Well, it’s easily the hottest documentary in current circulation .. until Fahrenheit 9/11 takes over the world at least. It’s the story of a man. A simple Man. He’s curious of what exactly would happen if he ate nothing but McDonald’s for a straight month. And Wow, Lemme tell ya.
The Rules:
– Eat everything on the menu at least once
– If they ask to Super Size it, he must say “yes” (surprisingly, this only happens 9 times the whole month!)
– He must eat Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
– Everything – including water, must be from McD’s. If they don’t sell it, he won’t eat it.
– He can only get as much exercise each day as the “Average American” gets everyday. Which isn’t a lot.
Getting the opinion of 3 different doctors as he ventured into his binge (all of which gave him a VERY healthy state of condition before he began), all three doctors expected to see an increase in triglycerides (a form of fat in food and the bloodstream) and that’s about it, maybe an increase in cholesterol but nothing of major signifigance because, as they said “A healthy body is very resilient”. However all three doctors were shocked at the staggering weight gain (about a pound a day) and the fact that his liver and other unhealthy blood contents were being juiced to, quite literally, deadly levels. The liver was the biggie. One doctor said: “If you were an alcoholic, I’d tell you to stop drinking right now or you’re going to die.” They urged him to quit, his girlfirend and his mother and even he were all frightened for his own health and safety. At the peak, the doctors were giving him instructions on how to identify life-threatening signs and when to call an ambulance. And yet, he continued to eat. At this point, even I as an audience member REALLY wanted him to stop eating – it stopped being an “eye-opening research” film and became a humanitarian plea of “Damn, this guy could, in all seriousness, be killing himself.”
The documentary is a fly in the face of McDonald’s claim that it is part of a healthy diet and McDonald’s testimony in court that their prosecutors couldn’t prove that their food was dangerous or caused 2 overweight girls their problems.
Super Size Me isn’t just an attack on McDonald’s, but the general disgusting eating habits that North Americans have. And disgusting in spades. And what do we do to solve it? As Little As Possible. We buy “weight loss” equipment that eliminates our need to exercise, we go on fad diets (like that Atkins nonsense) – as if those have ever worked, we cart our butts around so we don’t have to walk anymore — Because the REAL solution is simply far too stupid: Eat Less, Exercise More. Who woulda thunk it.
The surprising thing is: this food and the food being served in your schools don’t NEED to be that unhealthy. Schools that served healthier foods said the food costs were comparable if not the same — So, why not make McDonald’s and other junk foods healthier if it’s all the same? — Well, that’s easy: Healthy food isn’t nearly as chemically addictive. Yup, that’s right! Lure ’em when they’re young with toys, play gyms, happy meals and video centres, feed ’em strangely yummy food along with the “fun”, and you’ll still have them when they’re 30. That is, if they live that long.
