Subtitles downloaded from www.OpenSubtitles.org
[ LIGHT FLUTE MUSIC PLAYS ]
MORGAN: Everything's bigger in America,
we've got the biggest cars,
the biggest houses,
the biggest companies,
the biggest food,
and, finally, the biggest people.
America has now become the fattest nation in the world.
Congratulations.
Nearly 100 million Americans are today either overweight
or obese.
That's more than 60% of all U.S. adults.
Since 1980,
the total number of overweight and obese Americans has doubled,
with twice as many overweight children
and three times as many overweight adolescents.
The fattest state in America?
Mississippi -- where one in four people are obese.
I grew up in west Virginia,
currently the third-fattest state in America.
When I was growing up, my mother cooked dinner every single day.
Almost all my memories of her are in the kitchen.
And we never ate out,
only on those few, rare special occasions.
Today, families do it all the time,
and they're paying for it -- not only with their wallets,
but with their waistlines.
Obesity is now second only to smoking
as a major cause of preventable death in America,
with more than 400,000 deaths per year
associated with related illnesses.
In 2002, a few Americans got fed up with being overweight
and did what we do best.
They sued the bastards.
taking aim at the fast-food companies
and blaming them for their obesity and illnesses,
a lawsuit was filed in New York on behalf of two teenage girls,
one who was 14 years old, 4'10", and 170 pounds,
the other, 19 years old, 5'6", and 270 pounds.
The unthinkable had suddenly become reality.
People were suing the golden arches for selling them food
that most of us know isn't good for you to begin with
yet each day, one in four Americans
visits a fast-food restaurant.
And this hunger for fast food isn't just in America.
it's happening on a global basis.
McDonald痴 alone operates more than 30,000 joints
in over 100 countries on 6 continents
and feeds more than 46 million people worldwide every day.
That's more than the entire population of Spain.
In the United States alone,
McDonald痴 accounts for 43 % of the total fast-food market.
They're everywhere -- Wal-Mart's, airports, rest stops,
gas stations, train stations, shopping malls,
department stores, amusement parts, even hospitals.
That's right -- hospitals.
At least you're close when the coronary kicks in.
Lawyers for McDonald's called the suits "frivolous",
stating that the dangers of its food are universally known
and that these kids can't show that their weight problems
and health woes were caused solely by their McDiets.
The judge states, however,
that if lawyers for the teens can show
that McDonald's intends for people to eat its food
for every meal of every day
and that doing so would be unreasonably dangerous,
they may be able to state a claim.
Are the food companies solely to blame for this epidemic?
Where does personal responsibility stop
and corporate responsibility begin?
Is fast food really that bad for you?
I mean, what would happen if I ate nothing but McDonald's
for 30 days straight?
Would I suddenly be on the fast track
to becoming an obese American?
Would it be unreasonably dangerous?
Let's find out.
I知 ready.
Super-size me.
[QUEEN'S "FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS" PLAYS ]
# Hey
# I was just a skinny lad
# Never knew no good from bad
# But I knew love before I left my nursery?
# Left alone with big fat fanny
# She was such a naughty nanny
# Heap big woman
# You made a bad boy out of me
# Come on
# Ohhhhh
# Won't you take me home tonight
# Ohhhhh
# Down beside your red firelight
# Ohhhhh
# And you give it all you got
# Fat bottomed girls
# You make the rockin' world go 'round #
I knew if I was going to do this,
I would need some serious medical supervision,
so I enlisted the help of not one, but three doctors -
a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist,
and a general practitioner.
You're feeling quite well today, yes?
In general, any fatigue or weight loss, weight gain,
any change in your vision?
No fever, no earache, no cough
no shortness of breath, no chest pain...
...nausea, vomiting, heartburn?
Dr. Isaacs: no hospitalizations for illness?
Do you take any medications of any sort?
I致e just been taking vitamins.
Any food allergies or anything?
No.
There's no heart disease or diabetes or blood pressure
or cancer in the immediate family?
My grandfather's had a couple open-heart surgeries.
One out of four grandparents is dead.
Yeah.
Good genes. That's the important thing.
- Any alcohol use? - Now? None.
You don't smoke?
I used to, but I don't.
Any drug use at all?
Not for a long time.
- Are you sexually active at present? - Yes.
- A girlfriend? - Yes.
Is there anything we didn't cover?
Is there anything else you need to tell me?
I don't think so.
"Patient is embarking on a one-month McDonald's binge."
Very good.
You might have something called white coats.
140 over about 95.
130 over 105.
120 over 80.
That's what it is?
The other guys are stressing me out.
You're much more relaxed.
I tend to do that to my patients.
Swallow, please.
[ GULPS ]
Your reflexes are perfect.
Good. Back out. Normal.
Say "ah."
Everything looks pretty normal here.
Good.
We'll skip checking for hernias.
We're gonna do a rectal exam.
I like to be more thorough than that.
And I like doctors to be thorough.
You're gonna go downstairs and get your bloods drawn.
So, the reason we have you fasting
is the true cholesterol and glucose number is fasting.
So, if you had, like, a bacon, egg, and cheese
your cholesterol would be way high,
or if you had orange juice, your glucose would be high.
Three down.
Your blood tests are excellent.
Your starting off with a total cholesterol of 168
which is less than 200, which is really superb
your blood level's fine.
Your iron level is good as well.
you have no evidence of diabetes.
Your fasting blood sugar is very low.
the other thing that we looked at
were all your electrolytes in terms of salts in your blood,
your kidney function, your liver function.
They were all perfect.
Your triglycerides, which is your building blocks of fat --
basically, what you acquire from eating fat --
is 43, which is low, which is good.
Your general health, you know...is outstanding.
Your urinalysis is great.
So, you're starting off terrific.
I think the worst-case scenario
is that you increase your triglycerides
and your cholesterol level,
and if you have any he art disease in the family --
underlying heart disease --
you're putting your heart at risk.
I expect to see an increase in your triglycerides,
because that can be affected.
You're at 87 now, and I think that will change.
I think that's the only thing that will change.
Out of everything?
Out of everything.
There might be some minor variations,
but the body is extremely adaptable,
and the kidneys will handle any extra salt you're taking in,
and your liver will be able to metabolize additional fats.
As far as you gaining weight, you probably will.
As far as your cholesterol going up, it probably will.
As far as you feeling miserable, may be.
I don't know.
Unless you start cheating and just order the salads.
I also went to a fancy new York wellness center
to meet a registered dietician
who would help track my progress.
Okay, let's start with getting your height and weight.
I知 6'2".
I weight about 185.
For your height, this is a healthy weight.
I can tell you that right now.
Your BMI, which is the body mass index,
is within normal limits, which means you're not obese.
You're actually at the correct weight.
So, I should keep a checklist of the things that I eat
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Your calorie needs are gonna be averaging
about 2,500 calories a day.
As far as fat goes, for 2,500 calories,
you're gonna want about 80 grams of total fat in a day.
The saturated fat, which is a component of total fat,
you want to have less than 25 grams a day.
Don't try to overindulge too much.
Good luck, Morgan.
Hi, there. I'm Eric Rowley, our exercise physiologist.
Great.
Rowley: the official weigh-in...
1851/2.
We'll go through the cardiovascular assessment,
and then I'll be able to calculate
how much oxygen your muscles can utilize,
and that's also an indicator
of what type of condition your cardiovascular system is in.
All right, good work.
I知 gonna use these skinfold calipers
to estimate your body density.
You're 11% body fat. that's great.
We're gonna measure your flexibility
of your hamstrings, your hips, and your lower back.
Good, good. very nice.
38 centimeters was your best.
There's a basic old-school test
for muscular strength and endurance.
36. Good job.
You're above average
above average fitness for your age group,
definitely, I'd say you're at a good spot right now.
More than 60% of Americans get no form of exercise,
so for the next 30 days, neither will I.
But I'll still have to walk.
How much does the average American walk a day?
We have these pedometers that we put on people,
step counters.
You could very roughly estimate at about 2,000 steps,
because 2,000 would make a mile.
And we know that people that work in office settings,
who drive a car to and from work,
who take an elevator up to that office,
may take as little as 2,500 or 3,000 steps
in their entire day.
If you wanted to feel physically like a lot of Americans do,
then you'd limit yourself to about 5,000 steps a day.
Us New Yorkers -- we walk everywhere.
We walk to work, to the park, to the store.
Most of us don't even own cars.
The average New Yorker will walk four to five miles a day --
a day!
That's a lot of walking.
I値l also have the blessing of being close to a food source
almost everywhere I go.
I walk past three golden arches just on my way to the office --
three in just over a mile.
There are more Mickey D's in Manhattan
than anywhere else in the world.
This tiny little island is less than 13 miles long
by 2 miles wide, 22.4 square miles,
and packed into that area are 83 McDonald's,
nearly four per square mile.
There are twice as many Mac Shacks
as there are Burger Kings,
and there are more McDonald's than KFC,
Wendy's, Popeye's, and Taco Bell combined.
That's a lot of burger.
I know he's gonna do it for a month,
but I think after a week, he's gonna be really irritated.
I think it's gonna affect our relationship.
MAN: You are a vegan chef.
Yes, I'm a vegan chef.
Ugh. I just don't know if I can --
of course I will.
I値l sit next to him while he eats McDonald's.
Of course I will.
I知 just gonna be rolling my eyes the whole time.
[ DISHES CLANKING ]
ALEX: I have a vegetable tart
and a quinoa and roasted veggie salad
artichokes, and a simple green salad --
all beautiful, organic, fresh vegetables
that you're gonna miss so much.
What am I gonna have that's organic?
In the next month? Nothing?
You're only gonna have genetically modified potatoes
I知 gonna eat as many vegetables as I can tonight.
There's plenty here for you.
That's really good.
Thanks.
Have they improved their cookies in the last 10 years?
Last time I had them, they were like little hockey pucks.
I don't know. We'll see.
It's the first day,
and I'm on my way to breakfast.
Could I get an egg McMuffin extra value meal?
Every 8-year-old's dream right now
that I'm getting ready to fulfill.
I got my egg McMuffin.
That's gonna be the first thing right there.
[ SLURPING ]
This McDonald's delivers for free.
All I did today was leave my apartment,
walk down the stairs, and walk to the McDonald's --
1,272 steps.
So, we got to go to the corner and we got to get a cab.
The cabs are gonna add up in this thing.
I can tell already.
I got my scorecard,
and in here, I had one egg McMuffin.
I had one sausage biscuit.
Do you eat fast food?
Once in a while.
Yeah? How often?
I壇 say probably once every two weeks.
Three, four times a week maybe.
In France, yes.
But here, no. I don't like here.
It doesn't sound very...clean.
And what's your favorite place?
Probably Wendy's.
McDo.
Taco Bell.
McDonald痴 is pretty close.
Do you ever have super sized cokes?
No, in France...
the small size here, it's a bigger size in France.
Even the small size here, I can't drink.
There are rules to what's going on here
in this whole process.
I will only super-size it if they ask me.
I can only eat things that are for sale
over the counter at McDonald's,
water included.
If McDonald's doesn't sell it, I can't eat it.
I have to have everything on the menu
at least once over the next 30 days,
and I have to have three squares a day --
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
No excuses.
Oh, I love Big Macs.
This is probably the first time in a long time
that I've seen a big Mac that looks like the picture,
that actually almost looks like the picture.
Look at that.
Big Macs never look this good.
You got to come to Chinatown for the good big Macs.
Mmm.
You've heard about all these people
who are suing these fast-food companies.
Yes, I've heard of them.
I think it's ridiculous,
but it's the American way to sue for everything.
I壇 throw the lawsuit out if I was a judge.
And like I was saying,
if these fast-food places can put their signs up,
if I can walk by them and just totally ignore them
and say, "I'm not hungry. I don't need this,"
they can do it, too.
We don't have to go there. We don't have to shop with them.
we can easily go in McDonald's and grab a salad,
but we choose not to.
Now, if the McDonald's refused them service,
they'd be in court again saying, "we were refused service."
so you can't win if you try in this world.
I think there's a lot of focus on the fast-food companies
because they are mentioned more
than virtually all the other causes
in most of the articles and books and studies
about why it's a sudden epidemic.
Again, it can't be the neighborhood restaurant.
We've had neighborhood restaurants
for hundreds of years.
It can't be the foods we eat at home.
We've been eating at home for hundreds of years.
Something is very different.
I think the figure is we eat out something like 40% of our meals.
MORGAN: John Banzhaf is currently spearheading
the attacks against the food industry,
advising many of the lawyers
who are currently going through the process.
People say he's crazy,
but that's what they used to say about him
when he first sued the tobacco companies...
until he won.
I think in terms of responsibility,
it's fair to point the big gun at McDonald's.
McDonald痴 is one of the biggest
but, more importantly, it is the one which,
far more than all the others, lures in young children.
They have the playgrounds, the closed, indoor playgrounds.
Many places, there are no other playgrounds.
You've got to take your kid there.
So even at 2 and 3 and 4,
those kids are being lured into there.
McDonald痴 is very heavy on birthday parties.
They, of course, pioneered the happy meals,
now the mighty kids' meals also
with those little "gotta have 'em" toys.
So they get the kids in.
And, of course, the whole clown. McDonald's has the clown.
A lot of those ads appeal primarily to kids.
There's a cartoon on TV which features him.
So they, more than others, lure the kids in.
I think all of us are far more concerned about the kids.
MORGAN: Another man who is worried about the kids
is Samuel Hirsch.
He represents the two girls who are suing McDonald's,
with much advisement coming from professor Banzhaf.
Why are you suing the fast-food establishment?
You mean motives besides monetary recompensation?
You mean you want to hear a noble cause?
Is that it?
Um...
I think that fast foods
are a major contributor to this epidemic.
MORGAN: In 2000, Dr. David Satcher
became the first surgeon general
to draw attention to the obesity crisis,
declaring it a national epidemic.
Now, remember, we're super-sizing everything.
You go to any fast food store,
and they're trained to tell you to buy a bigger size.
For five cents more, you can get the super size.
Federal government will define a piece of meat,
three ounces of meat, as a sensible portion,
and that looks like a deck of cards.
Few people would be able to find this deck of cards
if they were served a piece of meat, a steak, in a restaurant.
It would probably be about four or five times this size.
One typical bagel that one is eating
that looks something like this
is going to comprise five servings of bread.
When fast food companies first opened,
they generally introduced one size.
For example, one size French fries
when McDonald's first opened, called "fries."
that size fries is now called "small."
Medium, large, and super size.
That original size is still here.
It's got about 200 calories.
but the super size is gonna pack in over 600 calories.
When Burger King first opened,
they had a 12-ounce small and a 16-ounce large.
This 12-ounce is now kiddy.
The 16-ounce is now the small...
the medium, the 32, and the 42
and this is across the board with all fast-food places.
Cars have introduced larger cup holders
to accommodate those huge 7-eleven double gulps,
which are 64 ounces, a half gallon,
and hold anywhere from 600 to 800 calories,
depending on how much ice you put in.
MORGAN: A half-gallon of soda?
A half-gallon of soda for one person,
48 teaspoons of sugar.
WOMAN: Hello, may I help you?
Yeah, could I get
the double quarter pounder with cheese meal?
Large or super size?
I think I'm gonna have to go super size.
[ LAUGHING ] look at that. look at that coke.
That barely fits in there.
[ LAUGHING ] Oh, shit!
I致e got a -- look at that.
look at how big that thing is.
Look how big that French fry is.
That thing is, like, four feet tall.
Double quarter pounder with cheese.
More calories than anything.
There it is -- a little bit of heaven.
[ SMOOCHES ]
Mmm!
That's a lot of food, man.
I値l tell you what...
You get all that super sized stuff,
that stuff gets super sized, man...
Look at that.
I just put a --
I知 not even halfway done with those fries.
Not even halfway.
[ GROANS ]
This is like a workout.
See, now's the time of the meal
when you start getting the McStomachache.
You start getting the McTummy. You get the McGurgles in there.
You get the McBrick.
And then you get the McStomachache.
Right now I got some McGee that's rockin'.
MAN: Are you sweating there?
My arms -- I feel like I got some McSweats going.
My arms got the McTwitches going in here
from all of the sugar that's going in my body right now.
I知 feeling a little McCrazy.
[ GROANING ]
Just give me a minute.
[ LAUGHING ] I'm in pure McDonald's Heaven.
[ LAUGHS ]
ALEX: This is gonna be you, like, after every meal.
I知 dying.
God, that looks so nasty.
[ BURPS ]
It's making me puke.
[ VOMITING ]
Ohhh...
You all right?
Yeah.
I believe we live in a toxic-food
and physical-inactivity environment.
That is, we live in an environment
that almost guarantees that we become sick.
Not 100% of people become sick, but the numbers of people who do
are growing and growing and growing.
I don't believe that "toxic" is too strong a word, either,
because an epidemic of obesity
where 60% of the population is suffering
and record numbers of children are having this
is a crisis by any standard.
MORGAN: The toxic environment is constant access
to cheap, fat-laden foods.
It's gas stations that sell more candy and sodas than gas.
It's a nation where there are more than 3 million
soda vending machines.
That's one for every 97 Americans.
It's a world where people depend completely on their cars
for transportation
and where walking has become such a chore
that we rely on machines to do it for us.
My stomach feels horrible this morning.
It doesn't feel good at all.
There we go.
I知 getting this really weird feeling right in my midsection,
basically in my penis right now, and it's just like this --
[ MAKES WHOOSHING NOISE ]
It's really freaky.
That is very odd.
Yeah.
It could be from the caffeine,
but I couldn't really pinpoint that 100%.
I have a delivery for Mr. Morgan.
$13.39.
I made it over the three-day hump.
You know how when you quit smoking --
I don't know how many of you out there smoke cigarettes,
but you should stop.
I quit smoking. and there's the three-day hump.
[ LAUGHING ] Three-day -- it's the three-day hump
when you quit smoking cigarettes.
If you can make it over those three days
without smoking one cigarette,
if you can make it past day one, day two, day three, you're fine.
Same thing with this.
I made it past day three.
I知 all right.
Left unabated, obesity would overtake smoking
as the leading preventable cause of death in this country.
SULLUM: I was at this meal, and it came up
that one of the people was a smoker,
and somebody else at the table started hectoring them about it.
"What's the matter with you?
"Don't you know how bad it is for you?
"It'll do this, that, and the other thing to you,
and you really should stop."
And the smoker, rather than saying, "fuck you,
mind your own business" --
Which, I think, is the appropriate response --
was abashed and defensive.
"Oh, I tried to quit,"
and, "yeah, I'm gonna try again,"
and "you're right, you're right," and so on.
At that same table, there was a quite large woman,
and I was wondering -- what if this guy,
instead of confronting the smoker,
had said to the large woman,
"what's the matter with you, you fat pig?
"don't you know how dangerous it is to be so overweight?
"Stop eating, for god's sake. And don't you dare get dessert,
and what's the matter with you?"
Same logic.
I壇 be hard-pressed to find a distinction
between those two examples.
So, one is now socially acceptable --
to hector smokers --
but the other one isn't quite yet.
So the question is,
at what point will it become acceptable
to publicly hector fat people
in the way that smokers are publicly hectored?
A secret study by one of the tobacco companies
had the ominous title -- something like,
"brand imprinting for later actuation in life."
They would buy the little toy cigarettes,
and they'd start play-smoking them
at 4 or 5 or 6.
Wouldn't even notice the pack.
If you asked them what pack it was,
they wouldn't notice it,
but the theory was that somewhere, it's buried in here,
and then when they get to the age where they're smoking,
without even realizing it,
they're going for that pack that they recognize
because it had those nice feelings for them
when they were little kids.
The same way here --
they're satisfied, it's nice,
they remember the warm feelings
of playing and getting the toy,
being with mom and dad.
It's gonna carry through.
That's why when I have kids,
every time I drive by a fast-food restaurant,
I知 gonna punch my kid in the face
[ LAUGHTER ]
Then we'll never want to come.
# Rock 'n' roll McDonald's
# McDonald's will make you fat
# They serve big Macs
# They serve quarter pounders
# They will put pounds on you
# Rock 'n' roll McDonald's
# Rock 'n' roll McDonald's #
One of the most disturbing things to me
is that in the last 20 to 25 years,
we've actually seen a doubling
of overweight and obese children and adolescents.
MORGAN: And this weight gain has been linked
to countless health problems later in life, such as...
In fact, if current trends continue
one out of every three children born in the year 2000
will develop diabetes in their lifetime.
[ APPLAUSE ]
At least 17 million Americans now have type 2 diabetes,
about one out of every 20 people.
If the diabetes starts before the age of 15,
you lose somewhere between 17 and 27 years of life-span.
according to the new research,
the direct medical costs associated with diabetes
have doubled.
The direct medical costs have doubled in the past five years,
from $44 billion in 1997 to $92 billion in 2002.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 20% of the obese children
have elevated abnormal liver function tests,
and we have now started a study
where we're biopsying these children
to see what their livers actually look like
under the microscope,
and half of them have evidence of scarring of the liver,
fibrosis of the liver, the early stages of cirrhosis.
So, when these children end up being adults,
they're going to end up --
if they don't change their eating and exercise habits,
are gonna end up with liver failure
and, well, either transplant or death.
Did you want lettuce and mayonnaise on all of them?
I think it's very, very hard for overweight teenagers
because you're always going to see
the thin, pretty, popular girls,
and you can't help but look at them
and think, "I wish I was her," or, "I wish I could have that."
And it's depressing. It makes you feel like crap.
That's just how it is,
and of course it's hard being a teenager
because you see all the girls in the Cosmo girl
are teen people, and they're all beautiful,
and you think, "aren't I supposed to look like that?"
And it's just not realistic.
It's not a realistic way to live.
[ APPLAUSE ]
So, without further ado, let's welcome Jared Fogle.
[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]
My big thing was never smoking.
It was never drinking.
Obviously, it wasn't doing drugs.
My big vice was food,
and before I knew it, I wound up weighing 425 pounds.
I brought in a present for you --
my old pants that are now made famous
in all the subway commercials.
[ APPLAUSE ]
You're welcome.
WOMAN: This is my daughter, Victoria.
She's an eighth-grade honor student,
and you're a real inspiration to the kids.
I really appreciate that.
That's one of the greatest --
I started putting my weight on
as you guys know, about third or fourth grade.
She was real tiny when she was littler,
and it's been in our family.
In fact, I had a great-grandfather
that died and was buried in a piano box
years and years ago, so it's a history.
Absolutely.
And she's been trying to maintain her weight.
It's tough. it's always a challenge.
I know as a kid, it's awfully hard these days
and kids are not always kind.
No, not at all. And I know that firsthand.
And the problem is, the world's not gonna change
You have to change.
I guess it's kind of cool to know somebody
or be able to listen to somebody
talk about actually being where I am right now,
and it's kind of hard
because I can't afford to go there every single day
and buy a sandwich two times a day,
and that's what he's talking about,
like that's the only solution.
That's what he said worked the best,
but I can't do that.
And I've tried other ways, and it's kind of hurt my body
from doing other ways that I've tried to do.
And it's kind of hard to, like, look at someone
who says, "hey, I've done it. You can do it."
but it's not that easy.
ROBBINS: I壇 been sick as a kid.
I grew up eating a lot of ice cream,
more than you can believe.
We had an ice-cream-cone-shape d swimming pool in our backyard.
We had a commercial freezer with not only all 31 flavors in it,
but all experimental flavors that were under development.
And I made myself the official taster.
I had to approve everything, in my mind.
And I loved it. What kid wouldn't?
I literally had unlimited ice cream.
I ate ice cream for breakfast.
But I was sick a lot.
And I wasn't very athletic.
I was really ill.
And I didn't feel good.
So I would kind of appease that by eating more ice cream.
You can see how the vicious cycle would take place.
One of the triggering factors for me was my uncle,
Burt Baskin, my dad's partner and brother-in-law,
co-founder of the company -- died of a heart attack.
I think he was 51.
Now, my uncle weighed about 240 pounds --
heavyset fellow.
And when he died, as a young man, I asked my dad,
"Do you think there could be a connection
between his fatal heart attack
and the amount of ice cream he would eat?"
My father said, "No, his ticker just got tired
and stopped working."
By this time, he had sold more ice cream
than any human being that had ever lived on this planet.
He didn't want to think that the product was hurting anybody,
that it had contributed to the death
of his brother-in-law, partner, and, in many ways, best friend.
No way.
Ben Cohen, the Ben of "Ben and Jerry's",
a couple years ago, had a quintuple bypass procedure
at the age of 49.
My uncle, Burt Baskin of Baskin-Robbins,
dies at the age of 51 of a heart attack.
My father, Irv Robbins, the other founder of the company,
ended up with very serious diabetes.
You can't deny these links.
You just can't.
Yeah, could I get the two-cheeseburger meal?
Okay, super sized.
Second time.
Mmm.
Thank you, sir.
Thanks, man.
BENNETT: After five days on the McDonald's diet,
what I did was I ran three days' worth of food analysis.
the needs for you to maintain weight at the 185
that you were at when you came in -- 186 pounds
was approximately 2,500 calories.
Right now you're getting almost 5,000 calories a day,
the average being 4,986.
I would love for you to take a multivitamin.
McDonald痴 doesn't sell multivitamins.
Well, here's my new advice,
is just kind of minimize the meals.
A substitute for the hot fudge sundae would be the yogurt.
MORGAN: That is true, if you get the snack size --
five ounces.
If you get the regular size without granola,
it contains nearly as many calories as a strawberry sundae.
With granola, it has more calories
than the hot fudge or caramel sundae.
And if that doesn't make you think twice about the parfaits,
then how about this?
There's a big, nappy hair in it!
That's disgusting.
I知 gonna show you how we do it.
You go like this. we go... [ WHISTLES ]
look, it's long, too! did you see that!
[ LAUGHS ] Oh, that's so gross!
Only the finest at McDonald's.
Here we are at 190. 192, 193, 194.
No.
We have to stop everything. I don't believe it.
195 pounds.
It can't be. We have to redo this.
That's zero.
Second try.
88, 92, 94.
You've gained, actually, about 5% of your body weight.
Losing and gaining weight that fast is not healthy.
Do you eat fast food?
Yes, I do.
[ LAUGHING ] Unfortunately.
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. love it, love it, love It!
Love fast food.
How often do you guys eat it?
Every week?
Oh, maybe once or twice a week.
We're gonna go hit up McDonald's in a little while.
At least two times today
you know we ain't had no meal yet today.
We was just pointing towards McDonald's.
I get the number two, the cheeseburger
with the super size coke and fries.
Super-size it up! Make it bacon, 69 cents.
That's what they say. "Make it bacon."
Make it bacon, baby.
How often do you think people should eat fast food?
I don't know if they should eat it at all.
I don't know if I should
I don't know about what they should do.
Oh, that's baloney!
It's baloney!
What they need to do is 25 minutes on that treadmill,
work out a little, do some push-ups.
If you do some push-ups when you eat,
you'll keep your weight down.
I keep my weight down.
I hit them push-ups and everything,
Keep myself cool.
who has time to do that? we have to work.
We have to take care of kids. We have to clean.
so you exercise -- you run after your kids.
[ TRUMPET FANFARE PLAYS ]
[ SQUAWKING ]
# Chicken
[ SQUAWKING ]
These are the first McNuggets I've had
in this whole exciting tour of duty.
Look at that glistening in the sun.
Mmm.
Boy, that is miserable.
I知 not sure what portion of the chicken that's shaped like that.
I知 guessing this is the foot on the chicken.
In the lawsuit against them,
McDonald痴 stated in their own defense
that it's a matter of common knowledge
that any processing that its foods undergo
serve to make them more harmful than unprocessed foods.
Case in point -- McNuggets.
Originally created from old chickens
that could no longer lay eggs,
McNuggets are now made from chickens
with unusually large breasts.
They're stripped from the bone
and ground up into a sort of chicken mash,
which is then combined
with all sorts of stabilizers and preservatives,
pressed into familiar shapes,
breaded, deep-fried, freeze-dried,
and then shipped to a McDonald's near you.
Judge Robert Sweet called them
"a McFrankenstein creation of various elements
not utilized by the home cook."
So, for the past couple days,
which I haven't shared with everybody --
it's been a new thing --
I致e started to have -- not chest pains, but pressure.
I feel like I got pressure on my chest.
I figure that's probably not a good thing.
But neither's eating all this, so...
I tell you. I haven't smelled bad yet.
MAN: Yeah, you have.
No, I haven't.
You just don't smell how bad you smell.
Look at that fish filet.
Look at this thing.
Oh, God, that looks nasty, man.
Isn't that horrible?
Obviously, that's been sitting around all day.
That, the filet-o-fish.
Ugh.
Shit!
WOMAN: How can I help you?
Can I get the double quarter pounder with cheese value meal?
- Okay, thank you. - $4.86.
I don't feel good today.
Not that I feel sick,
but I just feel really depressed,
you know, for no reason. I mean, things are going great.
I致e had a good day.
I just feel really...
yeah.
It's not real hard eating this food all the time,
just because it tastes good, it makes you feel good.
I really noticed I'll eat some,
and just a little while later, I'll be hungry again,
and I'll want more -- more, more, more.
I知 pretty bored with their menu.
It only took me nine days.
But it's pretty good otherwise.
Nine days.
[ UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS ]
# Mmm, do that again
WOMAN: How many?
MORGAN: How many's the question.
We always ask how many,
and he holds up how many fingers.
That's it. It's always the "how many"?
It's just one for now.
As soon as I got my first car,
this is the first place I came to.
I bought three Big Macs, ate them out there.
I enjoyed them so much,
I came back about 5:00 at night, bought three more,
ate them out there,
came back around 11:00 before they closed,
and ate three more,
so the first day I came here, I ate nine Big Macs,
and it was like I couldn't get enough hamburger at that time,
and Big Macs are so good,
so I ate 265 in the first month.
MORGAN: How many do you eat a day, usually?
Usually it's two a day.
Now, last year, I ate 741 last year.
That's more than two a day,
so that means there's days I had three,
but that's because they're getting smaller.
Probably 90% of my solid diet is probably Big Macs.
That parking spot,
that's where I asked her if she wanted to get married.
This place is special -- a lot of reasons.
I had one whopper in my life -- 1984.
A guy gave me 5 bucks to eat a whopper.
After I ate the whopper,
took my 5 bucks over to McDonald's, got some Big Macs.
I always make fun of people at work.
They say, "I'm gaining weight."
I say, "well, you should try the Gorske diet."
they don't like that.
This is a perfect sandwich, you know.
At least for me, it is.
MORGAN: There it is -- bite number 19,000.
GORSKE: The wife says when she's got to put them in a blender,
it ends.
That's what she told me.
Big Mac smoothies.
# Ooh-ooh-ooh
# Ooh #
America痴 been McDonaldized, you know.
It's been franchised out.
It's like one of those "Flintstones" cartoons
where they just had something rolling in the background.
You kept seeing the same buildings go by.
It's like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, McDonald's,
K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Wendy's, K-Mart.
And it's like you have no sense of where you're at anymore.
The way I look at it is Cezanne was inspired
by the mountain he saw out his window,
and when I look out my window, I see no mountains.
I just see billboards and advertisements,
so I use that as my inspiration.
The average American child
sees 10,000 food advertisements per year on television.
95% of those are for sugared cereals,
soft drinks, fast foods, or candy.
A parent who eats every meal every day
for the whole year with their child
and at every meal gives a very compelling nutrition message
and can bring in cartoon characters and Michael Jordan --
so instead of selling McDonald's,
he sells oranges --
and Britney spears, instead of selling Pepsi
will sell radishes or lettuce or something --
that parents will have 1,000 cracks at their child,
compared to 10,000 for the food industry.
So it's not a fair fight.
By the time kids are able to speak,
most of them can say "McDonald's."
MORGAN: I'm gonna show you some pictures,
and I want you to tell me who they are.
Okay.
Who's that?
You don't know?
George Washington.
Who is he?
He was the fourth President.
He freed the slaves.
And he could never tell a lie.
Who's that?
Don't know.
I don't know.
No.
[ LAUGHING ] I don't know.
George W. Bush?
No. That's a good guess, though.
Who is this?
I don't know.
Goldilocks?
I forgot the name, but I think I know.
Yeah? where have you seen her?
That picture is on the sign.
Wendy.
Who's that?
McDonald, Ronald McDonald.
Who is it?
McDonald.
What does he do?
He was helping people at the cash register.
He works at McDonald's.
I love their pancakes and sausage.
He brings all his friends to McDonald's
for a happy meal.
Where have you seen him?
On television, on the commercials.
He's the character that made McDonald's,
and he does a lot of funny stuff on TV.
MORGAN: Companies spend billions
making sure you know their product.
In 2001, on direct media advertising --
that's radio, television, and print --
McDonald痴 spent $1.4 billion worldwide.
On direct media advertising,
Pepsi spent more than $1 billion.
To advertise its candy,
Hershey foods spent under a mere $200 million internationally.
In its peak year, the "5 a day" fruit and vegetable campaign's
total advertising budget in all media
was a lowly $2 million,
100 times less than just the direct media budget
of one candy company.
Think about the way food is marketed --
T-shirts, coupons, toys for children,
giveaways in fast-food places, place mats,
just all of the different ways
in which food marketing is ubiquitous.
The most heavily advertised foods are consumed the most.
No surprise.
Thank you. Come again.
Welcome to McDonald's!
MORGAN: Tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar,
high-fructose corn syrup --
high-fructose corn syrup and corn syrup.
That means sugar.
I知 gonna move over to my salad shaker.
I feel a little sick to my stomach.
This is the best part of the day --
when I get to be fat on the bed with my quart of coke.
Mm-mmm.
[ ICE RATTLING ]
People eat out a lot,
and so if there aren't healthy foods available at restaurants,
and there isn't good nutrition information,
it makes eating out difficult.
MORGAN: McDonald's says nutrition information
for all their products is available on-line,
but according to the 2000 U.S. census,
more than half of all U.S. homes
still don't have internet access.
So, what are these people supposed to do?
Go to the stores for nutrition information?
Is that information even there?
I went to find out.
Do you guys have any of the nutrition fact sheets?
Do you guys have one of those?
The things that fold out and have the nutrition info in them?
There aren't any over there?
Where would they be? Up front?
But they got lots of info about "Dora the explorer live!"
Let me check in the back.
That's cool. Thank you.
Just give me one second. I can't find the booklet.
You can use the one right there on the wall.
But you don't have ones you can take with you?
No.
Do you guys have one on the wall?
They only have fliers now.
We had one before. They don't put it up no more.
Why not?
I don't know.
Only half the McDonald's in Manhattan had the nutrition info
posted on the wall,
some had the takeaway nutrition charts,
and one in four had no information whatsoever.
This nice manager brought me the nutrition wall chart --
from the basement.
You don't have one that I could take with me,
like a takeaway?
Do you know when you'll have some of the paper ones again?
No.
John Banzhaf and I looked all over this McDonald's
in Washington for any nutritional information,
and then we found it.
Behind here -- you'd never see it.
It's right back there.
You can't argue
that people should exercise personal responsibility
and then not give them the information
on which to base it.
I got my chicken group.
ALEX: There's no chicken group.
That's my cholesterol group.
It's protein.
I got my protein group.
Carbohydrates.
I got my meat group.
You got meat, meat, sugar, and fat.
I officially had to loosen my belt the other day.
I had to go a notch lower.
One notch?
It was scary.
I知 an old pro at this now.
You'll get sick of this, too, though.
Your girlfriend must be loving you.
She hates me.
[ BOTH LAUGH ]
Thank you. Bye-bye.
I averaged out all the calories for the last nine days,
and you're still eating
over 200% of what your needs are.
I suggest you cut out all the liquids
that you're drinking from McDonald's,
except for water.
A lot of people, if they're obese,
and they lose 10% of their body weight,
it's beneficial.
It can be beneficial in terms of blood pressure and so on,
so gaining 10% of your body weight
maybe could be equally non-beneficial.
Here we go. Second weigh-in.
What do you think, Eric? 203?
About 202, 203.
I think you almost got 10% of your body weight gained,
so you've pretty much gained 17 pounds
in 12 days.
You better slow down.
I知 telling you, don't drink your calories.
I told him no more shakes,
no more coke, no more double burgers.
The staff here's calling you "burger boy."
It's starting to get dangerous now, man.
I知 getting nervous for you.
The one place where the impact of our fast-food world
has become more and more evident is in our nation's schools.
Can I get a shot of your lunch right there?
this is where schools turn a blind eye.
The student with the French fries
probably brought a bag lunch with real food.
The girl with the chips
is probably sharing them with someone else.
Out of sight, out of mind.
MORGAN: Barbara brown is the field representative
for Sodexho, one of the countless lowest bidders
that school districts have farmed out
the feeding of your children to.
Sodexho services more than 400 k-12 school districts
nationwide every day,
providing quality food like little Debbie snack cakes,
Gatorade, and candy bars to your children.
They also operate prisons
and feed thousands of inmates worldwide.
BROWN: Part of our position is that we're hoping
that through nutrition education,
the students will learn to make the right food choices
without restricting what they can purchase.
MORGAN: At this middle school in Beckley, west Virginia,
the school lunches don't have the flair they do in Illinois.
This school does not outsource their food service,
but they are on the federal school lunch program,
providing USDA reimbursable meals to the students,
most of which are reheated, reconstituted packaged foods.
Some days the amount of calories in each meal tops 1,000.
MORGAN: So, the USDA sends this food
for you to prepare for kids.
GLOVER: Right. Well, not all of it, now.
You've got sloppy Joe bar-b-que sauce with pork.
From the government.
Whatever happened to cooks actually cooking?
I don't know what happened. Too many whiny people.
They don't want to work hard.
It's easy to come in here.
This is the best tool we got right here --
box opener.
That's your chef's tool, the box cutter.
Open up a box, serve it, give it to them.
Let's look at the things that are actually cooked.
Here's a menu.
Mashed potatoes.
Ham. Chili will be homemade.
The chili will be homemade.
What about the tomato soup?
Campbell痴.
Meatballs?
Comes in a box. You heat it up.
Out of the course of an entire month,
6 out of 36.
You're only cooking 6 out of 36 meals?
Appleton central alternative high school
is filled with students who have truancy and behavioral problems.
But they've turned things around --
not through discipline, but through diet.
We were fortunate to kind of stumble across
this healthy program as a result of some contact
with natural oven and bakery of Manitowoc Wisconsin,
and they believe in low-fat, low-sugar,
non-chemically processed foods
that are free of dyes and preservatives,
full of whole grains,
a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.
We do no beef here at all,
and then it's the method of preparation,
where we don't fry.
A lot of baking and then just fresh preparation,
as opposed to opening cans
or thawing things out from the box.
We got rid of candy machines, soda machines,
brought in bottled water, and it was just a situation
where we saw a major change in the kids.
If you walk through these halls, and you're here,
these do not look like at-risk, out-of-control kids.
Their behaviors are better.
They seem to be more focused.
Teachers will tell you
that they get more out of them in the class.
MORGAN: Keep in mind, this is not a private school.
These are the "trouble kids" of the public school system
in Appleton, Wisconsin, that are eating so well.
and it costs about the same
as any other school lunch program.
So my question is -- why isn't everyone doing this?
There's an awful lot of resistance
from the junk food companies
that make huge profits off schools at the present time.
They don't want to get kicked out of the school system.
They want to be there to addict the children for life.
The soft drink companies, especially, boast about
how they're contributing to America's education,
but, in fact, what they're doing
is they're draining money from the community
rather than contributing money to the community
because the soft drink companies
aren't pumping those dollars into the machines.
It's the children in the community
who are getting the money from their parents,
and instead of that money going directly to education,
the soft drink companies are taking a cut of it
and walking away rich as a consequence.
We just banned soda in our school district,
and the sugar here shows you how much sugar a student will drink
in a week of just soda.
Forget about the rest of the food they eat.
And some of these companies are really opposing the ban
for reasons of that we would lose revenue.
And it's not about money.
It's not about economics.
It's about health.
Ooh.
The McDonald's Texas home-style burger meal.
That's a -- that's a local specialty.
So it's kind of like a big 'n' tasty?
Yes, except the big 'n' tasty comes with mayonnaise.
Oh, then, you know what?
I need the McDonald's Texas homestyle burger meal, please.
Would you like to super-size it today?
Oh, yes, I would.
Do a lot of people super-size it?
Yes.
Say you asked five people. How many of those five do it?
Actually, I get mostly all of them.
Mostly all of them? So you're batting about 100%?
I guess.
See that? She's that good.
Deborah痴 that good.
First meal inside the restaurant that I went in to get,
and they asked me to super-size it.
We're gonna keep a little tabs,
see how many times they ask me to super-size it here in Texas,
'cause Texas, out of the top 1 5 fattest cities in America,
Texas has five.
Here we are -- Houston, Texas, fattest city in America,
getting my first breakfast.
Hi, can I help you, sir?
When it comes to the topic of obesity,
many people are quick to point the finger
at various foods and food companies,
but the grocery manufacturers of America,
a Washington, D.C.-based lobby group,
whose mission is to advance the interests
of the food, beverage, and consumer products industry,
are quick to shift the focus away
from the companies they represent
and to remind everyone that there's more at work here
than just eating poorly.
GRABOWSKI: We believe very strongly in our industry,
and in other industries, I think you'll find
there's a growing consensus
that the solution lies in good education.
We have to get good information to parents
so that they can teach their children
better exercise and nutrition habits
and so they can lead the healthy lifestyles.
We don't teach physical education in schools anymore.
MORGAN: In the U.S., only one state
requires mandatory physical education for grades k-12.
It's also one of the fattest -- Illinois.
You got a heart rate?
Phil Lawler is the phys ed teacher
at Madison junior high school, home of the soaring war hawks,
the snack-ridden school lunches we saw earlier,
and one of the most well-executed
physical education programs in the country.
Supported mostly by fundraising and parent involvement,
Lawler has created a role model for instructors
and school districts nationwide.
LAWLER: When's the last time you ever heard of a science class
fundraising to get their labs?
eventually, society has to step up to the plate
and say, "This is important.
"We should have daily physical education
and equip it properly."
We have to say, "Our greatest strength
is the resource of our young people."
That's our future,
and the way we're treating our resources right now,
we're running into some serious problems with that.
I致e always said we've never had healthcare in this country.
we've only had "sick care."
I think daily physical education is the only place out there
that's really offering a solution.
PHILLIPS: When I start the music,
you are gonna begin traveling through general space.
You will go back to your spot,
and I will tell you a body shape.
Watch out for other...
People! People! People!
[ UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS ]
Round!
Good job.
MORGAN: How many days a week
do the kids here at this school get to go to gym?
Once. One day a week. For 45 minutes.
Is that enough?
No. Nowhere close.
Not when the surgeon general recommends that, at minimum,
you need 30 minutes of physical activity a day
to maintain your weight and a healthy well-being.
So, once a week is nowhere close.
MORGAN: In 2001, president Bush announced his presidency
with sweeping education reform.
The "no child left behind" act
would now hold states accountable
for not having students who met minimum education requirements.
Apparently, we were not only the fattest nation in the world,
but we were quickly becoming the stupidest.
It may be sending a very difficult message for schools.
One of the reasons recess is being cut back
in elementary schools, as I said earlier --
that's being cut out so they can prepare for the tests.
and something I've said to a couple of groups --
we could end up with youngsters who can read but who are fat.
So we have "fat readers."
The more and more we put mandates on the school,
to be very myopic in their focus,
we mitigate against all of these other areas
where they should be devoting time and energy,
including phys ed, nutrition, health.
these are all the things being cut out.
MORGAN: Who in here can tell me what a calorie is?
[ INDISTINCT TALKING ]
Something you should watch.
[ LAUGHING ] Yeah. You got that right.
Is it the fat that goes through your, um...
What's a calorie?
Oh, Jesus.
A calorie is an increment of, um...
Ugh.
Um, that's a good question.
Most of us know what a calorie actually is.
I don't know.
Oh, wait.
Is a calorie some part of fat? Like -- I don't know.
Uh...
It's something that builds up the fat in your body.
Calories are not good
It's the amount of --
See, I don't know.
I want to say it's the amount of calories in a calorie.
I never pay no mind to what calories are.
I just eat when I'm hungry, and that's it.
If you can tell me what a calorie is, go ahead.
A calorie is a measure of the energy content of food,
and a calorie, the kind that you usually see
when you see the caloric content on food labels,
one calorie is the amount of energy
that's needed to raise the temperature of a liter of water
by one degree centigrade.
MORGAN: Well said.
Could I get a bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle?
Hmm.
Smells like a little pancake.
Mmm.
Tastes like a little pancake.
[ LAUGHING ] Look at that.
I haven't walked a half-mile a day since we've been here.
No wonder everything's bigger in Texas
WOMAN: If you're inside, stay there.
The blizzard of 2003 isn't over yet.
MORGAN: I got my lunch.
I got my dinner.
Never have to leave the house.
I知 not gonna completely become vegan
just because you want me to.
I知 not saying you should do it because I want you to.
I知 saying you need to think about
what you believe is a system
that it is corrupt and immoral and wrong and hurtful,
but you're gonna be a part of it.
Where is the disconnect there?
Why don't you make that choice?
Why don't I make the choice to not eat meat?
Yes.
Because you like it.
'Cause it tastes good
I like bacon. I love pork chops.
Ham is the greatest thing ever.
I知 sure heroin is awesome.
Heroine and ham are in completely different categories.
I知 sorry, but ham and heroin are not the same thing.
They're not.
I could be strung out on ham for days and be okay.
You are a little strung out.
And I am strung out on ham.
It's hard for me to watch him go through this,
I got to tell you.
I worry about his health.
He's exhausted by the end of the day, just so tired.
He gets home really late from work,
and he gets all jacked up on sugar and caffeine,
and then he crashes.
And then when we do have sex, I got to tell you,
he's not quite as energetic as he used to be.
[ LAUGHS ]
I have to be on top.
Otherwise, he, uh...
You know, he gets tired easily.
I think the saturated fats
are starting to impede the blood flow to his penis,
and he's having a hard time, you know, getting it up.
He does, totally.
It's still good,
but it's definitely a big difference.
There's definitely a difference.
I can tell.
Ugh.
I feel horrible today.
My headache's coming back again.
It feels like somebody's yanking on the tendons behind my eyes.
My body ...officially hates me.
All the vitamins that you see here --
vitamin e, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and so on --
are all under 50% of what you need.
You're getting quite a lot of carbohydrates,
and I know, clearly, that those are all refined carbohydrates
because those are coming from the buns, biscuits, hashbrowns.
And the sugar --
let's not forget the most refined carbohydrate of all,
which is coming from your milkshakes and your coke.
MORGAN: In fact, there are only seven items
on the McDonald's menu that contain no sugar whatsoever --
French fries, chicken McNuggets, hashbrowns, sausage,
diet coke, coffee, and iced tea.
Everything else -- even the salads -- contain sugar.
BENNETT: I知 telling you -- 202.
I lost a pound!
Oh, thank God.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
You might have lost some muscle mass and gained some fat mass.
I lost a pound. Let's go get something to eat.
I was feeling bad in the car -- feeling like shit, really.
I was feeling really, really... Sick and unhappy.
I started eating.
I feel great.
I feel really good now.
I feel so good, it's crazy.
Isn't that right, baby?
Yeah, you're crazy, all right.
150 over 90.
The headaches might even be hypertensive headaches,
but they're probably not.
They're probably related to blood sugar.
You might be in this hyperinsulinemic state.
150 over 110.
Your total cholesterol was 165 before.
Now it's 225.
A liver that's inflamed in any way or sick in any way
will leak some of its enzymes out to the blood.
So this is very nonspecific,
but it means the liver is sick,
and the most likely cause of your liver sickness
is a fatty liver.
Your liver is now like pat?
SGOT was originally 21.
Now it's.. 130.
And SGPT was originally 20.
Now it's 290, a more than tenfold increase.
Not good, not good, not good.
Anybody would say right now that you're sick.
If you're fatigued with this,
you'll feel lethargic with this,
you'll feel run-down with this.
If somebody were doing this to their liver with alcohol,
they could theoretically wipe out all the liver cells
and they'd be in liver failure.
I致e never heard of anybody doing this to their liver
with a high-fat diet, but I guess anything's poss--
I don't know. I can't answer the question.
Never been done before.
No one's ever wiped out their liver
with a high-fat diet before.
Wow.
And I won't wipe out my liver in two more weeks?
I would think it would be unlikely.
I don't want to tell you you wouldn't.
My advice to you is to stop doing what you're doing,
because it's hurting you.
You're sick, and you're making yourself sick,
and you can make yourself unsick
by stopping doing what you're doing.
I知 just afraid there will be something
that's totally irreversible,
that there will be some damage done that...
- Yeah. - I don't know.
So, do they think that once you change your habits
that that's going to correct itself.
They think that everything should get back on track
once this is done.
Your liver -- I've been doing some reading - -
your liver is very resilient, and your liver heals itself.
Well, if you need a portion of my liver, honey,
you can have it.
I値l give up part of my liver for you.
Thanks, mom. Thanks.
There's a drug that is used in emergency rooms called Naloxone.
It's used for heroin overdose.
A guy comes in overdosed on heroin, comatose.
He's gonna die.
You inject him with this drug,
and it blocks the opiate receptors in the brain.
Heroin doesn't work. He wakes up.
If I give that same drug to a real chocolate addict,
a person just shoveling it in,
you find the most amazing thing --
they lose much of their interest in chocolate.
They take a bite, they set it back down.
In other words, it's not taste and mouth feel.
it's a drug effect of the food within the brain
that keeps us coming back again and again.
You're saying that your mood goes up
once you start eating.
Lately, every time I eat, I feel 100% better.
So it seems like you're starting
to get addicted to it now.
[ CURTIS MAYFIELD'S "PUSHERMAN" PLAYS ]
# I'm your momma, I'm your daddy
# I'm that nigger in the alley
# I'm your doctor when you need
# Want some coke, have some weed
# You know me, I'm your friend
# Your main boy, thick and thin
# I'm your pusherman
# I'm your pusherman #
MORGAN: McDonald's calls people who eat their food
at least once a week "heavy users."
I知 not kidding.
72% of the people who eat at McDonald's are heavy users.
They also have another category --
the "super heavy user."
These people eat their food
three, four, five times a week and up.
22% of the people who eat at McDonald's
are super heavy users.
If you look at the menu at a fast-food restaurant,
they use all of the addicting components.
They'll take a slab of meat, cover it with cheese --
cheese, of course, which is filled with the casomorphins,
the opiates that are found in the cheese protein --
and then they serve it with a sugary soda,
which has the addictive powers of sugar
with plenty of added caffeine.
Now, you might be a 12-year-old kid.
Your brain is no match for that combination.
MORGAN: in 2002, McDonald痴 France
took out a full-page ad in a French magazine
in which a nutritionist stated, "there is no reason
to go to McDonald's more than once a week."
McDonald痴 corporate headquarters in the U.S.
freaked out, saying that this is only one opinion,
and that the vast majority of nutrition professionals
say that McDonald's food can be a part of a healthy diet.
So, we thought we'd randomly call some nutritionists
to see what their opinions were
when it came to eating fast food.
How often do you think that people should eat fast food?
Ideally, never.
Rare to never.
The less, the better. Zero is the best.
Hopefully, no more often than once a month.
If you were stranded on a deserted island
or if we get bombe d with anthrax,
and that's the only food available,
that's the only time you should eat fast food.
MORGAN: We called 100 nutritionists all over America,
and the results were not on track
with the "vast majority" McDonald's talked about.
Only 2 out of the 100
said you should eat fast food two times a week or more.
28 said once a week to once or twice a month.
And 45 said you should never eat it.
95 of them agreed that it is a major contributor
to the obesity epidemic sweeping America.
Okay.
Okay? Okay.
[ TELEPHONE RINGING ]
Hi, Morgan, how are you? Bridget Bennett from Health.
Unfortunately, I have to tell you
that Health is gonna have to close its doors,
effective immediately.
I知 sorry to have to tell you that over the phone.
We're all sort of surprised, but we will proceed as before --
just not at the integrated Health center.
Okay, Morgan, thanks, and I will talk to you soon.
Bye-bye.
MORGAN: Apparently, we don't put much value
on health in America anymore.
In fact, each year, we spend over $30 billion
on diet products and weight-loss programs,
21/2 times what we spend on fitness and health.
There are pills, drinks, bars.
You can lose weight while you sleep, while you watch TV,
and while eating everything you want --
always pushing the newest way to stay thin without exercise.
Some people, however, feel that they have tried everything
and see only one remaining option
as their last hope for health.
HOWLETT: I'm diabetic.
80% of the people don't have to take insulin anymore after this.
Plus, I have hypertension.
Hopefully, correct that, lose my weight,
and lose my high blood pressure.
MORGAN: This is Bruce Howlett.
In a few minutes, his stomach will be surgically reduced
to the size of a small apple in a gastric bypass operation.
People with hypertension who are obese,
about 75% of them
will get rid of their hypertensive medications.
MORGAN: Doctors Adam Naaman and Carl Geisler
will be performing the operation.
Together, they have done more than 500
gastric bypass surgeries, and with their tandem technique,
they are setting the industry standard,
completing the procedure in less than 30 minutes
and sending patients home the following day.
We have established now that the only procedure
that really cures diabetes is obesity surgery.
I went blind for a week.
Just one day out of the blue, you went blind?
I went to work, drove to work that night,
got to work, couldn't read the charts,
and I had to call my supervisor, tell her I couldn't work
because I couldn't see what I was doing,
and called my wife, had to get her to ride to work
to pick me up and take me home.
And then once I stopped drinking the diet soda waters,
got my sugars back down.
I was fortunate enough, my eyesight came back.
I didn't do that much damage to them at that time.
I think it's human nature to seek a drastic solution
only when you're faced with a drastic problem.
I drank three or four of those a day.
This is a half-gallon,
so that means you were drinking probably
about two gallons of soda a day.
It wasn't unusual, for a two-week time,
we'd buy 50 two-liters of soda water.
50 two-liters every two weeks.
And I'd probably end up
having to pick him up a couple extra.
He drinks more than I do.
I値l go through about one of those a day.
There's some days I go through three or four two-liters.
A lot of us don't realize the social stigma
that these people face on a daily basis.
# One, two, three #
[ STRAUSS' "WALTZ OF THE BLUE DANUBE" PLAYS ]
MORGAN: It's, um --
it's, like, 2:00 in the morning on February 21.
I, uh, woke up, couldn't breathe.
I知 having really difficulty breathing.
I知 very hot,
and, uh...um...
felt like I was having heart palpitations.
Um...
Came up and walked around the living room.
I was trying to get my breath back.
and, uh ...I want to finish,
but I don't want anything real bad to happen, either.
Dr. Isaacs: your EKG is normal.
Deep breath.
And out.
Now, listen, I don't have a ready explanation
for your chest pain.
Would you at least consider taking aspirin once a day
now that you're on this ridiculous diet?
Maybe. I値l think about it.
Why would you even think about it?
Why wouldn't you just do it?
This is really -- you know --
you saw these numbers, right?
These numbers are absolutely outrageous.
For the first time, we're seeing uric acid elevated,
so you're giving yourself hyperuricemia,
and the danger of hyperuricemia is gout, kidney stones.
The results for your liver are obscene
beyond anything I would have thought.
Truly.
I mean...you know that movie "Death in Las Vegas" --
Nicolas Cage, that pickled his liver
during the course of a few weeks in Las Vegas.
I would never have thought you could do the same thing
with a high-fat diet.
My advice to you, as a physician,
is that you've got to stop pickling your liver.
And you're kicking it while its down now.
Now it's down, and you're kicking it further.
I mean, if you were an alcoholic,
I壇 say, "you're gonna die.
You keep drinking, you'll die."
If the pain starts to radiate to your jaw or down your arm,
that's life-threatening, and immediately so.
So I need to hear about that, or you need to call 911.
All right?
[ TELEPHONE RINGING ]
ALEX: Hello?
MORGAN: Hello.
Hi, sweetheart.
How are you?
I知 good. I'm worried about you.
Yeah.
I had no idea this was gonna be such a dangerous experiment.
Yeah.
I don't think anybody did.
The doctor didn't even think it was gonna be this drastic.
He's floored by it.
And, um...he doesn't know what will happen.
He says, "listen, I have no idea."
But he said that if I am feeling bad or feeling anything,
to page him,
and he'll admit me immediately wherever I am.
Oh, sweetheart.
Yeah.
[ SIGHS ]
I love you so much, and I don't want you to be hurt.
Yeah, me either.
Me either.
I値l tell you -- if you start to get nauseous
and you start vomiting and your eyes turn yellow,
you have got to go to the emergency room,
no matter where you are.
Again, if you're not keeping food down
or you're feeling sick to your stomach --
it looks like your liver-function tests
are getting worse.
My suggestion would be to stop the diet
and go back to eating a lower-fat diet,
rechecking the blood tests in a couple of weeks.
THOMPSON: Nobody needs to be partisan about this issue.
We need fixes, we need remedies, and we need support.
MORGAN: How much influence on government legislators
does the food industry have?
The food industry is an enormous business in the United States.
Therefore, it employs very expensive
and well-paid lobbyists,
and those lobbyists are in Washington for two purposes --
number one, to make sure that no government agency ever says,
"eat less of the company's products."
number two --
that the government never passes legislation that is unfavorable.
And I guess the third one is to encourage the government
to pass favorable legislation.
MORGAN: The GMA is one of those lobbies.
You're going to see us do what we do best,
and that is market appropriately,
finance education programs,
as we're doing in a great abundance,
getting good information out to parents
so we can solve the problem.
That's what we do in the food industry.
we think that is a responsible, important role to play.
We are not police. We are not regulators.
We provide a safe, affordable abundance of food
like the world has never seen.
The food industry and the broadcasters
are extremely powerful lobbies,
and ...they outgun us.
The industry has stepped up to the plate.
We're going to do more. we want to do more.
We recognize we have a role to play.
We're part of the solution.
We're part of the problem,
and we also are part of the solution.
MORGAN: Did everyone hear what he just said?
"We're part of the problem."
The lobbyist for Coke, Heinz, Smucker's, Kellogg's, Nestl�?
Kraft, Hershey's, Sara Lee, Cadbury, General Mills,
Seagram, Welch's, Wise, Anheuser-Busch, Birds Eye,
Lance, Campbell's, Carvel, Mars,
Ocean Spray, Hormel, Dannon, and Pepsi
said, "we're part of the problem."
I think we're making some headway.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
WOMAN: Good afternoon. Media Line.
Yeah, I wanted to speak to somebody
about scheduling an interview with Jim Cantalupo.
I can take the information
and have somebody get back to you.
[ TELEPHONE RINGING ]
Good morning. Media Line.
I wanted to speak to someone about scheduling an interview.
I can take the information
and have somebody get back to you.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of America,
for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
MORGAN: One more time.
Yeah, what did you do?
I said it. What were you doing?
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the united states of America, one nation...
MORGAN: And to the republic for which it stands.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of America,
and to the republic, for which it stands,
one nation, under god, indivisible,
and justice for all.
Liberty. Where's the liberty?
The liberty. Say it.
Do you want us to keep walking?
What's the Big Mac slogan?
You know, "two all-beef patties"...
"special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions
on a sesame-seed bun."
Yeah, you know that.
That is a shame!
[ LAUGHTER ]
Welcome to McDonald's. We're glad you're here.
# I hope you got fat
# I hope you got really fat
# 'Cause if you got really, really fat
# You just might want to see me come back
# I hope you got fat #
help me out, now.
# Hey, I don't care #
WOMAN: Hi, can I help you?
Could I get a large vanilla shake, please?
I知 sorry, sir. We don't have any shakes right now.
No shakes?
When will you have shakes, do you think?
Guess that's a never.
At the end of this month,
I値l have eaten as much McDonald's
as most nutritionists say you're supposed to eat in eight years.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Media Line. This is Sheila.
Yeah, Sheila, It's Morgan Spurlock calling.
I知 trying to reach Lisa Howard.
Okay, Morgan, I will let her know.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Hi, this is Lisa Howard.
I知 not able to take your call right now.
If you'll leave me a message, I'll get back to you...
Hey, Lisa, it's Morgan Spurlock.
I wanted to follow up on the e-mail I sent you...
...close to the end of the day,
and I didn't know when she was gonna be taking off.
I値l put another message on her desk.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ] Lisa Howard.
Hi, Lisa, it's Morgan Spurlock calling.
- How are you? - I'm okay.
So you got my e-mail.
Yes, I got your e-mail, and I'm circulating it around.
I don't have an answer for you.
Any idea when you think you might?
Probably in the next day or two.
Oh ...man.
Walking up the stairs has gotten --
it's starting to get really difficult.
By the time I get to the top, it's really pathetic.
[ EXHALES DEEPLY ]
Oh, man.
ALEX: I've got Morgan's detox diet all ready to go.
the biggest thing is taking the crap out
and putting good stuff in.
I知 really focusing on nutrient-dense food,
organic, seasonal, fresh food,
making sure that I'm getting as many cleansing vegetables
into his diet as possible.
[ OHIO EXPRESS' "YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY" PLAYS ]
# Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy
# And I feel like a-lovin' you
# Love, you're such a sweet thing
# Good-enough-to-eat thing
# And that's just a-what I'm gonna do?
# Ooh, love to hold ya
# Ooh, love to kiss ya
# Ooh, love, I love it so #
We're sharing a portion.
Yeah, we split it.
[ LAUGHS ]
# Ooh, love, you're sweeter #
Extra calories.
# I won't let you go #
I love you dearly, but you are demented, man,
you're sick.
Bye-bye.
Bye!
MORGAN: I can't believe that tomorrow I'm gonna get up
and not have to go eat McDonald's.
That's it.
Unbelievable.
Whoo-hoo!
Okay.
[ LAUGHTER ]
It just keeps getting bigger.
Wow.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, boy.
BENNETT: I'm gonna say 210, right on the money.
We went from 185.5 to 194...
a week later to 203, then down to 202,
and now eight pounds during the last week for 210.
I think we know the damage that can be done.
Lisa Howard, it's Morgan Spurlock calling..
I don't know how many times we've called her now,
but this has got to be the 15th time.
Lisa Howard, Morgan Spurlock calling from New York.
Please call me when you get this message.
We'd still like to schedule an interview
with someone from McDonald's.
Please call me when you get this
and let's talk about what's possible.
[ HIGH-PITCHED ] you'll not talk to anybody,
and you'll like it that way.
After six months of deliberation,
Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the lawsuit against McDonald's.
The big reason?
The two girls failed to show
that eating McDonald's food was what caused their injuries.
Interesting.
In only 30 days of eating nothing but McDonald's,
I gained 241/2 pounds, my liver turned to fat,
and my cholesterol shot up 65 points.
My body-fat percentage went from 11% to 18%,
still below the national average
of 22% for men and 30% for women.
I nearly doubled my risk of coronary heart disease,
making myself twice as likely to have heart failure.
I felt depressed and exhausted most of the time.
My moods swung on a dime, and my sex life was nonexistent.
I craved this food more and more when I ate it
and got massive headaches when I didn't.
In my final blood test,
many of my body functions showed signs of improvement,
but the doctors were less than optimistic.
I would very, very much doubt
that these numbers will return to normal.
Although it did drop, it was a small drop.
If you kept on the diet, you'd definitely --
I know that you'd probably develop coronary artery disease.
...inflammation and hardening of the liver.
Should people eat fast food?
No.
You know, the answer's no.
It certainly needs to be very restricted
and balanced with, overall, a healthy diet
and, overall, a lot of exercise.
And there's no reason whatsoever
why fast food has to be so disgusting.
Fast food can be nutritious.
It's a cheap form of food,
and it does keep you full for a while,
so you get your money's worth.
But unfortunately, you cause some major harm to your heart,
your liver, your blood.
I wouldn't suggest you continue the diet
for a year to check this out.
I don't think it's appropriate or healthy,
especially with what showed up with your liver.
MORGAN: So I shouldn't eat this food for a year?
No, I don't think so.
We see people who go on an alcohol binge,
and their numbers go up like crazy,
but to go on a Mac attack...
and they've got numbers to show that it attacks your liver, too.
Honestly, I wouldn't have even thought about this.
But it makes sense.
Now that we have the data, it definitely makes sense.
MORGAN: Still, the impact of this initial lawsuit
is being seen far and wide.
School districts in new York, Texas, and San Francisco
have banned sugary soft drinks in schools,
and all-natural, healthy options are popping up everywhere.
McDonald痴 joined right in, sponsoring events
that showed how health-conscious they'd become
and creating a new line of premium salads.
At the same time, however, they also masterminded
one of their fattest sandwiches to date --
the McGriddle, a pancake-wrapped creation
that won my heart in Texas
but can pack as much fat as a Big Mac
and have more sugar than a pack of McDonaldland cookies.
in fact, their new premium ranch chicken salad with dressing
delivers more calories than a Big Mac
and 51 grams of fat --
79% of your daily fat intake.
Over the course of my McDiet,
I consumed 30 pounds of sugar from their food.
That's a pound a day.
On top of that, I also took in 12 pounds of fat.
Now, I know what you're saying.
You're saying "nobody's supposed to eat this food
"three times a day.
No wonder all this stuff happened to you."
But the scary part is,
there are people who eat this food regularly.
Some people even eat it every day.
So while my experiment may have been a little extreme,
it's not that crazy.
But here is a crazy idea --
why not do away with your super size options?
Who needs 42 ounces of coke, a half-pound of fries?
and why not give me a choice
besides French fries or French fries?
that would be a great start.
But why should these companies want to change?
Their loyalty isn't to you. It's to the stockholders.
The bottom line -- they're a business,
no matter what they say.
And by selling you unhealthy food, they make millions,
and no company wants to stop doing that.
If this ever-growing paradigm is going to shift,
it's up to you.
But if you decide to keep living this way, go ahead.
Over time, you may find yourself getting as sick as I did,
and you may wind up here...
or here.
I guess the big question is --
who do you want to see go first, you or them?
Right now, you have the urge to eat something.
When it's through, if you still want to eat,
then you're probably really hungry.
Think about what I'm saying.
# F.a.c., that is me
# But I didn't use to be
# I was hot, I was hungry
# I was loose, I was free
# Then I waited in the line
# For some burgers and some fries
# Super size, that'd be nice
# Take a bite and close your eyes
# Round two, what do I do?
# I can barely walk around
# Jenny Craig, Richard Simmons
# But I still love to pound
# Hamburgers, coca-cola,
# Getting gas from too much soda
# Double double chunky chunky
# Hope this meal is never over
# The world is round
# And so am I
# Big boys, big girls
# With real big thighs
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Throw it down, throw it down, all day, every day
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Getting fat, getting broke
# Either way, you're gonna pay
# Super-size me
# Now I can't get out of bed
# So I have to order in
# I'm a triple-fat fatty
# And I have a triple chin
# Who's to blame for the lawyer tried to settle out of court?
# Get some cash, spend it fast 'cause I'm staring at my port
# 'Cause it's sad and it's lonely
# Ham and cheese with bologna
# Large pie, stuffed crust
# A doggy bag is for a phony
# I have lost the motivation
# To inhibit the sensation
# By the luck of frustration
# Birthday cake, I stick my face in
# Turkey club with double bacon
# It's got healthy connotations
# Fast food is overtakin'
# And it's super-sized the nation
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Throw it down, throw it down, all day, every day
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Getting fat, getting broke
# Either way, you're gonna pay
# Super-size me
if I can keep up this progress,
I値l have 25 pounds -- 25 pounds.
That's a lot of weight.
# Kentucky fried just right
# Chicken nugget, dip it twice
# Biggie fries, enchilada,
# Philly cheese, drive-through diet
# Pack on weight, party yak
# Heart attack, back on track
# Still so fat, slim fast
# Slim slow, touch your toes
# Finger-licking, hit the border
# Pull right up and place your order
# It's your way right away
# You deserve a break today
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Throw it down, throw it down, all day, every day
# Super size, super size, the American way
# Getting fat, getting broke
# Either way, you're gonna pay
# Super-size me
put something in your mouth.
# Super-size me
can I get extra cheese with that?
# Super-size me
what do you mean, 50 cents for extra cheese?
# Super-size me
I come here all the time! hook a brother up!
# Super-size me
ooh! A buffet!
# Super-size me
all you can eat, all day.
# Super-size me
is that the biggest size you got?
# Super-size me
I said I want it super sized.
# Super-size me
can I get, like, a bucket with a handle?
# Super-size me
two for a dollar? I'll take it!
# Super-size me
all I need is three more quarts...
# Super-size me
...and another set of hands.
# Super-size me #
that's a pretty good idea.
Wait, the sign --
[ ECHOING ] The sign said free refills.
[ BLUES MUSIC PLAYS ]
Download Movie Subtitles Searcher from www.OpenSubtitles.org