Super Size Me: At the Movies with The Cancer Pod

Leah: 0:00

Welcome to episode19of The Cancer Pod.This is the third installment of the at the movies pod.In today's episode,we're reviewing Supersize Me a documentary from2004.

Tina: 0:11

I'm Dr.Tina Kaczor,and when I was little my favorite fast food was Wendy's

Leah: 0:17

And I'm Dr.Lee Sherman.And when I was a kid,my favorite fast food was Arby's.

Tina: 0:22

Really?

Leah: 0:23

Yeah.Horsey sauce!

Tina: 0:25

And we're two naturopathic doctors who practice integrative cancer.

Leah: 0:29

But we're not your doctors

Tina: 0:31

This is for education,entertainment and informational purposes.Only

Leah: 0:35

do not apply any of this information without first speaking to your doctor.

Tina: 0:40

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast by the host and their guests are solely their own.

Leah: 0:45

Welcome to The Cancer Pod.Hey,Tina

Tina: 1:00

Hey Leah.How's it going?

Leah: 1:01

Pretty well Hey Tina,this is the third movie of our series.

Tina: 1:08

I love this.I'm having a good time.This is fun.

Leah: 1:10

I mean,we're going to,we're going to revert back to our old format,but I think we're going to come back to these if people like them.

Tina: 1:15

Yes.We'll see what people say.So if you like it,let us know if you don't let us know that too.

Leah: 1:21

And so this last film in our At The Movies series is a2004film that was actually,I think it was a winner at Sundance.Yeah,it is called Supersize Me and I thought,I felt when it first came out,but tI actually think I saw it a few years later because yeah,I was in school when it came out and there's no way I watched a movie when I was in school.Cause I was too busy.

Tina: 1:46

That makes sense.

Leah: 1:47

So the movie is rated PG13.I don't think we discussed the ratings on the previous ones,but they had like a lot of those little things in the upper left-hand corner.And I forgot what they're called.Cal language nudity,sexual content,smoking,substance use,and violence.Did it have all those things?I don't know.I don't know.Definitely had the nudity.

Tina: 2:09

Well,yeah.

Leah: 2:11

So,um,the,the description of the movie,which is available if you have prime video it's available there.You know,if you have the subscription.It's for free on Pluto,TV,I think YouTube,and Tubi.The description is"director Morgan Spurlock's social experiment in fastfood gastronomy sees him attempting to subsist uniquely on food from the McDonald's menu for an entire month.In the process,his weight balloons,his energy level plummets..."this is giving away the hold dang movie."He also examines the corporate giants growing role in the lives of American consumers and explores its methods of indoctrinating young people and its contribution to America's obesity epidemic."Okay.I didn't read that too well,but I didn't want to tell you all the stuff we're going to talk about.

Tina: 2:55

Got it.

Leah: 2:55

That's the premise of the movie.

Tina: 2:57

Yeah.So he basically eats McDonald's and only McDonald's for an entire month.

Leah: 3:01

He has very specific rules.He just can't eat willy nilly.Right.I mean,he has very specific guidelines.

Tina: 3:08

Yeah.So he sets out and he says,there's four rules.He will only,super-size a meal when he's asked to supersize a meal and he has to eat everything on the menu at least once.And if it's an item in McDonald's,doesn't sell it.He can't eat it so he can only eat off the menu,but that does include water.So he could purchase this water off the menu.And then he has to have three square meals per day.Now that's as eating rules.He kind of alludes and quickly kind of glosses over this point.He also is intentionally sedentary.

Leah: 3:42

Right?Cause he's a new Yorker and for anyone who's lived in New York city,I mean,you walk that's your transportation.Right.What's really funny is one of the McDonald's he shows at the beginning,I live near that one in the east village back in the day,but yeah,so he intentionally takes cabs instead of his usual walking.

Tina: 4:02

Yes.So that that's an important factor that we're going to come back to.

Leah: 4:07

And so what I want to do is I want to explain what supersize is.Supersize ended about the time,like right before the movie came.They stopped supersizing I believe it was in March of2004.Maybe.

Tina: 4:20

I don't know.I thought it was just after the movie.You think it was just before the movie,

Leah: 4:24

The movie came out in May.

Tina: 4:26

Okay.

Leah: 4:27

And I thought that I had read that the supersizing stopped in March,so a large.soda available at McDonald's now is a32ounce.And so to supersize it you'd go up to42ounces and it was just like a few cents more,I don't know,maybe,maybe a quarter at the most,it wasn't that much.So a42ounce soda is410calories where as it's now290calories for a large,and then the fries were seven ounces.And now there's6.2ounces.And so I guess it went from610calories to now the large,the largest size you can get is490calories.

Tina: 5:08

Okay.Okay.So roughly with the soda,it sounds like42ounces was410calories.So roughly10calories per ounce.

Leah: 5:18

Yeah.And I don't know.I think sometimes I think they have like self-serve things now,so it can vary,right?I mean,if,if you have,if you're pouring your own soda,like you can,at some fast food places,you can put very little ice and more drink,you know?So who knows,like when,if it was really42ounces,is it just more ice in the same amount of soda?Who knows?But anyway,so that's what supersize was because it no longer exists.

Tina: 5:43

Okay.Well,and McDonald's now does have all of this on their website,right?Their entire menu and its nutritional breakdown is on their website,

Leah: 5:51

right?Oh it's really,yeah.iT's kind of funny because in the movie they touch on that.It's on the website,but at the time in2004there weren't-

Tina: 5:58

Right.

Leah: 5:59

It wasn't as prevalent people weren't like on the internet as much.And so they kind of like were like,"yeah,but who's,who's got access to that,you know?And then they went around the restaurant and showed where all the signs were that actually talked about nutritional value,but yeah.Let's okay.So let's get started.We're going to start off,like we usually do.We're going to talk about things that we like,and then we'll talk about things that we didn't like.

Tina: 6:19

All right.

Leah: 6:19

Sound good?

Tina: 6:23

Let's do it last.All right.So let's talk about some things that we liked about the movie.

Leah: 6:44

I think,well,things that I found interesting about the movie,I guess that could be a positive thing was it talked about the lawsuits that took place.That was what started off the whole movie,a couple of girls in New York,they tried to Sue McDonald's saying that their,their weight gain was because of McDonald's.

Tina: 7:05

Yeah.So framing it with that in the very start of the whole documentary very interesting way to do it.And from a procedural perspective,cause he goes back to the whole childhood idea of McDonald's and children and-

Leah: 7:21

right.Yeah.So he talks,he talks about how like the marketing and the media and all of that revolving around McDonald's really appealed to kids.they did not win that lawsuit.They didn't know.In the end,you find out that they didn't win that lawsuit.And then as we talked about in the first movie,there was that cheeseburger bill,which is known as the.Personal responsibility in consumption act.And that passed,I believe in the house in2005.And that basically was like you can't Sue fast food rescue.For any of your health problems,it's not their fault.You have personal responsibility.So the movie lawsuit that they talked about was in2002,and then in2004or five,I think that bill was passed.

Tina: 8:07

Okay.So right after this movie came out,which is interesting.I mean,alongside that,and that's probably one of the reasons that now we have laws that stipulate that these restaurants must put their nutrition information where people can see it.Whether that's online on the wall in the restaurant,you have to be able to know.

Leah: 8:24

Or if you ask for it.They should be able to bring out like a,a folder or something.

Tina: 8:30

Yeah.I think there are actually in some,depending where you are,I think there is a mandatory posting,like you must make it publicly available.Yeah.So people can make the decision fully informed.

Leah: 8:39

Yeah.If people understand what that information means.Cause not everyone knows how to read a nutrition label,you know?So.Why am I looking at my notes and I'm not seeing the stuff that I liked?Oh,you know,what I thought was interesting was they showed serving sizes.Right.They did the comparison of serving size.And I guess at the time,um,they were,they interviewed a woman and she said that in France,the large soda was the same size as,a small in the U S so I think the small at the time was16ounces.And.That's the largest size available.So in,in France,I looked up what it is now,and the medium soda is the largest one you can get.And that16ounces and the smallest one you can get as a mini and it's eight ounces.

Tina: 9:26

And that's current in France.

Leah: 9:27

That's current in France.Yeah.So I don't know if they ever changed if they were always like that.So that,that was something that was interesting.It was just like what the different sizes are like a French fries.When McDonald's first started,and they had the tiny little fries and then what it grew up to be,you know,by the time the movie came out,it was a massive serving.Car companies changed their,the cup holders.Right.To fit the big drinks that started happening.So

Tina: 9:55

Yeah,I liked the entertainment value of this movie a lot.I mean,I definitely would say this was definitely more for entertainment than to say it was rigorous in any way,like In Defense of Food,felt like it was like,we're going to make sure we stick tried and true to the literature and the data and help people with a message at the end.This one.I don't know,a little bit more embellished.

Leah: 10:17

It was a shock you mentoree,right?That was the word that we learned that I think we were looking,we were struggling for that word.So the first film,but this is definitely a shocky mentoree.Like there were things in it that were to draw you in and I don't want to go into the bad stuff yet,but we'll stick with the good stuff,but that,but I mean,it was a very well done shocky mentoree,right?It had the music,it had the graphics,it had all of the gross out parts.

Tina: 10:41

They did,but at least they put that in a cartoon When they talked about the processing and the chicken nuggets,they used a cartoon to show us

Leah: 10:47

But not when he threw up.

Tina: 10:48

Well,the throwing up,I thought was a little odd because they put the minutes up there.Right.And they showed,this is what happens after15minutes,22minutes,whatever it was.And I was like,well,why did he eat so darn fast.Yeah.And look,we can get into that too.And on the,on the,on the second half of this.Okay.Let's take two.Can I say another thing I really liked?And I appreciate.I think it's a completely,especially in2004,but still to some extent today,the whole marketing to children and adolescents and.You know,whether it's the playgrounds that they had,or,you know,the fact that McDonald's was a clown.I mean,there was,you don't create a clown as you're their spokes clown.And that,that is not for adults.That's clearly for children.And it took a page out of the tobacco industries,book of marketing to the young people to hit those reward centers in the brain that say,this is a good thing.This is a good thing.So that when they become adults and make their choices,They turn to the McDonald's drive through.So,

Leah: 11:50

and they still remember the song.Yeah,I

Tina: 11:54

got to say,I think I know more than one.I mean,which is funny,cause I actually know all of their little jingles and I didn't like hamburgers,so I didn't even eat that.

Leah: 12:04

And yeah,we ate McDonald's on special occasions.Like I remember.And what's funny is when he goes to Chinatown and cause he's eating burgers all over the country pretty much,but he goes to Chinatown and he pulls out the big Mac and he's like,this is the only big Mac I've ever had that actually looks like the picture.But that's what I remember them looking like when I was a kid,my sister and I like,my mom would cut it in half and then we'd have half of,you know,half a big Mac.Cause we were little and split a fry.Yeah,but,and have a milkshake of course,but it was special.It was like a very special occasion.I don't think I ever was like,oh,I want to go see Ronald McDonald because he was a clown and clowns are creepy.But anyways,we digress.

Tina: 12:45

Well in the movie,he mentioned that one in four Americans go to a fast food restaurant every day.

Leah: 12:51

Right.

Tina: 12:52

That seemed excessive to me.And I didn't look up the numbers on that,but,you know,I believe it.I totally believe it because it's convenient.You have kids,you work,you're busy.It's seemingly cheap.Like I,I do believe it.And if you see like the lines at lunch,when you're driving around.When I moved to New Mexico from New York,I had a car.I don't know if I'd ever personally driven through a drive-through that I can remember.And I was like fascinated every morning.I'd go to a different drive-through and get breakfast.Okay.So,I mean,it was easy.It was on my way to work.Why not get my coffee?you know,my breakfast burrito.Yeah.Well,back to what I thought they did well,was that,was it the ethical breach in,in marketing,specifically to children?I think they did a good job framing that and then bringing it to the lunch room where that's just perpetuated and kids eat cruddy food at lunch,and they're served really bad pre-packaged food.And then he takes us to that one place in Wisconsin that was feeding.

Leah: 14:01

Oh,the Appleton's the school in Appleton.That was,that was great.That was like my favorite part of the movie.So what was interesting is that when they were in the other school,And they're saying like,oh,well this isn't the only thing the kids are eating the kids,you know,they they're bringing their own lunches.Yeah.Right.Those kids are eating just like soda and fries.Heck I remember when we,yeah,we got a milkshake machine in our school and I had fries and milkshake for lunch.

Tina: 14:30

Yeah.

Leah: 14:30

You know,I mean,it's just,if it's there,the kids are gonna eat it.I mean,I'm sorry.They're not going to be like,oh,this is a side dish for my healthful self.

Tina: 14:38

Well,heck no,no,you can't expect that children at all.You're going to go where your taste buds take you.

Leah: 14:43

So.The high school that they were talking about in Appleton Wisconsin is it's kind of a special school in that kids who aren't quite cutting it in like their regular school environment go there.And it's it kind of caters to whatever their needs are,you know,their learning or behavioral needs.

Tina: 15:02

Okay.

Leah: 15:03

So it's,it's in itself.It's a very cool program because they are trying to assist kids to grab.

Tina: 15:10

And they noticed that when they cleaned up the diet and gave them whole foods and colorful fruits and vegetables,and that they saw the teachers reported better behavior,

Leah: 15:19

better behavior,better focus.And ultimately there was no difference in the cost,

Tina: 15:24

which is amazing.

Leah: 15:25

It's incredible.You can have nutritious food.At pretty much the same price and yeah,I mean,and so many kids depend on the meals that are served at school.So if that's the only place that they can really get nutrition.

Tina: 15:41

Right.It should be the one place that's reliable.

Leah: 15:42

That's huge.

Tina: 15:42

It should be the one place that's reliable.The ramifications are felt over a lifetime.So the least we could do is get people to18with a healthy diet.I mean,especially when it's being USDA,you know,shipped by the USDA or stamped by them for their approval.I mean,the least they could do is put up enough guardrails to keep it healthy for these kids.

Leah: 16:02

oh,absolutely.And yeah,I think,like I mentioned,like,I think the story about the,the high school.Changes the diet and you can see a change in the kid's behavior.That definitely was my favorite part of the movie.

Tina: 16:17

Well,it was a positive message too,right?It's like,not just the problem of it.Here's someone who's trying out a solution and lo and behold.

Leah: 16:23

Yeah.Yeah.And we liked that.We liked that.We like to see the solution.We just don't want problems throwing it out.

Tina: 16:29

Right.Exactly.So I,I agree.I liked that too.

Leah: 16:32

Was there anything else that...you know what I thought it wasn't really positive.It was just kind of like amusing was that man,Don Gorski,he only eats big Macs.He has at least two big Macs a day.And he's,He's a thin guy.

Tina: 16:49

He said big Macs are90%of my solid food.

Leah: 16:53

Yeah.

Tina: 16:53

The dude eats nothing but big Macs.

Leah: 16:55

He eats nothing but big Macs,but he doesn't eat the fries,and he probably is not having the soda either.

Tina: 17:03

I would agree with you,'cause he's thin.

Leah: 17:04

He won a Guinness world record.I mean,actually like last year he consumed like32,000burgers since he started doing this

Tina: 17:15

well,and that,little piece right there,that he's not doing excessive number of calories.So the difference is Morgan.The guy who's in supersize me is eating nearly5,000calories a day.

Leah: 17:28

Yeah,that was ridiculous.And I,you know what,I found something that the dietician said he was eating5,000,but I think when I did the math,it didn't come up that high either.And I don't know why I'm not finding my math here,but yeah,I think he was eating like3,700.I think that was an exaggeration maybe cause to get5,000.I mean,he must've had,maybe he was doing multiple sodas.

Tina: 17:50

That's what I'm thinking.I think it was mostly had a need mostly from soda because that's the only way you could get there.It was a lot of sugar.

Leah: 17:56

Yeah,because so a double quarter pounder with cheese is740calories.A double quarter pounder with cheese meal is1,260calories.And nowadays,I don't know what it was back then,but nowadays it comes with a medium fries and a medium soda.So that in itself is1,260calories.But if you supersized it,then it went up.

Tina: 18:21

I think he said he supersized only nine meals in the whole month though.

Leah: 18:24

Yeah.So I think.I,and I tried to look like I tried to see,I was like,there are two sodas on his desk,you know,I tried to see what he was eating.He was not eating their set meals and having these health effects.He was bingeing.

Tina: 18:40

Yes.I would definitely call it binging for30days in a row.

Leah: 18:43

Did you see at syrup he put on the pancakes,like what the heck?Like that was gross.

Tina: 18:49

So that's a whole segment we need to do on high fructose corn syrup,

Leah: 18:53

but that's,but that's just like,no,that's a,that's a segment we have to do on don't put that much syrup on stuff.I mean,that was like,would you like pancakes with your syrup?

Tina: 19:01

Right.But he's probably using the whole packet.

Leah: 19:05

Right.I mean,and that's,and I'm sure people do that.And maybe that was just for entertainment purposes,but may,if he actually ate that much syrup and that was more than one packet.I don't know.I just,we're starting to delve into the,uh,

Tina: 19:20

the other side,

Leah: 19:21

the other side of it,but,okay.So yeah,so the dietician claimed he ate5,000calories a day,with the average being4,986.Right.That's what she says.

Tina: 19:30

And at the end of the movie,he said he ate a pound of sugar and a half a pound of fat every day.If that's the case,there's3,600calories approximately and just fat and sugar.So add another,you know,I don't know how many,12to14ounces of pure protein and you get1400more calories pretty easily.

Leah: 19:51

Okay.

Tina: 19:51

So it seems possible if it's true that he did a pound of sugar and a half a pound of fat.Now,I don't know.

Leah: 19:56

But can I say if somebody eats5,000calories a day of anything?

Tina: 20:02

Yeah.

Leah: 20:03

They're going to gain weight.5,000calories a day is a lot of food.And i you are sedentary,it's a heck of a lot of food.

Tina: 20:12

Right.Because he was losing muscle mass at the same time.So his basal metabolic rate has caloric expenditure just to sit around,was going down,down,down throughout the month.As you lose muscle mass,you lose.You're kind of,you know,your body's idling kind of like your car idles and uses a little bit of gas before you step on the pedal.It's the same thing with your metabolism when you're sitting around watching TV or whatever,or you're using a few calories cause you're idling and the more muscle you have kind of the higher,the RPM,the higher your idol,there's more gas that you're using.So for a gentleman like him to be sedentary for a month,lose a good amount of muscle mass I taken5,000calories.He's probably doing that would be like3000calories a day in excess,right?.

Leah: 20:52

Oh,yeah.Well,the dietician told him to stay at2,500calories a day just to maintain his weight and limit his total fat to80,80grams a day.That seems like a lot of fat.

Tina: 21:04

It does seem like a lot of fat.

Leah: 21:05

She said with25grams of saturated fat,I don't know.Okay.

Tina: 21:09

but it would have been nice to have.I mean,we saw the calipers come out,the exercise physiologists brought out the calipers and said,here's your fat,it was11%at the beginning,but we never had a re measurement of that.Did you notice.Yeah.

Leah: 21:19

And I'm not like,I mean,I don't know how accurate calipers are.

Tina: 21:23

Oh,they're supposed to be fairly accurate.I mean,it's not like a flotation tank or something or,you know yeah.

Leah: 21:27

But I went to a gym and somebody did the calibers on me and they told me that I was obese.

Tina: 21:31

Oh yeah?

Leah: 21:32

Yeah.

Tina: 21:33

Well that doesn't make sense

Leah: 21:35

Another good point that I think the movie made was that there are fast food restaurants everywhere.Right?I mean,they're,McDonald's everywhere in airports and they mentioned hospitals and that's actually true because where my dad had his open heart surgery in Florida,there was a McDonald's when you walked in and.And I seem to recall that the little pad with the up and down button,on the floor,on the cardiology floor had the golden arches etched into it.

Tina: 22:04

Wow.

Leah: 22:06

I seem to remember that I could've,I know that that was true.We didn't have phones in,you know,with cameras back then,so I couldn't have documented it.There's no evidence,but yeah,no,it was,I mean,that's shocking,right?Like,you know,your dad's in there for open heart surgery and you know,you can go downstairs and get McDonald's if you want.So,I watched this movie,actually both times I watched it with my husband and when he was in high school,he worked at McDonald's.So he gave me some little insider tips on how to order off the menu.He said that because when they showed the fish filet and like how gross it was,he said,if you want it ordered fresh,just ask for it without cheese or without tartar sauce.And they have to make it fresh.

Tina: 22:48

Oh,okay.

Leah: 22:51

So that was a little.

Tina: 22:53

Little tidbit,

Leah: 22:54

a little,a little tidbit.And just,if you want the tartar sauce asked for it on the side,

Tina: 22:58

just for the record,that was a whole nother chain.That was burger Kings,jingle,hold the pickles,hold the lead a special orders don't upset us.Remember?

Leah: 23:07

Oh,I remember.Was it,have it your way at burger king?

Tina: 23:11

That's it.

Leah: 23:12

Now you can sit at burger king,have it your way Okay.So we kind of talked about the more positive sides of the movie.And when we come back,we will talk about what we,what we didn't like

Tina: 23:28

and what they didn't cover.

Leah: 23:30

Oh,

Tina: 23:31

'til then.So.We forgot to mention something that we liked,or I should say I liked,I liked his girlfriend.I thought she was a good addition in there as a vegan chef,her perspective.And she was entertaining.

Leah: 24:04

Right.She was a good foil,I guess you would call.

Tina: 24:07

Sure.Okay.

Leah: 24:08

You know,like she was,she was there for him,you know,while he was,while he was doing his McDonald's experiment.And then in the end,she.Prepared some sort of,she called it her detox diet to kind of get him off the,uh,the McDonald's and into healthy food.Yeah.And

Tina: 24:28

so,uh,so they showed his labs.I want to talk about that for a moment,because I feel like they didn't tell us a few things that were important.Of course,I froze the screen on his labs.Cause I wanted to see them more,you know,line item and I could make out that for whatever reason he was having an auto-immune response,his thyroid antibodies were up.So there was a thyroid thing going on during this month that he didn't talk about.

Leah: 24:52

Wow,

Tina: 24:53

I'm not saying it was perpetuated after that month was over.It was probably due to the diet,but there was an endocrine effect of this diet for him.

Leah: 25:02

What did you see on the lab?

Tina: 25:04

It was antibodies to thyroid peroxidase,basically he had his T3is free T3and T4were fine.His TSH was high.So by all indications is thyroid was making thyroid hormone,but it was also having a little trouble doing so,

Leah: 25:22

but we don't know if that happened beforehand.

Tina: 25:25

No,because we only had that one clip,but my point is it's been Le it was left out of the whole storyboard.

Leah: 25:31

Oh,interesting.

Tina: 25:32

And if the thyroid is not functioning,normally that can certainly have an additive effect to all the other things.

Leah: 25:37

Oh,yeah,for sure.Oh,good eye.

Tina: 25:40

And the other thing that I feel like I want to add at this point,is that he said he would feel depressed.Got it.They showed,he was nutrient deprived on that particular diet,but he said he felt so much better every time he ate and what they didn't mention.And I think this would be an interesting point is what else is in that food?What we call excitotoxins.The chemical compounds that make you crave that particular food and make you feel better,

Leah: 26:07

or we touched on,they didn't quite say what it was,but they did touch on that.The food is made in a way with,you know,those,

Tina: 26:14

I think if you already know that you would know that,right,like you already know that you caught it in the movie,but I think it was glossed over so quickly.And so incompletely,he just sits down with gastroenterologists and says,I feel horrible until I eat this stuff.And then I feel so much better.My brain goes to all of that.Cause they dropped a few chemical compounds in there that affect your neuro-transmitters in such a way to make you feel good.

Leah: 26:37

Is that on the ingredient list?Do you see things that say.

Tina: 26:41

No.And I don't think you have to claim that the food industry,as you know,processed food in general is processed not only for shelf life,but also to become an addictive factor.And the only way to do that is to ring your bells up top in your head where your neuro-transmitters say,yeah,that's good.And so it doesn't matter if it's McDonald's KFC or taco bell,they're all doing it

Leah: 27:02

or cool ranch doritos,or cool ranch

Tina: 27:04

Doritos.

Leah: 27:06

So something else that I found that was totally interesting was so McDonald's doesn't have salads anymore and they stopped the salads last year,and I think they were citing supply chain issues.But what's interesting is because I looked at the menus for McDonald's in France and in Great Britain.And they,they have salads there and actually in France and great Britain,they offer vegetarian options.And I think it was in France,they have gluten-free options and in England they have vegan options.So the French fries here in the States are not vegan.They have beef flavoring,which is not made from beef,but it is made from wheat and dairy.

Tina: 27:51

And by the way,those compounds that I was talking about that affected your transmitters.They're almost always couched as flavoring.Oh,interesting.Yeah.It makes them proprietary.

Leah: 28:00

But I,I thought that was kind of a surprise that the natural beef flavoring it is made from natural things,but it's not made from beef.And they did that.They put the natural beef flavoring in that's made from dairy and wheat.They put that in their fries because the fries used to be cooked in lard.And then they took the lard out.Replaced it with vegetable oil and people complained about the flavor.And so they added beef flavoring in.So to all of you,gluten-free vegans eating McDonald's fries stop,but you can go to Europe and do it because apparently over there it's not,they don't use that.

Tina: 28:34

It's a long way to go for some fries though.

Leah: 28:36

I had someone,I went to England.I wanted to see what McDonald's was like over there.I just had the fries.I didn't have anything else.but yeah,it is kind of interesting to see the difference in the menu.

Tina: 28:48

I agree,

Leah: 28:49

but yeah.So no salads,you can't get a salad,you can't get the parfait and other things that they mentioned allegedly because of the supply chain issues.

Tina: 28:58

I did not know that.

Leah: 28:59

Yeah,because when I Googled it,I was like,oh,how much,how many calories are in or in a salad that the British site came up.Okay.So when we first started,we kind of mentioned about the shocking mentoree aspect with the music,those like creepy title cards.Like sometimes they,with the clowns,did you notice,like,you know,they would come up in like the title card said,Sue the bastards and then it said like nutrition and the last mixed supper.Those are the same that I kind of took note of.But then there was like,there were like creepy clown drawings on some of them.So that's kind of that whole shocking entry aspect.And then the gross out moments where he,well,Gorgeous himself on food within a short period of time and then throws up and then they show it.Yeah.

Tina: 29:45

Yeah.They didn't just give us the sound effect.

Leah: 29:47

And can I ask,like,why did we need to see him get a prostate exam?

Tina: 29:53

That's a really good question.I think that he set her on the heels of that happening.He said something about the checkups being thorough.Oh,okay.

Leah: 30:03

Well,that one was very thorough.

Tina: 30:05

So not only do we see the prostate exam,but we see it from the angle,the perspective of the doctor.

Leah: 30:11

Oh yeah,that's correct.And that would be the nudity.That is the only nudity that I can recall.

Tina: 30:17

Yes.

Leah: 30:18

Okay.There were like some parts of the movie that didn't age.Well,and the first part was when they had Jared from Subway.Yes,Jared

Tina: 30:27

from Subway who talked to the young woman14year old.He,well,

Leah: 30:31

he,and it was,he was mostly talking with her mom,right?Yes.But still,so he's talking.Yeah.So he's talking to a young girl and fast forward,I don't know how many years Jared is now serving15plus years in the state penitentiary.Because he was found with child pornography and he had paid and traveled out of state to have sex with an underage girl.So as soon as Jared,I forgot he was in the movie.And as soon as he showed up,like I just shut down.I was like,oh my gosh,no.

Tina: 31:01

Right.But the offense happened years after this movie was made

Leah: 31:05

or he was found.

Tina: 31:06

Right.No.Yeah.Well,yes.He was found guilty of the offense.

Leah: 31:10

Years later.

Tina: 31:11

Right.So when the movie was made that no one knew anything.

Leah: 31:13

Nobody knew.Right.I mean,it was like miraculous how all this guy did was eat at subway and he lost all this weight and he,you know,his famous thing was holding up his pants.Right.Like,which he did showing his pants that he used to wear.Yeah.

Tina: 31:26

Yeah.And he basically went around the country telling anyone who's overweight,you can lose weight,just go to subway and eat.

Leah: 31:31

Right.

Tina: 31:32

Yeah,which he did in the movie apparently because the14year old said I can't afford that.

Leah: 31:36

There you go.

Tina: 31:37

So onward,yes.

Leah: 31:38

Okay.So,and then the other part that didn't age well,was that when all of the me too stuff started happening in Hollywood,Morgan Spurlock actually came out and he confessed-I think it was like in a tweet-that he had committed like numerous acts of sexual,I guess,misconduct.Right.A woman had wants to accused him of rape in college.And then he said,There was a case of sexual harassment in the workplace that had a claim was against him.And then he also said that he had been unfaithful to his past wives and girlfriends.And at the time Supersize Me2was coming out,and because of this confession of him just being like,I'm putting this out there,this is,you know,something I did.Yeah.Then the second one.Didn't do well.It just where things where it's like,oh man,like these,these things,like I said,

Tina: 32:36

See this is why I don't want to know any of the backstories.I know,I know it's reality.

Leah: 32:41

But yeah.And then that had nothing to do with the movie,but the Jared thing,I was just kinda like skeeved.I was like,really?

Tina: 32:48

And I I'm so sheltered from anything that has to do with pop culture that I had no idea when I watched it has it,it has its advantages.

Leah: 32:57

Yes,it does.It does.The part of the movie that I disliked the most was the fa shaming

Tina: 33:06

Yes.

Leah: 33:07

So the visuals in the movie,I mean,it starts off with queen singing,fat bottom girls,and it's just all of these images of morbidly obese people with their heads obscured.Right.And it just kind of like that perpetuates through this whole movie.And then there's this one scene where he's sitting at a table eating McDonald's and it's like a Violent Femme song,Fat,is playing as part of the soundtrack and.This person walks behind him and goes and gets like a soda or something pops back and he's just chewing and eating.And it's like,it's a fairly large person is behind him.I was horrified.At that point I was just,I think I screamed and I was like,what is this?Like,how are you fat shaming people?Oh,it was just what was wrong.It was so wrong.

Tina: 33:55

Yeah.I know exactly the scene you're talking about it.It was really uncomfortable,and I was wondering where he was going to go with that scene,but that was the whole scene.

Leah: 34:02

That was the scene.And I don't know if it was staged or what,but it,if it wasn't,if it was staged,that was wrong.Yeah.If it wasn't staged,that was a complete violation.I mean,that was,I don't know what that was.

Tina: 34:17

Well,I think it's the part of him where he was showing us a little bit of a jerk.

Leah: 34:23

Yeah,he is.

Tina: 34:24

I mean,only,only a true unempathetic a-hole would do that and keep it in the movie.He made the choice of keeping it in the actual film.I mean,maybe he was having a bad day and he was a total bad mood.It was distasteful because it was kind of reflective of what was he conveying with his eyes?Incredulity?

Leah: 34:48

Yeah,that scene was just bad.As if all the previous footage wasn't enough.

Tina: 34:55

And now let's be clear.He starts this whole thing at six foot two,a hundred eighty five pounds.And he's fairly strapping.Like he's not fat,he's got11%body fat.Right.So it's even worse coming from him,right.It's not like,it's like,dude,you have no idea what these people are going through.And his position of being completely not empathetic or sympathetic with anyone who's struggling seems to come through.

Leah: 35:21

Yeah,no,that's kind of solidifies like his,his jerk factor.

Tina: 35:25

Which is interesting because here goes his health.he gets a fatty liver.His cholesterol goes through the roof.He looks like crap.He feels like crap.And I found myself not all that empathetic with the man and now,and re reflecting,you know,talking about it out loud.I'm like,that's probably why I was like,I didn't really feel empathy for him,maybe because all along it was kind of being not very nice.So I didn't,I didn't have that warm,fuzzy feeling or any kind of feeling like,oh dude,be careful.

Leah: 35:52

Oh,right.Yeah,no,not at all.But,oh,there,there was a part in the movie that I thought was really funny when he started describing,like he was having this sensation in his midsection and he's like,he feels like a wishing in his penis.And then the next scene he's at the doctor,he went to see the gastroenterologist about this.

Tina: 36:09

Yeah.Do you think that that had something to do with the gastroenterologist being a female?I don't know.

Leah: 36:15

I don't know if he discussed it with all of his doctors,because he saw a cardiologist,a gastroenterologist and an internal medicine doc.I don't know if that was something he discussed with all of them.And he just kept that part in where he talked to the female gastroenterologists.But yeah,when the,when they cut and he's like talking to her,I'm like,why didn't he go to her for that?That's just so weird.

Tina: 36:35

Either one of the other two would have been more appropriate because it's probably a vascular issue.If there's no blood flow issues with the cardiologist would make sense.And then the other gentleman was an internist,so yeah.

Leah: 36:45

And so then finding out about the whole me too thing,I'm like,

Tina: 36:51

okay.So we're also looking at it through the lens of2022.So I'm just saying that,because I think that some of this at that time he was doing that more blatantly than we would want to see now.

Leah: 37:05

Right.This is not the way he would make the movie now,for sure.And I'm actually curious to see the Supersize Me2,because it's about the chicken industry.And apparently,like there were some farmers who were really hoping that he would come out with this movie because,you know,poultry farmers,because he was kind of exposing,things that were wrong on their end,you know,like,so,but.I'll watch that on my own,on my own dime.Was there anything else?I mean,there were the experts,right?So the experts that they had in the movie.some of them we'd seen before.One of them was Neil Barnard,who is from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,which is that animal activist group.And then the other expert that we had seen before.Oh,so he was in the first movie that we saw.And then the other expert was Marion,Nestle,and she was in.In Defense of Food.And she was a professor at NYU,a professor of nutrition and food studies in public health.So there were some experts that weren't unfamiliar if you watched the other two movies beforehand.Or if you've seen this movie before then

Tina: 38:19

I liked that Dr.Nestle's name is Nestle

Leah: 38:22

I love that her name.I forgot to look up to see if she actually was related.But yeah,I noticed that in the last movie,that her name was Nestle,and I like her.I mean,I like the information she gives.So my takeaway,because there is another movie that came out.That somebody did,that was kind of like a rebuttal to this movie,Fat Head.There's a movie called Fat Head that came out in2009.And it was this guy who,I think he's a comedian and somewhere that said he was a health writer as well.And he only ate McDonald's and he actually lost weight,but I,I started to watch the movie and I was like,oh,I don't,I've seen enough McDonald's for a lifetime.

Tina: 38:58

There was also a book like that.In Iowa,who did it,ate just McDonald's for three months and lost a lot of weight,but he calorically,he kept his calories down to2000and he walked,four or five miles a day.

Leah: 39:10

Yeah.So it's possible.I think kind of like my big takeaway is the serving size.I mean,don't eat5,000calories a day,right?I mean,maybe that's,I dunno,how many,like professional athletes.How many calories they eat.I know that if you're working out all the time and you're,you know,training for the Olympics,you can eat that many calories.

Tina: 39:29

Can we talk about what a calorie is?

Leah: 39:31

Oh,that's right.They did ask people,what is a calorie?What is a calorie,Tina?

Tina: 39:36

Well,it's a unit of energy ultimately.Right?And so of course,if you do it,Morgan did,and you sat around.You're only,you're only using up the calories that you need to sit there and idle on a couch for24hours a day.And that's not much.But if you exercise,you burn the calories.And so you can take in more calories.So if he did those5,000calories and he kept up with his four to five miles a day,I bet his labs wouldn't change that much.He might gain a little bit of,weight because he wasn't walking off all5,000or whatever.But if he kept up his usual exercise routine and the dude definitely had an exercise routine before,if he kept it up,it might not have been anywhere near as profound a change on his labs.and his physical being.

Leah: 40:20

True,true.

Tina: 40:22

Because a calorie is and the energy and you have to either expand it or store it.That's it,once it goes in your mouth,I mean,other than eliminating it in your stool.

Leah: 40:33

So I actually wrote down like what they said the calorie was.Cause I was like,when we were interviewing people,what's it calorie.I was like,it's a unit of energy,but specifically it's one calorie is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of a liter of water by one degree centigrade degree.

Tina: 40:48

Yeah.You know,that's a trivial pursuit question?

Leah: 40:51

Is it?

Tina: 40:52

Yeah.It's one of the green ones.Yeah.Okay.I have to say one thing in your honor,you probably didn't even notice this,but there was a whiteboard behind Morgan in some of these shots that he did at his office.Did you see,there was a word on that whiteboard that you have used in a past episode that I thought was funny?Well,other people thought it was funny too,but he had the word brain farts.

Leah: 41:21

I saw that I saw the brain parts thing.I think those were.Like,um,projects he was working on.

Tina: 41:28

I think so too.The whole thing in the back on implied that he w that he worked on documentaries in general.

Leah: 41:33

Right,right.I think that's what he does.Yeah.But I saw the brain parts there.I did notice that.Yeah.

Tina: 41:39

Yeah.It made me laugh.So if there are people who haven't seen this and don't really want us.The net result is his cholesterol goes up,his triglycerides go up.He gets,

Leah: 41:49

By,like200.I mean,like I wrote down his,his labs initially,and then what they went to,like his triglycerides were like really low initially.And then they like skyrocket.

Tina: 42:00

Yes.And so the very first movie in this series that we had,which was What The Health demonized saturated.In this one,I noticed only the nutritionist really brought up sugar and the other,the doctors were all about the fat.That's a lot of fat and you're eating a lot of fat.The take home from this,I mean the bottom line is it's the fat and sugar combination.That's the worst.So even in this movie,when he talked to the son of the Baskin Robbins,

Leah: 42:30

Right,right.

Tina: 42:31

And he's a health guy.I mean,he's turned away from the ice cream empire because of health reasons.The point is ice cream is like the worst.You have a lot of fat and you have a lot of sugar.So just think of that as the prototypical kind of worst metabolically,the worst thing you can do,and it doesn't have a ton of nutrients.I mean,milk has some but metabolically.The worst storm is when you put excessive fat with excessive simple carbohydrate,that's the,that's the worst metabolic condition,you can put your body in.

Leah: 43:01

And he did it really well.

Tina: 43:03

He did it every day.

Leah: 43:04

Yeah,for30days.but yeah,so that's so,okay,so let's,let's cut to the rating.I'm curious to know on our scale of five broccoli,five broccoli being the best.What rating would you give this movie?Tina?

Tina: 43:19

I'm going to give it three.One,I think I'm feeling pretty generous.I think it's worth watching,but I think it's pretty clearly embellished.I do find the most offensive aspects,his fat shaming.I think that's very distasteful.I think that,yeah,there was a little gratuitous parts,like the prostate exam at the same time.I think that if the average American watches it,they might walk away with,okay.Some of the messaging comes across.Again,I kind of go back to the kids,you know,I think that that,that's the messaging that I wished we could just Institute like yesterday.How about you?What would you give it?I'm going

Leah: 44:00

to give it a two,two broccoli,because I mean,I think a lot of the information is dated,right?Because I mean,there have been changes at,McDonald's not that I'm defending McDonald's in any way,but I think you can get a similar message by watching a different movie.I don't know.I think by watching In Defense of Food,you can get a similar message without it being this gross out,you know,like him vomiting,even that at animation,I thought it was gross with the chickens.Like,I don't know.I just,I think,I think2.Yeah,there was it.Wasn't completely horrible,but yeah.

Tina: 44:40

Yeah.And I was flipping it around in my brain.What would I,what do I give it for a2004film compared to current film?And I think yes,today,if it came out yesterday,I wouldn't have given it less,for sure.

Leah: 44:52

Yeah.And I think when I watched it,whenever it was2007,maybe I think I was like,oh wow.Like I didn't,you know,I just watched it.I was on video.It was on a video cassette.I remember parts of it.I actually mixed up parts of it with,I think there was another movie.That came out where they actually showed that McDonald's burgers don't decompose.And I thought it was in this movie,but it wasn't.But anyways,yeah,I think it definitely affected me more watching it again than it did the first time I was like,oh yeah,well,you know,don't eat fast food.Of course.And now this time it was just.Wait a minute.Let's rewind that.What ha what are you doing?Like it's I dunno.It just affected me differently.

Tina: 45:35

Yeah.Yeah.I mean,it is interesting.I would love to put someone on a healthy5,000calories a day.If you can create that much,that'd be a large volume of food,but

Leah: 45:44

I don't think,no,I think,I don't think you could eat that much.

Tina: 45:47

I know it'd be hard.

Leah: 45:49

Oh my gosh.

Tina: 45:50

But if you could,and then you just sat around on your couch,like he did.What would happen?

Leah: 45:54

I think you'd be sitting on the toilet.

Tina: 45:58

Point well taken.What are you eating?Beans?I mean,you're

Leah: 46:00

eating a lot of beans or a lot of fat either way.

Tina: 46:07

It wouldn't have to be a lot of fat because there's no other way to do it.

Leah: 46:10

I know.Oh my gosh.All right.Oh,you know what?I actually just came up with a moment of Woo for this series.All right.I think the moment of what are these like Shockumentaries

Tina: 46:24

oh,

Leah: 46:25

You know,I mean,and I'm sure there are,there were parts in,you know,.The,in defense of food that may have been embellished or something,but it didn't have that feeling.But I think for the moment of woo,I'm just going to talk about,you know,when you see a movie that evokes a visceral response,the way that the,the first and the third movies did question what you're seeing.

Tina: 46:46

Right.

Leah: 46:47

So I think that's gonna,that's kind of my moment of woo.

Tina: 46:51

All right.

Leah: 46:52

These movies.

Tina: 46:53

Can we just have a BS meter?

Leah: 46:55

A BS meter.Yeah.

Tina: 46:57

Like when does your BS meter peg?Is it halfway?Yeah,I can feel the BS meter going,you know,get the little needle.

Leah: 47:04

That's not something that's that's in all of us.And so,cause like I said,the first time I watched this,I was like,oh yeah.Okay,sure.And now.A decade plus later I'm like question I question.

Tina: 47:19

Right.Right,right,right,right.Yeah.I think we were primed up in2004for this,as it was to take it,you know,hook line and sinker would just bleed the whole thing.

Leah: 47:29

Right.

Tina: 47:29

And I think now we know a lot more than we did then both us and the collective us.

Leah: 47:33

Exactly.Okay.So on that note,I'm doctor Leah Sherman.

Tina: 47:39

And I'm Dr.Tina Kaczor

Leah: 47:41

and this is The Cancer Pod.

Tina: 47:42

Until next time!We're going to resume our old format.So we'll see you then.Thanks for listening to the cancer pod.Remember to subscribe,review and rate us wherever you get your podcasts.Follow us on social media for updates,and as always,this is not medical advice.These are our opinions.Talk to your doctor before changing anything related to your treatment plan.The Cancer Pod is hosted by me,Dr.Leah Sherman,and by Dr.Tina Kaczor Editing by Brógan Molloy.Music is by Kevin McLeod.See you next time.