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GoSeminoles!
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I just watched that on the cable and it was funny but a bit scary. In case you don't know, it is a 2004 documentary about a guy who did a McDonald's-only diet for 30 days as a way to get a grip on the effect fast-food has had on the American obesity problem. He had 3 doctors look him over before the trial and he was in excellent physical condition. Afterwards, well, you can guess what happened. Virtually every measure of his health worsened substantially: weight, cholesterol, body fat, you name it.
His rules for the experiment were pretty simple. For 30 days he ate nothing but McD for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If they didn't sell it, he could not eat it. And he had to get the supersize version if they offered it. And he had to try everything on the menu at least once.
The movie also included visits to public school cafeterias to see what kind of food is being served. At the ones he visited, where the meal serviced was outsourced to Sodexho, the food was nothing but reprocessed, quick-serve meals, candy, and soda. He quizzed a food service director at the school about this, pointing out the high sugar content of the candy bars, sodas, and chips the students were buying. She basically said they gave them the proper nutritional education in class and they hoped that the students would then make the right choices in the lunch line. But the school wasn't offering fresh veggies or fruits; only, well, fast-food (at least that is what was show on camera).
Interestingly, in the same school district there is a school for problem students. That school prepares its own menu of real food and expelled the soda machines. The administrators noticed an almost immediate change in the behavior of the students. They weren't out of control and they could focus. I wonder if all the alleged ADD is really due to kids being jacked on sugar 24/7? And the meals costs the school about the same as what Sodexho charges, although the school does lose its cut of the soda machine sales. Interesting that the problem students were being fed better than the regular students.
Do you know what your public school feeds your child?
Which brings me to my one methodological criticism. For the experiment he changed his diet *and* his exercise habits. Since two factors changed together, one could argue the deletrious effects were at least partly due to becoming more sedentary. I think he should have maintained his regular exercise routine. This way diet would be the only thing changing and all the effects could be logically assigned to that one cause.
BTW, his dietician was totally freaking hot.
It was interesting to hear the doctor describe how the addictive effects of heroine on the brain were very similar to chocolate (and McD food) and how the same inhibitor drug used in ERs for heroine addicts has the same inhibiting effect on chocolate addicts. This leads me to a philosophical question.
I'm still very big on personal responsibility, but I wonder how many of our choices are genuine choices? It seems virtually impossible for a heroine addict to "choose" to put down the needle when his own brain chemistry is stacking the deck heavily against making that choice. Is it really his fault that his body doesn't produce enough of that inhibitor chemical on its own? And given that through advertising and poor parenting children are conditioned to love McD, candy and soda but not veggies and fruit, can we really fault them entirely for their "choice" of food? Between our own brain chemistry and social conditioning, I wonder to what extent our behavior is pre-programmed.
His rules for the experiment were pretty simple. For 30 days he ate nothing but McD for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If they didn't sell it, he could not eat it. And he had to get the supersize version if they offered it. And he had to try everything on the menu at least once.
The movie also included visits to public school cafeterias to see what kind of food is being served. At the ones he visited, where the meal serviced was outsourced to Sodexho, the food was nothing but reprocessed, quick-serve meals, candy, and soda. He quizzed a food service director at the school about this, pointing out the high sugar content of the candy bars, sodas, and chips the students were buying. She basically said they gave them the proper nutritional education in class and they hoped that the students would then make the right choices in the lunch line. But the school wasn't offering fresh veggies or fruits; only, well, fast-food (at least that is what was show on camera).
Interestingly, in the same school district there is a school for problem students. That school prepares its own menu of real food and expelled the soda machines. The administrators noticed an almost immediate change in the behavior of the students. They weren't out of control and they could focus. I wonder if all the alleged ADD is really due to kids being jacked on sugar 24/7? And the meals costs the school about the same as what Sodexho charges, although the school does lose its cut of the soda machine sales. Interesting that the problem students were being fed better than the regular students.
Do you know what your public school feeds your child?
Which brings me to my one methodological criticism. For the experiment he changed his diet *and* his exercise habits. Since two factors changed together, one could argue the deletrious effects were at least partly due to becoming more sedentary. I think he should have maintained his regular exercise routine. This way diet would be the only thing changing and all the effects could be logically assigned to that one cause.
BTW, his dietician was totally freaking hot.
It was interesting to hear the doctor describe how the addictive effects of heroine on the brain were very similar to chocolate (and McD food) and how the same inhibitor drug used in ERs for heroine addicts has the same inhibiting effect on chocolate addicts. This leads me to a philosophical question.
I'm still very big on personal responsibility, but I wonder how many of our choices are genuine choices? It seems virtually impossible for a heroine addict to "choose" to put down the needle when his own brain chemistry is stacking the deck heavily against making that choice. Is it really his fault that his body doesn't produce enough of that inhibitor chemical on its own? And given that through advertising and poor parenting children are conditioned to love McD, candy and soda but not veggies and fruit, can we really fault them entirely for their "choice" of food? Between our own brain chemistry and social conditioning, I wonder to what extent our behavior is pre-programmed.
I laughed and felt disgusted with him for being this bent on McDonalds doom.You can do the same thing with any junk food.He made money here,he did get some changes made though with them.Odd film,he is just odd
