Supersize Me!

[saimyoji]

Anyone seen this docu-drama yet? Truly frightening. I especially like the first supersize meal he had to eat, hurled it all right back onto the McD parking lot. Very appropriate. I do love Big Macs though.

[steve hiker]

Even worse: Reefer Madness. Frightened me so bad I didn't touch my bong for a week.

[PhatNate]

Hey Man, Since I saw "Super-Size Me" (last June), I havn't step foot in a fast food joint, or put something that's been packaged past my lips. Im pretty sure I can't survive the trail without eating packaged foods however Im deffinately off the the fast food for good. I think eating less organic foods and vegetables on the trail will take some time for me to get used to on my thru hike. Afterall, I cant believe all the junkfood thru hikers eat on a daily basis to keep thier calories up, sometimes I think its a excessive and unhealthy, but then again what do I know...

[rocket04]

I wasn't surprised by the documentary. What surprised me was that others were surprised by the results, including some of the doctors he hired.

[illininagel]

Nobody should be surprised at the results.

The man was on a mission. He specifically went to McDonald's to consistently make the worst possible choices every day. If you selected the items off of the menu with the highest fat content every single day and then refused to exercise, of course you will gain weight and suffer consequences. He would have experienced the same effects had he chosen to eat Dunkin' Donuts or Snickers candy bars for every meal!

McDonald's does not claim that it is nutritious to eat every meal in their restaurants. However, McDonald's can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. If you end up eating at a McDonald's frequently, it is highly recommended that you try a Grilled Chicken, Yogurt Parfait, Apple Slices, Carrot Sticks or Garden Salad once in a while.

C'mon...this stuff is common sense. It's about time people assume responsibility for their own actions. And, it won't kill anyone to eat at McDonald's once in a while.

[rocket04]

Nobody should be surprised at the results.

The man was on a mission. He specifically went to McDonald's to consistently make the worst possible choices every day. If you selected the items off of the menu with the highest fat content every single day and then refused to exercise, of course you will gain weight and suffer consequences. He would have experienced the same effects had he chose to eat Dunkin' Donuts or Snikers candy bars for every meal!

McDonald's does not claim that it is nutritious to eat every meal in their restaurants. However, McDonald's can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. If you end up eating at a McDonald's frequently, it is highly recommended that you try a Grilled Chicken, Yogurt Parfait, Apple Slices, Carrot Sticks or Garden Salad once in a while.

C'mon...this stuff is common sense. It's about time people assume responsibility for their own actions. And, it won't kill anyone to eat at McDonald's once in a while.

Couldn't have said it better. There was really no groundbreaking discovery made by this documentary. It was entertaining though...

[SGT Rock]

Exactly, that is why your mother only took you to such a place about once a month instead of three times a day.

[rocket04]

Exactly, that is why your mother only took you to such a place about once a month instead of three times a day.

Oh, the change in generations. Nowadays, plenty of parents take their kids there twice a week!

[Rain Man]

The man was on a mission. He specifically went to McDonald's to consistently make the worst possible choices every day. ...

And here I was, thinking he made a point to rotate his orders, so that he ate everything on the menu! Foolish me.

Rain Man

.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln

[MDSHiker]

I recently watched "Supersize Me" and enjoyed it. The best part was the bonus material on the DVD...the french fries that still looked like new after 10 weeks !!

[Tha Wookie]

Nobody should be surprised at the results.

However, McDonald's can be part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Which part would that be?

[rocket04]

Which part would that be?

That would be the part where you make exceptions, that one day of the week you allow yourself to eat crap. McDonald's fits the bill.

[minnesotasmith]

Years ago I worked a summer at a well-known chain restaurant that sold fried chicken. They made their cole slaw by dropping carrots, cabbage, etc., in a big grinder without washing the dirt off or peeling them, then pouring white glop from a sealed container (that didn't resemble anything MY mother or female relatives ever made, and they're mostly Southern) over the grindings. I like cole slaw, but won't eat it at a fast-food restaurant. The broiled chicken came in all dipped in some yellow fat, that might have been chicken fat or hydrogenated soybean oil (margarine).

Even the "healthy" stuff isn't to be trusted at such places.

[grrickar]

Theres just as many bad things on the shelf of your local supermarket. Tons of carbs, things loaded with high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated fat. Try finding most any processed food or drink without one or all of the above. Even once-healthy fruit juices are mostly water and high fructose corn syrup. I used wonder why a fruit drink would need sweetener, but now I realize it doesn't - it's just cheaper for the manufacturer.

I quit eating fast food a long time ago, but I still find that some of my choices at the grocery store aren't as healthy as I once believed them to be.

[saimyoji]

My school friends and I used to joke about the nasty things in hotdogs, and that if you were to read the actual label on the hotdog package that you would never eat again.

Now it seems that most ALL foods in packages are things to be afraid of. Foods I hold innate fears of: anything in a package. I am one of the many Americans who know the stuff I'm eating is considered poison in large doses, but I still have to eat! I know, I know, vegetables and fruits you say. Do you know how long I have to wash lettuce to get the slimy stuff (pesticides, waxes) off? Or how about the cucumbers that double as candles? I have not succumbed to the hogwash that I need to eat 17 different vitamin supplements a day. 99% of those pills aren't soluble enough to be completely absorbed anyway. My cousin is a plumber, he has great stories about septic systems backed up by literally mountains of these little gullibilities.

They'll never take my beer away.

[Frosty]

However, McDonald's can be part of a healthy, balanced diet.

I guess their water is okay, and they have 2% milk, but it's hard to think of anything else coming out of McD as healthy.

[rocket04]

Do you know how long I have to wash lettuce to get the slimy stuff (pesticides, waxes) off? Or how about the cucumbers that double as candles?

True, but in spite of that something tells me that you won't suffer liver failure on a diet of those vegetables as opposed to a McDonald's one. Just because it's not optimal doesn't mean you might as well go with the worse. And I'm not saying that's what you meant.

[minnesotasmith]

Use SOAP (like Dawn) when washing them. I even do this with fresh spinach, so it ought to work for iceberg lettuce (which I don't buy, since it is nutrient-free, and IMO a complete waste of money). You have to rinse them thoroughly after, but it's not that big of a hassle.

[illininagel]

I guess their water is okay, and they have 2% milk, but it's hard to think of anything else coming out of McD as healthy.

This thread has probably gone on long enough. But, I think it is important to state some of the facts:

McDonald's does offer low fat alternatives. Grilled chicken, salads, low fat yogurt, apple slices and carrots are some examples. However, studies have shown that people do not go into McDonald's to eat such foods. Once they get to the front of the line, they usually change their mind and go with the burger.

A few years ago, McDonald's introduced the McLean Burger. This burger was a very low fat version of the Quarter Pounder. The same problem occurred. Although people would claim that they demanded a low fat product, they didn't end up buying it. The product mix numbers of McLean were so "lean" that the raw waste associated with the product became very costly---and the product was eventually dropped.

The foods that McDonald's offers in the restaurants closely mirrors the products that most people stock in their own refrigerators. McDonald's uses quality brand name products (Kraft cheese, Heinz ketchup, etc.). In fact, McDonald's pays a premium for a leaner grade of beef than its competitors--for very little competitive advantage. Instead, Wendy's and BK advertise that their burgers are juicier. What they don't tell you is that a big part of that decision is due to the increased profitability associated with buying higher fat beef products.

The bottom line is that McDonald's (or any other similar food product) can be part of a nutritional diet if it is eaten in moderation. And, for those people that end up in a McDonald's restaurant more frequently, it's best to make more nutritious choices---order a grilled chicken sandwich (w/o mayo), a side of yogurt and a water or Diet Coke.

Like I said earlier, people must be responsible for their own choices. No one is twisting their arms to eat at McDonald's. Unlike with tobacco, McDonald's is not inserting ingredients to make the food addictive. It's within their control to make appropriate choices and they should not blame companies like McDonald's for satisfying the demands of the consumer.

[saimyoji]

What I also found interesting about the documentary was the parts on the school lunches. I see this everyday as I work in a public school. Kids are NOT eating healthily at school, home, why should they eat healthily when out on their own? Schools are (for the most part) not even trying to get kids to make healthy choices- that would only lead to more problems (parents/kids complaining), while they ignore the fact that diet leads to many of the behavioral problems we see at schools.