DC_Emily

The whole Spurlock thing dumbs down McDonald's and America's obesity issue way too much. Obviously the people eating McD's every day are not the most active, so yes, it's their fault. On the other hand, being that it's cheap and supersize is 'such a great deal' it encourages overeating. There are issues on both sides that need to be looked at closer than anyone has done so far (anyone being Spurlock and those who try to prove him 'wrong').

Plus, 1400 calories a day of McDonald's is probably like two hamburgers and half a chicken nugget.

Cromulent

Hmm... half a chicken nugget.

One of the most interesting factoid things I've ever run across is that there is more stored energy in a chocolate chip cookie than in the equivalent mass of dynamite. The energy is more easily released in dynamite, but there's still more potential energy in a cookie.

What Spurlock did was demonstrate that overeating... especially carb-heavy, trans-fat laden junk... is bad for you. He "Supersized" every time they asked him. The movie is really more about overeating is than how bad McD's can be.

I ain't a nutritionist, but from what I have read the (only) way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. The rest... boosting your metabolism, burning fat vs. glycogen... that I don't understand very well. I think basic metabolic function requires about 1800 Calories for an adult male, 1650 for a woman. That's if you do nothing... just sit in bed and take up space. Those Calorie numbers may be off... but it's around there. If you exercise, have an active lifestyle and all that, you obviously burn more Calories.

So it is entirely possible that someone could eat exclusively fast food and lose weight. This says nothing to the quality of the filmmaker's diet.

You can lose weight by eating bad food. You can gain weight by eating stuff that's good for you. I could lose weight by eating nothing but Twinkies for a month. I could gain weight by eating nothing but organic, free range Tofu. And no... I don't want to try either, and I don't have a film in the works.

Avatar

There are some valid points in the movie that does put McDonald's in a bad light.

McDonald's after all, is a primarily hamburger restaurant. Therefore it will market its hamburger. Also it has a marketing strategy to make extra money with fries and drinks, especially with their "Super-size" campaign. McDonald's tries to appeal to consumers with "super-sizing" as if it's a good thing.

One thing McDonalds could do to improve its image is to substitute salads for fries. I wonder if that's ever going to happen.

The guy in the movie could have used a second guinea pig to see what happens when you eat McD's but less every day. But still, as someone says... calories are one thing, the quality of the calories are another just like the number of calories from carbs are one thing, and the quality of the carbs are another. Ditto with protein.

A great deal of McDonald's food has been streamlined for production and processed. Common sense says that can't be all that good.

FXjohn

Do you think a doctor could tell if your fat gut came from dining on fine French cuisine, Mickey Dee's, or Tofu and salad if you gained 20 pounds from eating any of the three?

kuan

Only when you burp in his face.

AroW

A side note---McDonalds and other fast foods have no nutritional value . You'll be better off eating soggy cardboard soaked in fat, flavored with salt and preservatives, and then lattered with a gallon of sauce.

I got sick after eating McDonalds for a week.

AroW

You can't blame restaurants like McDonalds for making people fat

If anybody made their own hamburgers and fries at home and ate that everyday, they will get fat too.

FXjohn

How is a hamburger from McDonald's really that different from one you make at home, nutritionally speaking?

Stubacca

I could really go a hamburger right now.

bigfatdud

Gosh, she must've been SO f*ckin' hungry...

Avatar

Doctors don't read minds. That's why they ask questions. But if you think that gaining 20 lbs from eating fatty foods is no different from gaining 20 lbs from a balanced diet, more power to you!

The original point has nothing to do with a fat gut or gluttony. This has to do with one's own personal choices and what one chooses to eat. Some people choose to eat organic foods although the non-organic foods have similar nutritional value.

Avatar

Because McDonald's supposedly puts taste chemicals in their burgers... and there's more on this if you want to read/believe "Fast Food Nation."

HelenHeart

Minus the toxins, that is.

HelenHeart

Take a 1/4lb of organic-fed ground beef, make it into a pattie, cook and eat.
Then buy a McD burger and eat.
Any further questions?

HelenHeart

Plus, Spurlock had frequent blood work done. Do you think her blood work would come back smelling of roses. I don't think soooooooooo

FXjohn

You must not have read the article.

This guy did the McDonald's diet and had blood work done:

https://www.truthinfitness.org/projec...s/journal.html

Greetings to all,

Well, it’s been a week since “The McDonald’s Diet” officially ended and the results are in. However, before I get into that, I’d like to thank all the individuals that donated their time and effort to help out on the project – Mike, Carlos, and Michele for their great work on the web site and postings, Rosalie for keeping my schedule together and keeping me on track, Scott for making sure the integrity of the project was sound, Jessie & James for their creative filming and the incredible documentary that is coming soon, and all the rest that played a part in the project – Thank You…

The project was fun and I had a great time doing it – sounds funny given the results that Morgan Spurlock claims to have had from only McDonald’s food. We both (Spurlock & I) knew exactly what we were doing. The difference was that Spurlock was/is playing on the misinformation that the public has in order to make a profit; I was/am interested in educating in order to stop the acceleration of obesity in America. However, am I looking to get something for my efforts? Yes – psychic benefit, a term in economics, which is more valuable to me than monetary benefit.

Spurlock will move on to host a TV show, Truth In Fitness will be starting a new project this month. We’ll be coaching a 55 year-old, obese woman, whom is diabetic, to a new life, and you will be able to track her every step on the web site. We’ll keep a journal, just as before, with pictures and comments from her. The introduction to this new project will have the full story.

Okay, here are the results:

Weight – I started at 222lbs and in thirty days I dropped 8lbs of “body fat”, ending the thirty days at 214lbs.
Blood Pressure - I started at 111/71, a bit low, and ended the thirty days at 121/81 which is optimal.
Cholesterol – this is where you need to understand about cholesterol!
My HDL (the good cholesterol) improved 80%.
My LDL (the bad cholesterol) went down 2 points. That’s an improvement!
My overall cholesterol went up 6% because of my HDL improvement, however this is an improvement overall.
My Triglycerides improved 42%
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: I am saying that exercise was the reason for my improvements and not the fact that I only ate McDonald’s food for 30 days. If you were to take exercise out of the equation, I would have gained 30 to 40 pounds of body fat, and I can not tell you how my cholesterol would have reacted; This is where education becomes very important.

Many people have asked me if it matters where their calories come from. At the most basic, eating exactly the number of calories that you burn and if you are only talking about weight, not fat loss, the answer is no -- a calorie is a calorie. A protein calorie is no different from a fat calorie -- they are simply units of energy. As long as you burn what you eat, you will maintain your weight; and as long as you burn more than you eat, you will lose weight. But if we're talking nutrition, it definitely matters where those calories originate. We will be posting information regarding nutrition soon.

Again, thank you for your support and encouragement.

Sincerely,
Chazz

HelenHeart

The original posted article did not mention blood work. I read it just perfectly. This is a different article!!!

FXjohn

Yes and his blood work was just fine....which discredits the point you were trying to make.

HelenHeart

Reread your second article at the IMPORTANT TO NOTE section near the end. Do we know if the housewife exercised? If she had, I think they might have mentioned it? If not, well......

FXjohn

Quote: The project was fun and I had a great time doing it – sounds funny given the results that Morgan Spurlock claims to have had from only McDonald’s food. We both (Spurlock & I) knew exactly what we were doing. The difference was that Spurlock was/is playing on the misinformation that the public has in order to make a profit; I was/am interested in educating in order to stop the acceleration of obesity in America. However, am I looking to get something for my efforts? Yes – psychic benefit, a term in economics, which is more valuable to me than monetary benefit.

bormoglot

Well, calories are calories... You could lose weight eating only sugar... But you will end up with diabetis. That is the difference between quality/quantity.

Difference between quality-ingredients home-made burger and McD burger is in number of cancerogens in your stomach and toxins in your liver.

Point a lot of people tried to make here, yes, you could get slimmer but 30 day evaluation is too small to surface long term effects such as diabetis, sclerosis, osteoporosis, you name it...

FXjohn

Which "carcinogens" and toxins are you talking about exactly??

slvoid

Have you seen the Grade R beef they use? Holy moses.. I wouldn't touch that with a pole.
At least my burgers, I can get my meat at the shop fresh, get fresh vegetables, fat free dressing, etc.

It's like a walmart bike and a colnago? They both have wheels, pedals, and every part necessary to ride. Is there really a difference?

jrennie

1/4 pounder patty= 18 grams fat
homemade with 96% lean beef 4 grams of fat

Hamburgers can be made healthier at home. While I applaud Morgan Spurlocks efforts in making his movie as it made fast food and obesity a front burner issue(even if nothing positive comes from it awareness helps) I still group him in the same catagory as Moore. Movies fiction or non are not interesting without a evil villain. He obviously went to great lenghts to make himself as unhealthy as possible for the benifit of the storyline.

DannoXYZ 

Yeah, it's not just the food, but how much you eat. Did you see the portions that Spurlock was consuming in his movie? Double-fisting SuperSized drinks along with shakes! Who in their right mind can even eat that much? Unless you're training for eating contests or somethin'. For a while there when I was working full time in office and going to summer-school and didn't have much time for lunch, I'd grab a quick medium chocolate shake at Mickey's and run off again. I actually lost about 20-lbs that summer!

I can also sit around the house, never exercise and eat a tonne of the leannest choicest beef you can get, the most gourmet holistic naturally grown organic foods and I can also gain weight!

As John implied, weight is a poor indicator of health anyway. Total body-fat % would be a better indicator combined with LDH/HDL ratio, blood-pressure and resting heart-rate. If you improve those indicators, the weight-loss is pretty much automatic and guaranteed.