“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are”, was famously declared by the French lawyer and gourmet Brillat-Savarin in his book on the physiology of taste. After eating only large McDonald’s meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for thirty days, the American film-maker Morgan Spurlock is, ironically, a star.
His disturbing documentary film Super Size Me has been in US cinemas since May, and following much hype is to be released in Europe this month. After only one week of consuming nothing but fast-food and doing hardly any exercise, Spurlock had already put on 10 lbs; he felt chest pains within three weeks, and by the end of the month he had lost his libido, was suffering from depression and a lack of concentration, and had developed significant liver problems. On behalf of the Observer in the UK, Tim Adams carried out a similar experiment for only seven days, including Burger King and KFC besides McDonald’s, and also experienced a noticeable deterioration in his health.
Spurlock joins many others who have been firing their guns at the fast-food industry in recent years, including Eric Schlosser whose best-selling book Fast Food Nation revealed, unforgettably, that a single ‘fast’ hamburger can be made of bits of meat from perhaps 100 different cattle. The same applies to frozen mass-produced burgers available at supermarkets. You might well not enjoy having to describe that sort of pulpett to Brillat-Savarin if he wanted to know what you ate for lunch.
According to nutritional information given by McDonald’s USA on their website, a Big Mac has 600 calories, 300 of which come from its 33g of fat. A large bag of fries has 520 calories, with 230 deriving from its 25g of fat. Add a medium coke at 210 calories, and you have a quick meal with 1,330 calories. Not to mention the milkshakes and desserts, or additional bacon and cheese. No wonder that Spurlock’s body rebelled, facing that three times a day. Of course, most people don’t really eat this much fast-food every day, at least not in Malta. And McDonald’s itself is not really the issue; it is the entire fast-food product that is of concern, as well as over-consumption of soft drinks.
In response to the film, McDonald’s point out that they are introducing a new, less fatty and less salty menu in their outlets world-wide, in line with changing consumer tastes. True, although apart from a small variety of salads, most of this fresh-fruit, low-fat menu seems to have bypassed us here in Malta. It’s surely not because the Maltese don’t suffer from obesity and its related illnesses, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Long before fast-food chains crossed our seas, we had already invented pastizzi and lived among statues of the Fat Lady.
Like many others before him, Spurlock hopes that the fast-food industry will be reformed and offer healthier meals. He is producing a child-friendly version of his “film of epic portions” to be shown in schools. Children should be taught the dangers of eating too many burgers ‘n’ chips. They naturally love high-fat, sugary, bland foods, and fast-food chains specifically target children in their promotional campaigns. A strategic plan for research on obesity published by the US National Institutes of Health this week, says that obesity has “risen to epidemic levels in the US” and confirms that it is increasingly becoming a global health problem, also among children.
Apart from the obvious health risks, obesity carries a social stigma and is associated with depression. We are, however, warned that social pressures that glorify being thin pose another, equally disastrous, danger. Cultural norms, led by the fashion industry and advertising, which encourage achieving an unattainable ‘perfect’ body can lead to physical and emotional stress.
Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating are on the rise, in both men and women. These may begin with a desire to be slim, but are finally determined by other psychological factors, such as low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, depression or anxiety, and often result in severe mood swings. Eating is a complex thing and is linked to the emotions. Eating the wrong food, or too little or too much, will affect your mood; and so, in a more positive way, will eating the right food, and in the right quantity.
