I decided to rewatch Super Size Me

[Torn Mind]

I had to watch it in my HS health education class. I'm not sure whether I watched all of it or not...but it seems I forgot practically everything but the the two "McDonald's lovers" and some of Spurlock's reactions. Being a teenager...I was persuaded emotionally, even though I didn't even eat at McDonald's at the time.

Some quick hitting thoughts that have came about on rewatching:

1. If Spurlock vomited out one meal....then he didn't get the calories from the meal...
2. In one part of the documentary, the video shows an obese woman using what looks like one of those shopping handicap carts, while narrating "walking has become such a chore, we even using machines to do it for us". Um, people only do that because they've become really sickened, not because it's a chore. I find it rather hypocritical because this could be interpreted as "fat people lacking in personal responsibility" despite the documentary running on the premise that "it's not personal responsibility, it's McDonald's faults". Also, those handicap carts are the result of law requiring reasonable accommodation for disability.
3. In a similar vein, they seriously decided to feature Jared Fogle and Subway as some weight loss inspiration. Even without the later-revealed sexual predation Fogle engaged in, there is no way an alternative fast food restaurant is inherently better than 2004 McDonalds. Deli goop can be full of questionable chemicals too.
4. They gave credence to the casomorphin myth regarding cheese by featuring vegan advocate Neal Barnard and his inaccurately named "Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine"
5. His girlfriend in the film gave up veganism around 2013.
6. Effective activism doesn't need to rely on solidly reasonable grounds. Rather, hitting the passions and causing negative publicity are of higher importance.
7. Kelly Brownell can advocate for well-meaning policy solutions(that are out of touch or a slap on the wrist), but he's fat quite irl. Thus whatever diet he follows...is insufficient.
8. Spurlock's "days" highlights are so short they might as well be meaningless.
9. Sugar was named in association with other bad ingredients, a rare good thing from this doc, especially for the time.
10. That a "Personal Responsibility" bill did come into existence that would have protected the likes of McDonalds from being sued is something noteworthy, along with the substantial House majority that voted for it.
11. Despite apparently being inspired by a lawsuit by two minors against McDonald's and reading lines from that lawsuit, Spurlock delivers a line with an apparent negative connotation when introducing the case.

 

[Muse]

Have you seen Fed Up?

 

[Red Squirrel]

#3 is an interesting thought. It actually would be interesting to know if eating Subway every day would actually be healthier, or even healthy at all. My train of thought is no, because of the bread, but you are getting some veggies out of it so there's that. Those veggies are rather questionable though.

 

[Fenixgoon]

#3 is an interesting thought. It actually would be interesting to know if eating Subway every day would actually be healthier, or even healthy at all. My train of thought is no, because of the bread, but you are getting some veggies out of it so there's that. Those veggies are rather questionable though.

IIRC some of the breads subway uses have a lot more sugar than you'd expect for a bread, so it's very sandwhich-dependent.

 

[KMFJD]

yeah subway bread is pretty shitty, meats are loaded with salt as well...

 

[lxskllr]

A lot of US bread has loads of sugar. It's irritating. I'll see something that looks good, buy it, and it's noticeably sweet. You can get away from that by getting store made bread(from a quality store), but it doesn't have the lifespan of commercial bread.

 

[snoopy7548]

At my grocery store, I buy the locally-produced bread they display near the deli. This is what I'm hooked on, and it has no sugar which is nice:

Tuscan Wheat — Jessica's Brick Oven Bakery

Wheat

www.jessicasbrickoven.com

 

[Torn Mind]

#3 is an interesting thought. It actually would be interesting to know if eating Subway every day would actually be healthier, or even healthy at all. My train of thought is no, because of the bread, but you are getting some veggies out of it so there's that. Those veggies are rather questionable though.

Somehow Fogle was eating 10,000 calories a day but they switched to eating a turkey sub and an all veggie sub from Subway....

Plus, Spurlock apparently vomited out a Supersized sandwich on Day 2. If that vomit was real....than it means that burger filled him up and he couldn't eat any more, which is similar to eating a giant sub.

But he might have been damaged goods...first with food, then with children...

But giving Fogle not an insubstantial amount of screen time, and to show some 2004 teen or pre-teen who was still clearly overweight talk glowingly about him...does indicate the overarching intent this doc was aiming to do, which is inducing McD to act in some way in response at any cost.



If anything, the most compelling part was that school food also was definitely quite bad, but the doc is extremely superficial and misdirected. Yeah, cafeteria chefs may not cook anything...not that cooking fattening foods is any better than prepackaged food. Shit, a can of red salmon will out do many boiled or fried dishes.

The major impact of this doc though is that schools do show it...thus it impacts a group of impressionable but not very experience, rational, or mistrusting of what is presented to them, and many are insecure. I saw it when the documentary was only 1-2 years old and apparently some locales are still showing it to this day.

 

[MrSquished]

Somehow Fogle was eating 10,000 calories a day but they switched to eating a turkey sub and an all veggie sub from Subway....

Plus, Spurlock apparently vomited out a Supersized sandwich on Day 2. If that vomit was real....than it means that burger filled him up and he couldn't eat any more, which is similar to eating a giant sub.

But he might have been damaged goods...first with food, then with children...

But giving Fogle not an insubstantial amount of screen time, and to show some 2004 teen or pre-teen who was still clearly overweight talk glowingly about him...does indicate the overarching intent this doc was aiming to do, which is inducing McD to act in some way in response at any cost.



If anything, the most compelling part was that school food also was definitely quite bad, but the doc is extremely superficial and misdirected. Yeah, cafeteria chefs may not cook anything...not that cooking fattening foods is any better than prepackaged food. Shit, a can of red salmon will out do many boiled or fried dishes.

The major impact of this doc though is that schools do show it...thus it impacts a group of impressionable but not very experience, rational, or mistrusting of what is presented to them, and many are insecure. I saw it when the documentary was only 1-2 years old and apparently some locales are still showing it to this day.

I just can't take your opinions on food seriously when I know your diet.

 

[NutBucket]

Re: Bread

Yeah, I love bread. But, luckily I don't eat much sugar so having some in bread isn't a huge problem. This is what I typically buy https://www.daveskillerbread.com/21-whole-grains-and-seeds

Problem is I'll typically eat 3-4 slices at a time. Oh well.

 

[SKORPI0]

Earliest possible release March 24, 2029.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't care about sugar per se. I just don't want the flavor in my "real" food. I'll eat all the cookies, cheesecake, and ice cream you want to give me, but you can fuck right off with your sweet/hot combos. Just about everything in the US is fucking sweet. Americans have the palate of a toddler. It's hard to even get jerky that isn't loaded with sugar, but the recent low carb fad has helped that a bit.

 

[MrSquished]

The other crazy thing in this country obsessed with processed food, is if you're out eating something like a burger there's a good chance there's soy in your bun. Why the fuck is there soy in hamburger buns or bread?

Someone I know has a very bad soy allergy, So they have to avoid most bread out and about.

When she was in Italy being careful about her allergies and asked about soy and the bread the Italians said who the fuck puts soy in bread, That's insane and ridiculous they said.

And they are 100% correct

 

[Torn Mind]

I just can't take your opinions on food seriously when I know your diet.

Diet has been adjusted from the food log days. I've been extremely fond of eating 8oz of nut butters. Also couldn't kick the sweet tooth and ate a lot of apples and oranges in the interim. Now that I have gotten the first of four parts of perio surgery, even the fruits will have to be curbed and swapped.

I will routinely eat fish, nuts, a calcium source, a less sweet vitamin C course(i.e bell peppers, or broccoli)

What I would follow now is basically a quasi Mediterranean diet with a substantial modifications
1. No inhibitions regarding cheese, yogurt, eggs, or poulty. I don't like cheese yogurt, or eggs that much, so even with a laissez-faire outlook, I don't wind up eating much.
2. Near complete elimination of grains or addictive fruits like tomato products, which function in a similar manner to a glucose or table sugar.

I place a high value on fish and mollusks. This is also borne out by their nutritional composition, irrespective of personal diet.
I

I may eat is barebones philistine manner, but then again, no suffering means not health. Because the best foods are often the ones that are unattractive. It started as just to keep my teeth, not deal with constant abscesses, and keeping money out of the pockets of dentists; but it has evolved to also avoid late life cancer, because it's happened to both my parents and mother's grandmother, and I've also gotten a taste twice of how exploitative things can get when old age comes around.

You've never had to wiring to parse things line by line independent of and individual's other associated features.

 

[Torn Mind]

The other crazy thing in this country obsessed with processed food, is if you're out eating something like a burger there's a good chance there's soy in your bun. Why the fuck is there soy in hamburger buns or bread?

Someone I know has a very bad soy allergy, So they have to avoid most bread out and about.

When she was in Italy being careful about her allergies and asked about soy and the bread the Italians said who the fuck puts soy in bread, That's insane and ridiculous they said.

And they are 100% correct

Emulsification.

 

[MrSquished]

Emulsification.

I find it amazing that most major european countries manage to make bread without this emulsifier.

I bet if I went to Greece or France or Spain or Denmark they all look at me the same if I asked if there was soy in there bread because I was allergic to it. They all be like what the fuck is wrong with Americans?

 

[NutBucket]

IMHO the process of getting bread to the store in Europe is much faster...plus it isn't expected to last a week or more on the counter.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

It's still good it got McDonalds to get rid of the super sizing, as the soda and fries are the really unhealthy parts of the meal.

 

[NutBucket]

You're joking, right? The burgers are loaded with salt and fat.

 

[MrSquished]

IMHO the process of getting bread to the store in Europe is much faster...plus it isn't expected to last a week or more on the counter.

We are perfectly capable of creating a system focused more on higher quality foods created more locally if needed for certain types, like bread.

Also if you want to keep a big loaf of sliced bread around you can keep it in the refrigerator and it will last a very long time.

 

[NutBucket]

I don't disagree..but it'll cost more

 

[VirtualLarry]

It started as just to keep my teeth, not deal with constant abscesses, and keeping money out of the pockets of dentists; but it has evolved to also avoid late life cancer, because it's happened to both my parents and mother's grandmother, and I've also gotten a taste twice of how exploitative things can get when old age comes around.

If you're getting constant abcesses, maybe there i something WRONG, and MAYBE you should consider seeing "professional"? They're not ALL these dastardly robber-barons, only out to rob you blind.

While you're at it, might schedule a few sessions with a Licensed Mental Health Counsellor.

 

[NutBucket]

How dare you insert logic into this conversation.

 

[sdifox]

We are perfectly capable of creating a system focused more on higher quality foods created more locally if needed for certain types, like bread.

Also if you want to keep a big loaf of sliced bread around you can keep it in the refrigerator and it will last a very long time.

I have quite a few local bakeries near me. I don't buy bread from supermarket.

 

[rommelrommel]

A lot of US bread has loads of sugar. It's irritating. I'll see something that looks good, buy it, and it's noticeably sweet. You can get away from that by getting store made bread(from a quality store), but it doesn't have the lifespan of commercial bread.

You think bread having sugar is bad, look at the number of meat products that have it added.