24 Jul
Don’t Eat This Book
You may remember a film from a few years back called Supersize Me. A guy named Morgan Spurlock decides to eat nothing but McDonald’s for a whole month, and then chronicles his health and well-being throughout the process. I have to confess I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I did pick up a copy of Don’t Eat This Book, which he wrote after the film was made. We haven’t done any book reviews done here on FatBloggers, so I thought this would be as good of a time as any to include one.
After comparing the big tobacco settlements from a few years ago to the need for similar tort against the junk food industry, Spurlock delves into our current national Fat predicament. Marketing, super-sizing, getting “more for our money” all go into how we got so obese in this country. He calls this the “Super-Size Nation”:
Instead of trying to get people to buy two burgers, they put a bigger patty on one sandwich, called it a Whopper, and charged you a little extra for it. Instead of two Cokes, they started offering larger cups. Who could forget the birth of the Big Gulp at 7-Eleven?
Spurlock spends much of the book describing how he felt through out his “McMonth”, which took place in Feburary 2003. Along the way, he defends his project against his obvious critics, the fast-food industry. The physiological changes that took place are nothing short of scary: Almost 25 pounds gained, and his cholesterol went from 165 to 230. That was just one month; and a short one at that. He also reported a general feeling of lethargy, some uncharacteristic mood swings, and debilitating headaches during the process. What are all of those Big Macs doing to us long-termers?
I’m enjoying this book. Yeah, he gets a little preachy when he gets off-topic about American consumerism, but those are few and far between. I especially appreciate his advocacy for healthier food and more physical education in the schools. After I finish this book, I need to go find the dvd and see what I’ve missed. I’ll keep you posted.
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