation

:7

[Nikia]

9. I am suprised that it was that dramatic

I gained 20 pounds in my year working fast food, eating a good portion of my meals there. I suppose that is kind of dramatic since that was not exactly sedentary work and without a license I biked and walked everywhere.
We must remember though that this was not a scientific study. He probably ate more than most people. He might have been more careless with other health habits such as cutting exercise as well. He wanted to be in bad shape in order to educate people.
Still, constantly eating fast food, especially the bigger greasier items, is not very healthy. People who do probably could improve their health and easily lose weight.

[hlthe2b]

10. I'm curious if anyone else thinks that McDonald's current ad campaign

("I'm likin it") is targeting, not only the very young, but specifically African Americans? I could be wrong, but given the way in which tobacco companies, some beer/alcohol companies have purposely targeted African Americans with "hip hop" or other targeted language campaigns, it does make me wonder. Maybe I'm just too out of it, to get it (which is undoubtedly the case--LOL), but I can't seem to find many Hispanics or Nonhispanic caucasians over the age of 25 that gets that ad campaign...? Again maybe its just a youth tageting attempt, but either way, it does seem that they've got their eye on a specific focused demographic.

[Kellanved]

11. Don't think so

It's a global campaign cooked up in Germany. While the idea of a global campaign is interesting, the only thing they got is a campaign hated globally.

[bigwillq]

12. Thanks! I will go vomit now

I just ate MCDonald's about an hour ago!!

[camero]

13. That diet can lead to Syndrome X

Info here: http://vitamintrader.com/articles/2001_01_syndromex.html

A diet which is high in refined sugars and starches causes frequent rapid rises in blood glucose levels resulting in elevated insulin levels. When insulin is elevated to excessive levels over months, years or decades, the result is often “insulin resistance” or the inability of cells to properly utilize insulin in processing glucose. Cells become unable to lower glucose levels in the blood because they have lost the ability to use insulin further perpetuating high insulin levels in the blood. The ultimate result is that blood sugar levels rise. Syndrome X is insulin resistance with high blood insulin levels.

[fujiyama]

14. Ewww...

McDonalds' food is just plain NASTY!

I've never really understood the appeal of the place...and that too at two seperate locations in two different cities (hundreds of miles apart from each other), I found little gnats in the food (I think that's what they are called -- they're a bunch of tiny green bugs).

[jmowreader]

15. Did somebody say "stupid experiment"?

McDonald's isn't exactly known for its wide variety of vegetable dishes. Not "vegetarian"--vegetables. Ever seen corn on Mickey D's menu? Beans? Peas? Not there, right?

Eat nothing but protein, fat, simple sugars and starch for thirty days and your body is going to fall apart. I don't care where you get the food, if you don't eat a balanced diet, the kind McDonald's doesn't serve, your body's going to hell in a handbasket.

On the other hand, you could eat a proper breakfast, a proper dinner and fast food for lunch every day and be okay. It's called balance. Balance is good.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. In fairness, I think someone (that would be me, then) should

point out that this guy filmed a documentary about his experience. So, some good may come out of it, if he does not get sued by the McD corp and have no way to distribute it.

[HEyHEY]

18. Who dare attack rotten ronnies!

I have to admit, I don't eat there often but when I do I like it.