Man goes on McD's diet for 30 day experiment

[Guest guest]

Fascinating in a sick sort of way. Don't try this at home!

 

Published by The New York Post, January 22, 2004

Arch Enemy

By MEGAN LEHMANN

 

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

 

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.' "

[Guest guest]

I thought this was a great article and forwarded it to several of my

acquaintances. Below is a response I received from one. I'm so glad

I have friends who keep me laughing!

 

Annette

 

 

 

Now don't you think this is kind of harsh?

 

I mean the guy was a 185-lb ballet dancer with a granola head

girlfriend who went total immersion. Of course he is going to go

toxic. Now if a red blooded beef eating boy from the midwest tried

this it would be a whole different deal. Conversely, if you would

take same healthy red blooded beef eating boy from the midwest and

totally immerse him in tofu and raw roots and grubs, the results

would undoubtedly be horrendous as well.

 

Besides, it was in the NY Post.

 

Nice try.