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For my research paper, I chose Supersize me a documentary about one mans

experiment of eating McDonalds for every meal for 30 days consecutively. Directed and

featuring Morgan Spurlock and filmed in 2004. I chose this film because I had seen it before

when I was younger. I dont remember it to well because it was in high school which was about

10 years ago, I didnt see it all and it was from an advertising perspective and not a nutritional

point of view. I thought it would be good to see it now that Im older and hopefully with a

different perspective then I did in high school.

Morgan Spurlock begins the documentary by introducing himself. Although he doesnt

mention any nutritional expertise or any other related expertise, Morgan does talk about his

upbringing. He grew up watching his mother cook most of his meals and seldom going out to

eat. He cites a rising trend of families eating multiple meals a week in fast food restaurants.

Mr. Spurlock talks about a law suit before beginning an admittedly somewhat extreme

experiment. The case consists of a fast food restaurant being sued over the condition of two girls,

who claim the restaurant is to blame for their obesity. It was said that if the girls could prove that

McDonalds intends to have every meal of every day eaten from their menu and doing so could

be considered unreasonably dangerous a claim could be submitted. With this information

Morgan Spurlock decides to start his experiment. His experiment sounds quite simple. He

decides to eat 3 meals every day for 30 days from McDonalds.

Before Morgan begins his experiment, he sees 3 doctors and a nutritionist. He first gets a

baseline of his wellbeing including current health conditions, blood levels and eating habits. He

also discloses his plans to go on what many of the health care professionals see as 30-day

McDonalds binge. Many of them have educated ideas of what will happen but they arent sure

because theyve never seen anyone try what Morgan is going to do. Between the 3 doctors and
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the nutritionist Morgan is considered to have healthy body weight, no major health conditions

and healthy eating habits.

Throughout the documentary as Morgan goes on his 30-day Mcdiet he interviews legal

sources about rising lawsuits and advertising as it relates to fast food and nutrition. Spurlock

interviews lawyers and others in the justice system who openly compare fast food to the tobacco

industry in addictiveness and aggressive advertising. All of which have varied opinions on

whether the lawsuits are reasonable and the advertising is ethical.

Another issue Morgan touched on which I found relatable was the education aspect of

nutrition. I remember eating fries every day in high school and often with a soda from one of my

high schools 20 plus vending machines. A few of the schools Morgan visited and interviewed at

had similar situations. Kids eating nothing but fried foods many of which were fries, drinking

soda and getting other foods out of the vending machines. Morgan then visits a school of

troubled teens with a revised lunch menu. This school found that nutrition, more so then

discipline, improved the students focus and attitude in the classroom and the cost of feeding

students remained the same.

5 days into Morgans all McDonalds diet, he had gone to the doctors for another

checkup. The doctors had found that his body mass and weight had started to increase. Morgan

also had kept record of what he was eating. The nutritionist saw that Morgan was eating just

about 5000 calories a day. The nutritionists recommendation was only 2500 calories a day. Day

9 showed pretty much the same results. Morgan Spurlock on average was consuming 200% of

the daily nutritional values the doctors and nutritionist recommended.

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By day 18 Morgan had various other health issues and concerns arise. He had started

getting headaches and started feeling general fatigue. Morgan went to see the doctors again.

They were concerned with elevated sugar and other blood levels. Morgans general physician

specifically was quite vocal about Morgans liver. The general physician was becoming very

concerned about fatty liver.

On day 21 Mr. Spurlock had a literal rude awakening. Morgan woke up with breathing

problems and what he suspected to be heart palpitations. He went to see his doctors. They all

were very concerned about his fatty liver. Morgan was instructed to look out for signs of possible

liver failure such as yellow eyes. He was also strongly advised to stop his diet as the doctors

were seeing high numbers from their various tests. Morgan however still had 9 days to go in his

diet.

Morgan finishes his 30-day Mcdiet. He made plans to eat a nutrient dense and organic

diet which his vegan girlfriend made for him. The doctors are astonished at how quickly he

gained fat, how fatty his liver had become and other various effects from his diet. Many of them

addressed their concerns if Morgan ever decided to continue eating the same diet for a year.

Morgans weight, liver and sugar levels being some of the biggest concerns.

There were many effects of Morgans diet that impacted him in various ways. The most

concerning was a 25 pound weight gain. His body fat increased from 11% to 18%. Morgan

also had a very fatty liver and cholesterol that was quite elevated. He had increased heart risk

which included disease and failure. All of which was confirmed by his doctors through various

tests. The more personally noticed effects included depression, exhaustion, mood swings,

decreased sex drive, frequent food cravings and headaches. Morgan Spurlock was able to

recover, for the most part, with proper diet and exercise.
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I think that a lot of the themes in this documentary are applicable. First, Morgan gave an

example of what malnutrition and binge eating (covered in Wardlaws Contemporary Nutrition)

can do to an individual. Second, obesity is still a major issue and is still considered an epidemic

by many individuals and various professionals in the united states. Lastly, education in nutrition

is still a problem in the US. I get the impression the very many Americans, for whatever reason,

arent sure what a well-balanced diet is comprised of. My honest opinion is the only difference

between 2004, when Supersize Me was made, and now is that it is easier to find nutritional

information for restaurants. The theme of supersize me was the negative effects of fast food in

the modern diet and that still, if not more so, is a concern today.

There were a few topics covered in the documentary that were also covered in the book,

the most notable being calories. The subject of calories could be found all throughout this

documentary. One of two very important mention in the documentary was the initial meeting

with the nutritionist. She recommended Morgan to eat no more than 2500 calories a day no more

than 80 grams of total fat or 25 saturated fat. All of which he exceeds and this also is discussed

in our text book. Second, major discussion of calories was regarding the actual definition. In the

documentary, no individual person off the street could define what a calorie was, however, some

had an idea. Marion Nestle PhD defined it as A measure of energy content of food, she

continues one calorie is the amount of energy thats needed to raise the temperature of a liter of

water by one degree centigrade.. Marions definition matches our textbook almost word for

word.

Serving size was also discussed in supersize me. A serving size of meat was defined as

3oz or the same as a deck of cards. This equivalence is what I learned in high school. According

to Wardlaws Contemporary Nutrition its not necessarily meat but protein consumption. A
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calculation based on you weight in kilograms multiplied by 0.8 will equal your recommended

protein intake.

Lastly the subjects of body measurements and amount of exercise were covered. In the

documentary, it was stated that exercise is recommended for 30 minutes a day. Wardlaws

Contemporary Nutrition stated the same amount 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. For Morgan

Spurlock, a skin fold test was used to measure his body fat percentage. This is a method

discussed in the book stating it did have drawbacks but it is a common method.

Watching this the second time around and all the way through gave me a new

perspective. I saw the nutritional impact and how it effects your health. I always had a vague

idea of what food does to you physically and even more vague was the emotional and less visual

impacts. Over eating processed foods like McDonalds and other fast food places not only effects

your weight and body fat it also impacts your liver, heart, and other important body parts.

Between supersize me and our nutritional class Ive learned what you eat impacts so many

various aspects of how we function. The point of this film was that fast food is a problem in the

modern American diet. I agree completely and I hope to stop eating fast food or severely limit

the amount of times I go out to eat. I know this is a goal that is very difficult to keep, however

with the proper support and motivation I believe I could do it.

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Works cited

Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Samuel Goldwyn Films Roadside Attractions, 2004.

Wardlaw, Gordon M., Anne M. Smith, and Angela Collene. Wardlaw's Contemporary Nutrition:

A Functional Approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018. Print.