I'm Not Really Lovin' It

If you truly are what you eat, then Morgan Spurlock should come with a Surgeon General's warning: "Just one serving may permanently alter your quality of life." To investigate the effects an all-fast-food diet would have on an otherwise healthy body, Spurlock traveled the country eating nothing but McDonald's every meal for 30 days. Visiting regularly with three doctors and a physical therapist, the New York-based filmmaker recorded his rapid McDeterioration in the documentary Super Size Me. In one month's time, he lost energy, muscle mass, and even his sex drive, but gained a whopping 24.5 pounds!

But Spurlock's beef isn't just with McDonald's, but rather with a culture of gastronomical ignorance and excess. Obesity is quickly catching up with smoking-related cancers as the nation's leading preventable cause of death, and McDonald's is just one of the many contributors. "I picked them because they were the biggest, most influential chain in the world," Spurlock explains. "People follow them. They are the industry leader. So, by making the announcement last week that they were eliminating super-size options, what's going to happen now is every other chain across the board is going to follow suit: The Biggies, the King Sizes – these will go away because now all these companies are going to want to be the ones that are making steps towards healthy menu options."

Does Spurlock think his film has anything to do with McDonald's decision? "Absolutely. It's a great transition that's happening now, and I'm very excited that the film can be a part of that," he said. "Everybody knows this food's not good for you, but it's the level that it's not good for you that people really don't understand." That's why Spurlock agreed to be his own guinea pig, a stunt that makes even Michael Moore's in-your-face tactics look conservative. If you count yourself among the millions who grab their food on the go but never stop to consider the damage they're doing to their bodies, enjoy it while you can. Once Super Size Me opens nationwide on May 7, you may never want to touch the stuff again.

Super Size Me screens at the Paramount, March 19, 9:45pm.