New York Post
ARCH ENEMY By Megan Lehmann
Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's new documentary, "Super Size Me," details his 30-day McDonald's diet
and subsequent health woes.
January 22, 2004 -- LAST February, Morgan Spurlock decided to become a gastronomical guinea pig.
His mission: To eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald's and document the impact on
his health.
Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly
strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds.
But his supersized shape was the least of his problems.
Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of
his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body
deteriorated.
"It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock
told The Post.
His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he
suffered headaches and depression. .. "Consumers can achieve balance in their daily dining decisions
by choosing from our array of quality offerings and range of portion sizes to meet their taste and
nutrition goals," McDonald's said in a statement.
Over the course of the film, Spurlock is regularly examined by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist
and SoHo-based general practitioner Dr. Daryl Isaacs.
"He was an extremely healthy person who got very sick eating this McDonald's diet," Dr. Isaacs told
The Post. "None of us imagined he could deteriorate this badly - he looked terrible. The liver test
was the most shocking thing
- it became very, very abnormal."
Spurlock has since returned to normal health. "The treatment was to just stop doing what he
was doing,"
Dr. Isaacs says.
Spurlock, who says he ate at McDonald's only sporadically before his total immersion in the Mickey
D's menu, says he even began craving fat and sugar fixes between meals.
"I got desperately ill," he says. "My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I've never
had in my life.
"My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It was amazing - and really
frightening."
Spurlock's girlfriend, Alex Jamieson, was horrified - she's a vegan chef.
"She was completely disgusted by me, not happy at all," he says. "But she realized what my goals
were in trying to educate people." .. "I was feeling like a typical American on Thanksgiving - very
bloated and happy on the couch - and at some point on the news they were talking about two women who
were suing McDonald's.
"People from the food industry were saying, 'You can't link kids being fat to our food - our food is
nutritious.'
"I said, 'How nutritious is it really? Let's find out." ......'
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