Super Size Me

[sophiejane]

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This movie should be MANDATORY for anyone entering health care--I think it should be mandatory for anyone who has ever or will ever consider eating fast food, too, but you gotta start somewhere.

Go see it--it is entertaining and horrifying in equal measure.

My boyfriend and I left the film and made a beeline for the grocery store where we bought vegetables, fruit and brown rice!

Plus, there are 3 docs that follow this guy who is doing an experiment to eat nothing but McDonald's for a month--and the GI doc is a DO. She is definitely the coolest one! 🙂

 

[sophiejane]

bump

I'm serious--you have to see this movie!! 🙂

 

[Robz]

I know that crap is bad for you.....

I stopped drinking soda and lost like 5-10 pounds...it was freaking wierd.

Now I just have it with my alcohol!

 

[sophiejane]

The sickest thing was when they explained how Chicken McNuggets are made...those things are truly a technological and chemical masterpiece.

 

[jhug]

did this just come out or can you rent it?

 

[Robz]

its only showing in select cities....I bet you can do a goggle for it.

 

[bruinrab]

One of the school segments was filmed at a school down the street from my parents house. 😀

But yes, it's a great movie. My future kids will not be allowed soda, junkfood, etc. except as very, very occasional treats. Of course, that means I'll have to stop having them too. 😳

Although it's not as hard to give up stuff as I thought it would be. I gave up coke and pepsi a couple of weeks ago. (I ended up replacing them with Seven Up and Sierra Mist. )

 

[Robz]

But yes, it's a great movie. My future kids will not be allowed soda, junkfood, etc. except as very, very occasional treats. Of course, that means I'll have to stop having them too. 😳

this is harder than you think.....if you haven't been to a school in a few years go.

Count the drink machines, not just the juice machines but the cokes and stuff.

Its soooooooooooooooo easy to get quick calorie driven crap...even a bottle of gatorade/poweraid is 150+ calories. 10 bottles of that and blammo daily nutritional limit....how easy is it to down a bottle in a morning let alone a day.

I would put the limit on my kids too but you can only do so much....strong morals go a long way.....so do pictures of gastic bypass surgery! 😀

 

[Green912]

The moral of the movie: eat 8000 calories a day, and sit in your car = gain a lot of weight.

 

[sophiejane]

I think there should be laws against allowing your children to get fat the same as there are laws against child abuse. It literally makes me sick. It is so unfair to them--schools putting all this empty calorie food out for them every day and then putting up a few food pyramid posters, and expecting them to make "healthy choices". Or parents who allow unlimited access to soda, chips and sugary cereal, then unlimited access to TV and nintendo...these are the kids who will be showing up in my office at age 19 with CHF. It should be a criminal offense. Hmmph. 🙁

 

[snowhite]

I have been at the beach all weekend and noticed that almost everyone over the age of 5 years old was chubby/obese. It was so strange seeing children with love handles and breasts (boys). I haven't seen this movie yet (not playing in my town) but I want to.

 

[Robz]

nearest to me is nashville 3 hours away (and none in florida).....not really worth it to drive to see that movie...


then again I'm taking a plane flight to see a movie this weekend anyway...so I guess I can't talk.

 

[sophiejane]

It'll come out on video. It's a documentary so it's not like you are going to lose a lot of cinematography when it goes to the small screen.

It is the message that I think is important for people to get--that fast food and processed food and inactivity are making America fatter than ever...although in the healthcare field I guess it's preaching to the choir--at least I hope so.

 

[Heal&Teach]

But yes, it's a great movie. My future kids will not be allowed soda, junkfood, etc. except as very, very occasional treats. Of course, that means I'll have to stop having them too.

You could also just do what was suggested in the movie and hit your kid upside his head everytime you pass a fast food joint so that s/he won't get that nostalgic feeling when the kid sees it... 🙄

I just saw the movie, and man, did I want to hurl after seeing it. It was amazing what that crap can do to you in thirty days. Just amazing. And to think that some people eat at Mickey D's at least once a day four or five times a week.

 

[LovelyRita]

I'm glad others are checking it out. I plan on seeing it soon---maybe as a study break before boards...

 

[snowhite]

For those interested, TIME this month has an article on obesity. I don't know about you, but all this talk makes me want to start exercising. Gained a little too much weight studying, stressing, and being depressed this past semester. Time to start kicking butt...I'll just pretend my kick boxing pad is my ex-fiance'.

 

[sophiejane]

I just saw the movie, and man, did I want to hurl after seeing it. It was amazing what that crap can do to you in thirty days. Just amazing. And to think that some people eat at Mickey D's at least once a day four or five times a week.

How about that "pickling effect" on the liver--even the docs didn't expect the dramatic loss of liver fxn. The dude's liver enzymes went sky-high and he had fatty liver necrosis. Amazing.

 

[cooldreams]

For those interested, TIME this month has an article on obesity. I don't know about you, but all this talk makes me want to start exercising. Gained a little too much weight studying, stressing, and being depressed this past semester. Time to start kicking butt...I'll just pretend my kick boxing pad is my ex-fiance'.

ahh... yes.. ex-fiances.........

 

[coreyw]

How about that "pickling effect" on the liver--even the docs didn't expect the dramatic loss of liver fxn. The dude's liver enzymes went sky-high and he had fatty liver necrosis. Amazing.

Or the mood swings and headaches! Those sugar and caffeine uppers and downers... plus what seemed like a massive drop in activity levels, esepcially aerobic exercise.

I suppose the chest pains could have been vertebrogenic due to his inactivity (generally just slouching about and feeling depressed); especially as his GP couldn't pick the aetiology.

Did you notice that his DO (the GE specialist) recorded a lower BP at the start than his two other physicians?! (It may have had more to do with her being a young woman, and not a tired looking unshaven middle-aged fella. Although I had enormous respect for his South African doctor.)

Now all we need to do is organise an RCT where half of our study group eats nothing but real burgers and fries and coke and gunk, and the other half eat 'placebo' burgers and fries and coke and gunk. After all, until we strictly observe Evidence-Based Medicine protocols we can't really say for sure that this lifestyle was what made him sick, now can we? 😉

Any volunteers?

 

[jen21]

Is the movie based on a book? If so maybe I can read that b/c it's not playing anywhere close for me. THanks!

 

[DORoe]

Is the movie based on a book? If so maybe I can read that b/c it's not playing anywhere close for me. THanks!

No it is a documentary about a dude that ate McD's for an entire month for every meal. It isn't based on any book to my knowledge, call up Kent Cinema and get them to work on getting this movie in there! lol

 

[sophiejane]

Or the mood swings and headaches! Those sugar and caffeine uppers and downers... plus what seemed like a massive drop in activity levels, esepcially aerobic exercise.

The crap he was eating really was addictive. In fact, McDonald's even calls people who eat there once a week or more "heavy users" !!! HEAVY USERS!

Does anyone else find this kind of scary?

 

[gioia]

Plain and Simple: TAX FAST FOOD. (even better: tax non-nutritive foods).

It will solve a two-fold problem:
1. A tax will deter people from overeating and feed crud to kids.
2. The tax could be assumed to go to diabetes/obesity research.


I know I'm altruistic, but I had to say it!

 

[sophiejane]

Gioia For President!!!!

 

[PublicHealth]

Here's a bio of the DO from the movie:
http://www.docnet.org/physicians/phys_bios.asp?phys_id=10145

(Yes, I wrote down her name on a napkin in the darkness of a movie theater)

 

[(nicedream)]

I eat tons of fast food - probably 10 times a week for the past 3 years - and I'm 5' 10" 150lb. I just don't know what else to eat - it's cheap and I can't really afford anything else. What do you all eat? I have a huge appetite.

 

[cooldreams]

i usually eat a decent sized meal for lunch, nothing for breakfast, and about half the time something for dinner. i think we as a nation eat way to much 😀

 

[LovelyRita]

Oatmeal for breakfast

Bananas, apples , oranges, lettuce, tomatoes, salads, etc., chicken, turkey, the occasional burger (1ce a month?) SUSHI, edamame, pizza, pizza, pizza, salmon, coffee, green tea, bagels w/cream cheese, eggs, bacon occasionally, chips and salsa, stir fry, pasta.

I avoid mcdonalds and other fast food restaurants at all costs. It's too expensive anyway for what you get. However, I order pizzahut in times of desparation when studying and I can't go out or whatever. I try to get veggies on the pizza.

I used to buy organic produce. It's too expensive overall unless it's in season. So I just buy whatever now. I am not a big fan of highly processed foods.

Sorry for babbling. I happen to be drooling, too.
M.

 

[Cowboy DO]

I eat tons of fast food - probably 10 times a week for the past 3 years - and I'm 5' 10" 150lb. I just don't know what else to eat - it's cheap and I can't really afford anything else. What do you all eat? I have a huge appetite.

Fast food isnt that cheap. I eat it quite a bit when tests roll around just because its "fast" and very, very available. But at about $5 a meal 10X a week thats 50 bucks a week, 4 weeks a month, that turns out to be (for the mathematically inept) $200 a month. Thats at least 2 months worth of groceries.


...Unless you go the wendys dollar menus (which is glorious), then it would be less, Mmmm double bacon cheeseburger....

 

[cooldreams]

Fast food isnt that cheap. I eat it quite a bit when tests roll around just because its "fast" and very, very available. But at about $5 a meal 10X a week thats 50 bucks a week, 4 weeks a month, that turns out to be (for the mathematically inept) $200 a month. Thats at least 2 months worth of groceries.


...Unless you go the wendys dollar menus (which is glorious), then it would be less, Mmmm double bacon cheeseburger....

48 weeks per year? you need to distribute the remain 52-48=4 times 200 over the proposed 48. or you could rationalize that 50 per week times 52 weeks divided by 12 to arrive at a more accurate monthly cost.



....

taxes taxes taxes... i hate them man... makes the gov stronger... what is the point in taxing stuff people like?? to deter their usage?? all that I have seen is that the people hooked on the stuff just get poorer... sounds like a great thing there??.....

.... 😴

 

[DOtobe]

Just saw it last night. Great movie 👍 I don't think I'll be able to go into a McDonald's for quite a while...

I loved the parts when he was showing the different pictures to kids and when people didn't know the Pledge of Allegiance but they knew the Big Mac jingle. Very scary.

 

[raptor5]

Fast food should be renamed Lazy-Unhealthy Food, unless you are eating their healthier selections then it is just lazy food. Granted there are those times when you are driving in the middle of the desert and there is no grocery store to pick up a healthier alternative (i.e. banana and tuna). Is our time is so precious that we can not prepare healthy meals when all it does is decrease out time left?

 

[(nicedream)]

I have such a huge appetite - everyone that knows me think I eat a ridiculous amount, and I've always been slightly underweight (until recently - I'm now at my ideal weight). If I go to McDonalds I get a big mac and 2 large fries and I'm still hungry. That's my problem, light and healthy meals don't fill me up. I guess that basically leaves healthier sandwiches, pasta, and pizza as my only real alternatives - and only sandwiches are somewhat fast. Am I addicted to fast food?

 

[Cowboy DO]

48 weeks per year? you need to distribute the remain 52-48=4 times 200 over the proposed 48. or you could rationalize that 50 per week times 52 weeks divided by 12 to arrive at a more accurate monthly cost.

ok 4.33333333333333333333333333 weeks in a month.
I rounded down. So now thats 215 a month vs. 200. Either way thats expensive as h3ll. You can buy alot of food with that...the only problem is I cant cook. So I just end up buying frozen pizza's anyway.