This is waaaay entertaining! (Because I'm totally smug about refusing to eat fast fud

[sohj]

Last Saturday, I read in an article on the Sundance Film Festival about a documentary following a guy who decides to do an experiment on himself by eating at McDonald's every day for a month....all his meals, too.

He did this under doctors' supervision (but his own great bad idea) and they charted his progress. (here is a link to a Festival goer's blog: http://sundance.weblogsinc.com/entry/5203211554475299/ that mentions this movie. And the website for the film itself http://www.supersizeme.com/ ) Apparently, 20 days into the experiment, the docs were telling him to stop the experiment as he was heading for liver failure.

The docs are writing a paper on this.

Wonder if there'll be a Happy Meal tie-in?

NOT!

[Zeitgeist]

DON'T MESS WITH THE CLOWN!! You've been warned...

[el presidente]

Why pick on McDonald's?

I'd give that guy less than one week (not 30 days) to live if he tried that stunt and ate only at "The Varsity"

[Botnst]

Originally posted by el presidente
Why pick on McDonald's?

I'd give that guy less than one week (not 30 days) to live if he tried that stunt and ate only at "The Varsity"

That place is still open? Man! Last time I ate there was in 1960 or '61. It was THE place, kids from Grady cruisin' in daddy's car and watching to kids from Tech to learn how to act cool--something right out of "American Graffiti". Memory probably distorts, but I really liked their burgers and a coke.

This is undoubtedly not PC, but is "Mammy's Shanty" still in business? I think it was off Cumberland. Pecan pie to die for!

Botnst

[Zeitgeist]

Nah, it's all been replaced by Stuckey's--yeelch!

[el presidente]

Originally posted by Botnst

This is undoubtedly not PC, but is "Mammy's Shanty" still in business? I think it was off Cumberland. Pecan pie to die for!

Botnst

I've lived here 15 years and never heard of that place

EDIT: The Varsity is not only thriving, they have opened up several locations around the city and sell those chili-cheese hot dog belly busters all over now. They are still the "World Champion" in selling the most onion rings at a single location

[MikeTangas]

The burgers at the Varsity may not be much but I do love their onion rings. I can, and have, made a meal out of just onion rings.

[sohj]

Originally posted by el presidente
Why pick on McDonald's?

I'd give that guy less than one week (not 30 days) to live if he tried that stunt and ate only at "The Varsity"

I think he "picked on" McDonalds becaue they are by far the market leader in this industry.

I can think of quite a few places I don't think I'd survive ONE meal, let alone more. Don't think I'll go to the Varsity.

There is a place on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn called Kellog's that I'd advise you to stear clear of, too.

[sohj]

Originally posted by w126
Liver failure? I'd be interested to read why. I could see a drastic rise in BP and cholesterol levels...

I read that in the article in the paper. Only two paragraphs in the article were about this documentary.

Haven't seen any mention of liver failure in particular on his website (but I didn't examine every page).

My (totally layman's) guess is that if you overload on fats, the liver and gall bladder have to work extra hard to produce enough bile to digest all the fat. And maybe the fact that there is a lot of caffeine in the most of the drinks there (which is a stimulant to the liver) made the liver try to work extra hard while only having half the capacity. Maybe? (Anatomy and systems of the body weren't my strong point. See my profile. ) Also, I would assume that as there isn't a lot of roughage in the food there ... pretty much over cooked and simple carbs ... the colon would have been sluggish and I think that affects the liver, too. Peristaltic action is somehow related to the liver, I think.

I guess we'll just all have to see the movie to find out the details.

I think it'll be grosser than ... ummm ... The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover ?

[Botnst]

Originally posted by sohj

I think it'll be grosser than ... ummm ... The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover ?

"..The Thief, his wife and the grocer".

[sohj]

Oh, yeah. I just remembered something.

Apropros of the fact I run Hilda on veggie oil:

I was chatting with someone about someone wanting to organize the oil pickup from local McDonalds. And another person there who has been into this WVO/SVO thing for a really long time said that you can't.

McDonalds has a special contract with its own renderer to pickup all the oil it uses and RE-TREAT it and they RE-USE it for cooking, again and again and again. This guy started explaining the chemical process they used to do this, but I don't remember it all. It sounded really disgusting. Didn't get rid of all the poly-chains but did something so that it tasted "fresh" and stayed thin enough to fry with.

Basically, even though I haven't eaten at a McDonalds since 1983, I made a NEW pledge not to eat there ever again.

I think I would rather clean out sceptic tanks with a ladle.

[Botnst]

Originally posted by sohj
...
I think I would rather clean out sceptic tanks with a ladle.

Gotta be circumspect about them sceptic tanks.

Fast food is gross and frankly kind of expensive. You can have a sit down meal with decent service for what you pay for a fast food meal these days. Even when I'm on driving a long distance I like to eat at "real" places. Its such a nice break from the monotony. If I have to stop at a FF place, I try to stick with shakes or yogurt. Its prepared off site and only "served" there, and generally has less fat than the fries/burgers, etc., plus isn't actually handled by the staff. I'm not knocking the people, I worked at a FF place in highschool, so I'm telling you from my own experience.

This movie looks like a great idea to me. Check out the book "Fast Food Nation" if you really want to see how the "FF" industry operates. Its a good read really, but very telling.

Its interesting how McD has branched out to "Chipotle" grill and so on given consumer demand and lawsuits over the food. I think FF chains average a 4% return on investments outside their main chains, or thereabouts, so they aren't doing it just for money. I'm a part time bartender in a 3 star restauraunt so I follow the industry, which unfortunately includes fast food trivia.

[Botnst]

Originally posted by Orkrist
Fast food is gross and frankly kind of expensive. You can have a sit down meal with decent service for what you pay for a fast food meal these days. Even when I'm on driving a long distance I like to eat at "real" places. Its such a nice break from the monotony. If I have to stop at a FF place, I try to stick with shakes or yogurt. Its prepared off site and only "served" there, and generally has less fat than the fries/burgers, etc., plus isn't actually handled by the staff. I'm not knocking the people, I worked at a FF place in highschool, so I'm telling you from my own experience.

This movie looks like a great idea to me. Check out the book "Fast Food Nation" if you really want to see how the "FF" industry operates. Its a good read really, but very telling.

Its interesting how McD has branched out to "Chipotle" grill and so on given consumer demand and lawsuits over the food. I think FF chains average a 4% return on investments outside their main chains, or thereabouts, so they aren't doing it just for money. I'm a part time bartender in a 3 star restauraunt so I follow the industry, which unfortunately includes fast food trivia.

Orkrist, two great posts for you, this one and the "suits" post. You're on a roll!

My idea of fast food is a running/flying critter and it's good for you.