Super Size Me

Silvana Arciniegas
Nutrition 1020
Christine Andrus
Super-Size Me Documentary (Research Paper)
This documentary is called “super-size me”. I chose it because it looked interesting. I
watched the trailer and it talked about an experiment that lasted a month and it grabbed my
attention immediately. “Super-size me” focuses on places like Mc Donald’s that sell fast food.
This documentary is based on an case study made by Morgan Spurlock. This experiment
consisted in eating from Mc Donald’s for a month to see what changes he sees in his body and
health. Why did he decided to do this? Because USA is suffering from obesity which became
one of the most consistent reasons why people die in USA. People in USA have a culture of
eating fast food. This is affecting kids and adults in a huge way. People suffer from obesity very
often thanks to places like mac Donald’s which has an enormous influence in the American
society. Advertising plays a huge role in fast food addiction. Strategies to attract kids is another
reason why people grow up loving mac Donald’s. Why? Because who doesn’t love mac
Donald’s as a kid? Who doesn’t love the combination between playground, ice cream and fast
food? People grow up thinking Mac Donald’s is a happy place with happy meals and that why
some people’s mind is set up to love mac Donald’s even more than their own health which is not
good at all.
The experiment was a very risky but fortunately it was well supervised. Morgan Spurlock
did a lot of examination before he started the experiment and the results showed that he was a
healthy person with the normal weight for his height. He had a healthy lifestyle because he used
to eat fresh vegetables and fruits constantly. Morgan received attention from the doctors and a
dietitian. He was also assisted by the physician Bridget Bennet. He was constantly supervised by
them before, during and after the experiment. Morgan started this experiment very enthusiastic.
He was basically achieving everyone’s dream! But think about it deeply, is it healthy to eat fast
food during a whole month? Do you think it would damage severely your body or would it be
something superficial? Do you think you would get tired of that food or on the contrary get
addicted to it? Those are key questions because Morgan with his experiment answered all of
them. Morgan began this process slowly and he didn’t feel anything unlike he was just enjoying
but when the time was passing his stomach started rejecting the amount of saturated fat and
added sugars he was adding. His mood start changing, he didn’t have the same energy as before
and as expected he started gaining weight. The doctors told him that this experiment would just
affect the triglycerides and that the damage won’t be deep because it was just a month and it
sounded logic but when he was finishing the experiment, he noticed that his heart was suffering a
change and that he was feeling very unhealthy. The doctors were constantly watching him and on
the lasts days they noticed that his heart was in danger and that he should stop the experiment
immediately. It took him just a month to damage his liver. Luckily the liver is an organ that heals
fast and easy. Morgan finished the experiment and started a strict diet based on healthy food. He
later became vegan with his girlfriend. I found this experiment dangerous and risky but very
informative especially in a country like United states that is constantly fighting against lawsuits
from people who eat in places like Mac Donald’s and after that feel that their health is in danger.
Is it fair? Don’t you think people is conscious about how fast food can damage our bodies? That
is why the president George Bush was trying to increase the level of education in high schools as
well as the implementation and physic education. A person that is informed can have control
over their desires and the physical education professor in the documentary suggested that it is
important to add a good portion of physical education in high school because 45 minutes a week
is nothing compared to what the body needs to stay healthy which is about 30 minutes per day.
This Documentary was released in 2004. Nowadays obesity is still a huge problem that
USA is fighting against because it is the country of the fast food and every time the industry of
fast food become bigger which means the consumers increase as well but a huge problem is that
the places that sell fast food are not conformed with the normal fast food portions but they
always want to super-size everything and almost the 100% of people feel tempted when the
cashier asks “ do you want it super-sized for 60 cents?” Who would say no? Just 60 cents for me
but millions for them! Fast food is becoming bigger sized. The soda cans could have 2 litters of
soda! That’s incredible. Fast food is everywhere and the advertising as well. We are constantly
tempted and that is playing with our minds, health, and bodies.
This class of nutrition opened my eyes about how easy is to be unhealthy especially in a
country like USA. I am Colombian and, in my country,, it is easier to find everything organic
and fresh. Let’s say it is something cultural and even restaurants serve fresh, organic food. We
like to pay for that, and I think that’s why there is not much obesity in my country but still is
normal to see cases of overweight. I can relate this documentary to many topics learned in the
nutrition class because we talked about how added sugars and fats can damage our body and how
consuming enough vitamins can help us to stay healthy and avoid some illnesses. I also learned
about how should look a plate to healthy and I could see that in the documentary as well. This
documentary reflected so many topics about my class and I think that’s why enjoyed it so much
otherwise I would not understand anything that was happening in Morgan’s body and health
during the experiment.
I learned so many things from this documentary. I didn’t know that there were people
who could apply lawsuits on places like Mc Donald’s because their own health situations. I also
learned that education plays an important role to have a healthy society and that our body is very
flexible, but it also has limits that suddenly react and can have negative affects on our lives.
What I would like to incorporate in my life from the documentary is that having a constants
communication with our physician and doctor could be a huge help to maintain, lose or gain
weight. They are specialized and they can tell us how we can manage our weight and be healthy
at the same time. Having a healthy life influences our mental health as well. A person who eats
healthy is stable and has less mood swings while a person who eats fast food constantly could
suffer from depression and other mental problems depending on the person. You are what you
eat therefore, who are you? Stay healthy and conscious about what is better for you. A remember
food can be as additive as a cigarrete.
Source:
Spurlock, Morgan, director. Watch Super Size Me Online. Prime Video, 2004,
www.primevideo.com/detail/Super-Size-Me/0I5O2SIGCNO6MJW4O402MEV70J.

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Silvana Arciniegas

Super-Size Me Documentary (Research Paper)

This documentary is called “super-size me”. I chose it because it looked interesting. I

during the experiment.

food can be as additive as a cigarrete.

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