We're being told to eat seven portions of fruit and vegFollow

It was a guy who derived all his calories from eating Twinkies. I remember that experiment and while it was entertaining, calories in - calories out isn't the whole story. There is a concept called Metabolic Advantage that is associated with folks living paleo or otherwise low-carb lifestyles in which the theory is that calorie burning is more efficient.

As far as that super-size me documentary, I remember watching it and thinking the guy was an absolute nut job. The sheer amount of food he was trying to eat in a sitting would make anyone his body weight throw up. I know what he was trying to prove, but it wasn't the food alone that made him the way he was at the end of that experiment. He was definitely less healthy than he was before he started, but anyone who followed his ridiculous menu of way too much sugar would have the same result. He'd have a coke, and then a milkshake, and a couple burgers, and fries... At one point the spread in front of him just looked like a feast for a family of four. He still hasn't posted the detailed food logs - all we know for sure is that he only actually supersized 9 total times.

A better experiment would have been to have three single supersized meals per day and see what the results were from that, but he wanted to push 5k+ calories per day no matter what so he ordered what he wanted off the menu. So in the end, he proved that yes, eating 5k+ calories a day with little to no exercise can result in weight gain.

So glad he was able to clear that up for us.

I only watched about half of it (found the man to be annoying in the way he overreacted to the effects of the food even from the beginning)... but didn't he make it clear in the beginning that he wasn't going to be trying to eat reasonably during it? He was going to try to be the perfect customer. I think I recall him saying if he was asked if he wanted to Supersize it, he had to say yes? I always thought the documentary was less about the food, and more about the business practice and advertising efforts toward the customers.

Edited, Apr 3rd 2014 9:58pm by TirithRR

9 / 90 = 30% ?

The supersize thing was only one example. It has been a while but I'm certain he listed his other rules at the start. Stuff like trying the whole menu, amongst other things.

And it along with other culture changes have caused them to change the way they advertise.

Edited, Apr 4th 2014 6:22pm by TirithRR

In addition to all the questionable methodology, it's worth noting that he (and the guy who did the same to show him wrong) are a sample size of one. They make for a decent story or movie material but in no way represent the nation as a whole or counter previous broader studies into the effects of high salt, high fat diets for good or for ill.

Even then, the only things "sized" are beverages and fries. Not as though you order a small cheeseburger.

That's the McDouble and it's the same size patties as a standard cheeseburger, there's just two of 'em. At least when I worked there, you only had two sizes of patties. The 4oz "quarter pound" ones for Quarter Pounders (natch) and other specialty burgers and the 2oz size used on regular hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Big Macs, etc. Granted, that was before the "Angus burgers" and crap but I doubt those come in multiple patty sizes.

Thinking about it, the menu was probably smaller during the "Super Size Me" era since it was before dollar menus and the push for specialty burgers and ten different styles of chicken sandwich.

A friend of mine used to order a double whopper with heavy bun.

Sure. So do most processed/packaged foods people buy in the supermarkets every day (presumably the most common alternative to fast food), plus a heapload of preservatives and other unhealthy things as well. Swapping a McDoubleBacon+Fries for a Swansons microwave dinner probably isn't buying you much health wise (although it will save you some cash, so there's that).

Don't get me wrong. I swore off fast food years ago (and McDonalds was on my "last resort" fast food list even before that), but what's most important is avoiding processed foods as much as possible. And eating reasonable portions.

Also Butter

Butter is deeply misunderstood.

Advocating directly? No. Advocating by default? Absolutely. What percentage of people who decide to cut back on fast food as a result of a "fast food is bad" campaign are going to replace it with processed foods from the grocery store versus healthy home cooked meals from fresh ingredients? If all they hear is how bad fast food is, but not how bad any processed food is, the answer is likely to be "pretty darn high".