Super Size Me The Myth  

I came across this while cruising the net. I stumbled upon a forum on nutrition, and came across a post that linked to a story on the movie “Super Size Me” and how quite a few people besides the executives at McDonalds, were quite critical of the movie, and it’s conclusions.

For those who haven’t seen it, or need a refresher, the movie featured it’s maker, Morgan Spurlock, who ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days, but in addition, he set the following rules, He had to try everything on the menu at least once, he had to supersize the meal if requested by the server, he had to eat everything on his tray, and he set his daily caloric count to 5000 to 5500, and shunned exercise.

I did a little google research, and found that there were some pretty compelling critisms of the movie including an August 25, 2005 article by the American Council of Science and Health , as well as another article by Andrew Struttaford of The National Review Online . But most intriguing was this article I found by Soso Whaley, who decided to conduct her own experiment, with a huge difference. Similar to Spurlock, she sampled every item on the menu at least once, however, she limited her calories to 1800 to 2000 per day, and didn’t force herself to clean the tray every time, and did not include an automatic supersize clause. The result, after 60 days, she lost, yes lost 18 pounds, and her cholesterol dropped.

I watched Super Size Me, and was as disgusted as everyone else. The film filled a void in the guilty souls of obese north Americans. It provided an onscreen hug and pat on the back and made us feel like the cause of obesity was corporate enterprises, trickery and marketing gimmicks forcing greasy fries and burgers down our throats. I think that's why the film was so popular. Its message to it’s overweigh audience was "It’s not your fault"

The truth is that if you eat 5000 to 5500 calories a day and don't exercise, you will gain weight. Even if you eat tofu, bean sprouts, and grilled chicken breast. In my humble opinion, balance is the key, and an occasional greasy splurge won’t kill you. And even a habitual indulgence is ok if you make the right choices.

If read by the right people, this article is sure to spawn some hot debate. Check out the articles and see for yourself, then get back with some juicy comments.