Thalita Ribeiro
September 14, 2012
Fast Food Franchising

The movie “Supersize Me” strongly influences American people’s perspective on fast food and its effects on our bodies. It is a documentary type film that intricately exposes how dangerous a habitual diet from McDonald’s, or any fast food restaurant, can be to our health. Morgan Spurlock, the main character, made a pact with himself and his viewers to stick to a strict diet. He had to eat only food from McDonald’s for 30 days straight to see what changes it would make to his body. His doctors recorded as much as they could about his body, including his body fat, body mass index, his cholesterol level, etc., before and after his experiment to factually see the difference. He visited four different specialists, a general physician, a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, and a nutritionist. The ending results were much unexpected. When one hears the statement, “A habitual diet from McDonald’s,” it sounds exaggerated. But frankly, recent studies have shown that each day, one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant. The McDonald’s franchise alone feeds more than 46 million people a day, which is more than the entire population of Spain. That’s a 43% total of the USA fast food markets. All of this intake of unhealthy foods can cause huge disturbances to our bodies. This movie is living proof of that. Some of the changes recorded after the experiment were that Spurlock gained 24.5 pounds, a 13% body mass increase, and a high cholesterol level of 230. He even experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver, which could be fatal. These signs are only a sample of many others that could come with an unhealthy diet involving too much fast food. Many people believe that eating fast food occasionally won’t cause any harm. This theory is correct, but with some exceptions.