Rikaitch: King of Excellent (according to Scaryduck)

I’m never eating McDonalds again

Last night I had the pleasure of watching "Supersize me," an oscar nominated, stark, light-hearted documentary on the worldwide obesity problem. It was all based around 2 teenage girls who decided to sue McDonalds because it doesn’t state anywhere in any of their adverts that their products were high in fats and sugars. I know it’s obvious to us, but because they don’t tell us it, it means that a lawsuit can be filed. The judge ruled that if the girls had conclusive proof that eating McDonalds induces weight gain, then they will win the case. So that’s where our hero stepped in.

Morgan Spurlock is a clean living, healthy eating New York reporter. He decided he’s going to eat nothing but McDonalds for a month. That’s 3 meals (not just a quick burger) a day, and an additional rule is if he is asked if he wants to supersize it he must say yes. He must also try each and every product on the menu over the course of the month. So the gauntlet was thrown down. The documentary also highlighted just how unhealthy some of these products are… Such statistics as in a supersize cup of coke (2 litres or half a gallon) there are 48 tablespoons of sugar, or a supersized carton of fries contains 600 calories!

He started off keen enough. He was constantly monitored by a dietician, a gastroenterologist, and a GP. By the second day he got to have his first supersize meal. He sat there struggling through it for over 20 minutes, before the overload in sugar caused him to puke copiously out the side of his car. He gained 2 stone over the month, had problems with his heart, breathing and liver, and started to show all the signs of Hypertension as his arteries became clogged. He was taking in on average 5000 calories a day, twice the daily recommended intake for a grown man. He was regularly complaining he was feeling unwell, not sick just unwell. The scary thing was towards the end he found he felt better as he ate, and doctors put this down to the fact the body was becoming addicted to the meal.

The reality of McDonalds is the psychology behind going there. Most people now first experience fast food not because of the food, but because the restaurants (!) now have play areas. Imagine you are 2 years old. Do you want to eat in a proper eatery or do you want to eat where you can play? The brain locks onto the warm feeling offered by the food and the playing, so as we get older we strip away the play area but still associate the food with that warm feeling. It sort of becomes a comfort food, but we are led to believe that it is healthy. Even when they bombard us with salads and flatbreads, we think this safer.

Mosh decided he was going to boycott KFC, this is it, no more Maccie D’s for me.