Kimberly Watson 1

Kimberly Watson

Professor Carrie Needham

Health 1020

10 April 2019

Nutrition Perspectives

Upon making the decision as to which of the books or documentaries that I was going to

use to complete this assignment. I weighed a few factors in before making my final choice. I

finally went with the 2004 Super Size Me film directed and produced by Morgan Spurlock for a

couple of reasons. Primarily, because I had seen it before and I know that I enjoyed the material.

I also have two teenagers at home and thought it would be a good opportunity to expand their

understanding of improper nutrition as well as predatory capitalism which I felt this film did an

amazing job of exploiting. Not to mention it was filmed fifteen years ago and I was very

interested in finding issues that were still relevant today.

The creator Morgan Spurlock whom had found his early success prior to the above-

mentioned documentary as a playwright was not much a nutritionist prior to this experiment.

And even though he may still lack the credentials behind his name that would make him an

expert. I feel that he can first hand attest to the affects that these types of unhealthy foods can

adversely have on the human body as well as one’s mental state.

From what I found out about Morgan Spurlock and how it was he came about creating

this documentary, is that it all stemmed from his Thanksgiving 2003 when enjoying the holiday

with his family. He saw a news excerpt in which two juvenile females were suing the

McDonald’s corporation because they were blaming them for the result of them becoming obese.
 Kimberly Watson 2

This intrigued Spurlock and allowed this interest to snowball into an innovated idea that was

originally meant to expose the quality of fast food. Yet very quickly the documentary expanded

into many more meaningful topics that were addressed that all surround the nutrition and overall

health.

I felt Spurlock did an amazing job of covering all the angles. He started the project by

soliciting the help of three different medical doctors. A general practitioner, a cardiologist and a

gastroenterologist. And in the beginning as he was evaluated by all three of these doctor’s they

all mutually professionally agreed that he was in complete ideal health for someone his age. In

fact, given the state of which most of Americans are in he was probably in the top percentile of

the nation when he began this endeavor. That quickly changed.

In the beginning there were some specific ground rules established to make this ordeal

not just challenging in the aspect that every meal for thirty days was going to be consumed from

McDonalds but there were also specific guidelines for which he was going to need to adhere. For

instance, if at any time he was asked if he wanted to super-size his meal for a small upcharge

then he would have to readily accept. Also, he needed to try everything on the menu at least

once. That task took him only nine days which is quite impressive if you look at the entirety of

the menu. At least when looking at the menu today. Granted, it has been fifteen years, and back

in the day all of the menu items would fit into one commercial jingle. Today, I think it would

take him twice as long. Especially considering that since his documentary there have been at

least a dozen “healthy options” added to their menus.

It was quite impressive the resolve that Spurlock showed when sticking to the plan. I feel

many including myself would probably not of pushed the limits quite the way he did. Within

two weeks of this diet he had gained a ridiculous seventeen pounds of weight and the physician
 Kimberly Watson 3

made it very clear that whenever the human body fluctuates that much weight that quickly it is

never good for you. He had started to show signs of early onset liver malfunction due to his high

fat diet. His actions of eating this non-healthy diet were even compared to that of an alcoholic

damaging his liver through drinking. Still, he continued on eating over ten thousand calories a

day numerous times a week until his body started showing signs of addiction. Along with that

addiction also came signs and bouts of depression which affected his personal and professional

life.

Overall, Spurlock’s condition deteriorated very quickly especially considering his starting

point. His journey of showing the quality of fast food led him and the rest of us along a path that

showed way more than the McDonaldization of America. It addressed things such a Gastric

Sleeve surgery as a result of obesity, diabetes and how individuals that are diagnosed at an age

earlier than fifteen will in essence mortgage ten to fifteen years of their life. It spoke about the

marketing technics of these corporations and how they will target children and low-income

populations. It went into evolution and growing size of containers to which hold their product.

All of these glaring issues are things that we contributed to in one way or another.

By the time Spurlock was finished with his experiment he had eaten the amount of

McDonald’s in thirty days that the normal individual should consume in nine years. He had

ballooned up from 185lbs to 210lbs, his liver turned to fat as well as his cholesterol level

shooting up 65 points. He nearly doubled his chance of coronary heart disease which made it

twice as likely he suffered from heart failure. He in essence was eating himself to death. This

high fat diet, especially considering the shock he must have thrown his system into after living a

pretty healthy lifestyle, had some serious consequences forming and most of the professionals

were very skeptical that Spurlock would make a full and speedy recovery. And who could blame
 Kimberly Watson 4

them. During the time of his experiment he consumed thirty pounds of sugar through their food

and twelve pounds of fat. All of which would be harmful to anyone eating that much processed

food.

Still, even though McDonalds and other fast food restaurants have attempted to clean up

their acts by offering other healthier options such as salads, and children can now have fruit

instead of fries. I still feel that almost everything that was brought up through this film is still

relevant today. The difference is that the growing trends these days have moved towards much

healthier balanced lifestyle.

I think the eye-opening point of view that I received from watching this film was one that

I feel I should have already connected the dots on my own. And that was recognizing the purpose

of the lobbyist and their role in making sure that no government agency ever says to eat less of

their company’s product regardless of the end result. And to encourage their product to be shown

in a favorable light. Something that I consider completely tainted when your comparing

monetary profit to people’s health. Moving forward in my own personal life I plan to keep in

perspective the results of processed and fast food may have upon my life and my family’s well-

being.

In our text book we learn early on in Chapter 2 that routines and habits are tied to the

choices of what type of food we consume. (Collene) Numerous factors such as convenience and

availability play significant roles in those daily decisions just as it did in this documentary. We

can also compare and contrast the differences between the recommended daily amounts. In this

documentary it addresses recommended allowances and just like our text it is evident when

reading the nutritional facts labels that fast food is not healthy for you.
 Kimberly Watson 5

And then lastly, if you look at the portion of this discussion in the film when they are

visiting the school lunch rooms and comparing the children’s diets to what we now know to be

healthy as outlined in chapter two of our text. It does seem that awareness has grown in the last

decade and a half significantly. The obesity rate may not have decreased like it should have, but I

do feel the increase in awareness has.

 Kimberly Watson 6

Bibliography

Collene, Angela L., Smith, Anne M., Spees, Colleen K. Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional

Approach, 5th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.