Morgan Spurlock’s 30-day McDonald’s diet is subject to specific rules.

Mcfat lot of good
Super Size Me


Stars Morgan Spurlock and countless McDonald’s staff
Rating: 3 stars

Reviewer: LT Simone Heyer

Super Size Me, with the accompanying advertising picture of a fat-faced Ronald McDonald, fairly well sums up the idea that McDonald’s isn’t good for you.

Morgan Spurlock sets out to prove this with a fast food diet, even though McDonald’s has low-fat, healthy food on their menu.

He gives himself 30 days to Mac himself up and follows his own set of very Mcspecific rules:

• He must eat three square Mcmeals every day.
• If McDonald’s doesn’t sell it, he can’t eat it.
• He must eat everything on the menu at least once.
• If they offer to super size the meal, he must accept.

After three days, Morgan can finally stomach his new diet and before long gets addicted to the high that the high-sugar, high-fat meals create.

Morgan validates all he does. He sees three doctors and a dietician before he starts the diet – all clear him as being ultra-fit and healthy.

The doctors aren’t overly concerned about his diet plans – they don’t think it’s healthy, but are pretty sure bad things won’t happen after only 30 days.

To ensure a more realistic result, Morgan decides to cut down on his walking. He walks more than most people and wants to show what a high fast food diet can do to the average American.

He consults real health experts – well, they have doctor at the front of their name – and offers the audience plenty of statistics, weights, and ingredient run-downs.

The film also looks at the problem of rearing fat kids in American schools. One run-of-the-mill school cafeteria is pitted against a healthy, fresh-food, no-junk cafeteria.

I expected Super Size Me to be full of anti-McDonald’s sentiment, taking the health thing over the top, then generally bagging Maccas.

It was informative and entertaining, in the spirit of Michael Moore-style documentaries.

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