Katelyn Wilkinson

NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
The documentary Supersize Me is about a healthy man in his 30s named

Morgan Spurlock who has a question about what would have if he ate solely McDonalds

for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire month. He usually eats very healthy and

even eats vegan meals for dinner each night. Knowing this would be a drastic change to

his traditional diet and that there would likely be health effects in this effort, Morgan

decided to consult with three doctors. All three of them thought there would be

detrimental health effects, but nothing that would be life threatening necessarily

especially because he was already healthy and was only doing the challenge for 30

days.

In order to try and make the experiment more realistic, Spurlock set up some

rules that he had to follow. One of those rules was that he would limit his exercise to

that of the average American. The other rules were about what he could and couldn’t

eat. They included a rule that he could only eat McDonalds, that he would eat

everything on the menu, and that if he was asked to Supersize the meal that he would

always say yes.

After only 3 days into the experiment, Spurlock threw up. It also only took him 5

days to gain 10 pounds! These developments made him really nervous to continue

because it was so quick. As he continued, he saw more effects. Just a couple days

later, Spurlock met with Doctors to address a pressure in his chest and symptoms of

depression. About two weeks into the experiment, Spurlock started getting hungry soon

after meals and even wanting more food. These habits caused him to gain a shocking

17 pounds in the span of 12 days.

Katelyn Wilkinson
NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
Week 3 was just as eventful for Spurlock as the previous weeks. In an interview

with his girlfriend, she mentions that he doesn’t have the same sex drive as well as

other sexual side effects that she believes is a result of his radical diet change. She also

mentioned that his was low in energy generally. He agreed with that and said that his

energy relied on his eating habits. In other words, when he eat McDonalds he would

have a quick spike of energy from the excessive amounts of carbs and fats, but then

crash and be low on energy until his next “hit” of McDonalds. It was also during this 3 rd

week that Spurlock experienced heart palpitations. These really scared him and he went

back to the doctors for advice. At the doctors office, he took all types of tests including

blood tests to see his progress from when he originally began this diet. The blood tests

showed that his liver was failing. The Doctor also noticed signs of addiction and

dependency on the food. These warning signs caused his doctor to warn him to stop the

program immediately because these could lead to serious long term damage.

Determined to complete the experiment, Spurlock continued to eat only

McDonalds through day 30. After completing the challenge, he back to the doctor to

check his health and get their opinions. All of the doctors were shocked at how rapidly

his health deteriorated. They thought the damage to his heart was so bad it could be

irreversible given he ate the 8 years worth of the recommended amount of McDonalds.

He also gained 24.5 pounds and saw a dramatic increase in cholesterol, among other

things.

After the 30 days are complete, Spurlock attempts to get healthy again. He goes

on a vegan detox type diet, exercises more regularly, and lives a healthier lifestyle

generally. He loses 20 pounds in about 5 months and proceeds to lose the remaining 5
Katelyn Wilkinson
NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
pounds in another 9 months. The documentary concludes with commentary about how

McDonalds exists for profit. They advertise to young people with a clown mascot and

kids’ meals to create the customers of the future, and they put the health of their

customers last. Spurlock now goes around to schools and other events to warn young

people of the dangers of eating unhealthily.

I chose Supersize me for a few reasons. The first is that I am the first to admit

that I really like McDonalds. I probably eat it or another type of fast food once a week on

average. Because I eat it so often, I was really curious about seeing what would happen

if you had it for every meal.

I also chose the documentary because my in laws had the DVD at their house so

it made it really easy to choose because they already had it. The cover is Spurlock with

lots of fries in his mouth so it catches your attention and made me curious. I had also

seen it a long time ago, maybe 10 years, and I remembered thinking it was interesting

so I thought that watching it again would be enjoyable.

The documentary was written, directed, and produced by the main character,

Morgan Spurlock. He doesn’t have any formal nutritional background, however he did

eat vegan regularly and exercised a lot so he led a healthy lifestyle. Spurlock also

consulted a lot of doctors and other health professionals so the movie seemed to have a

lot of scientific basis.

While Supersize Me was produced over 15 years ago, in 2004, the themes in the

show are more relevant than ever. According to the National Center for Health

Statistics, “On any given day in the United States, an estimated 36.6% or approximately

84.8 million adults consume fast food” (Howard). McDonalds’ revenues and fast food
Katelyn Wilkinson
NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
consumption are at an all time high, making this topic as or more relevant than it was in

2004. The nutritional science doesn’t change either. While McDonalds was chosen

because it is so popular, someone could film themselves eating an sodium filled

extremely high fat and carbohydrate meal that they cooked at home and have a similar

result.

Chapter 7 in the textbook seemed especially relevant to this documentary. In

chapter 7, we learn how obesity has become an epidemic in the United States

(Wardlaw). Supersize Me further emphasizes this point throughout the video and makes

it one of the main themes throughout. In 2004, social media didn’t exist, however. One

difference between the textbook and the documentary is the emphasis on eating

disorders due to social media and other causes outside of only binge eating.

Another similar finding between the textbook and documentary is the increased

appetite Spurlock had throughout the movie as he continued to eat McDonalds. Chapter

7 in the textbook discusses this phenomenon, as well (Wardlaw). One point the

textbook makes that the movie does not is the importance of genetics in this

phenomenon. The textbook mentions how large of a role genetics plays, but the

documentary only focused on the self-induced side of it because Spurlock was normally

a very healthy individual.

The last topic that was a common theme in the documentary and textbook was

the aspect of physical fitness. Both the movie and textbook mentioned the importance of

daily exercise and Spurlock continued to walk about 5,000 steps a day. However, this is

a lot lower than what is recommended in the textbook and a lot lower than what he was

used to. Spurlock was very active before the experiment and the documentary does not
Katelyn Wilkinson
NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
really go into detail about how important this change in his lifestyle was. I think if he had

continued his exercise, many of the health issues he was dealing with would have been

less severe.

Supersize Me was a great reminder to me of the importance of moderation. After

taking this course, I have learned that the business McDonalds is not the issue as much

as the science behind eating unhealthy food is the issue. If someone gets impacted by

this movie and decides not to eat McDonalds again, but replaces that unhealthy habit

with another such as eating Oreos and Coke, they will still experience many of the

issues portrayed in this movie because they are still consuming a high calorie, high fat,

high carb diet.

That being said, I found the it painful to watch him eat so much fast food and ruin

his health. I also think the documentary made some great points about how these fast

food restaurants market to young people to essentially addict them to their food. While I

don’t plan on cutting out McDonalds completely from my diet, this documentary has

motivated me to eat smaller portions and eat fast food less frequently.
Katelyn Wilkinson
NUTR 1020
Nutrition Perspectives Research Paper
Works Cited

Howard, J. (2018, October 03). Here's how much fast food Americans are eating.

Retrieved May 01, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/03/health/fast-food-

consumption-cdc-study/index.html

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

Showtime Independent Films, 2004.

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

Functional Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014.