The McDonald's Diet

In the January 22, 2004 issue of the New York Post was an interesting story about a man named Morgan Spurlock who decided to become guinea pig for a unique diet. He decided to eat three meals a day for 30 days at McDonald`s and document the impact on his health. Prior to this experiment he was a strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds.

After the 30 day regime Spurlock had gained 30 pounds and suffered other health consequences. Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car. "It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post.

The doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock`s entire body had deteriorated. Upon testing they noted that his liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression.

Spurlock recorded his journey from fit to flab in a tongue-in-cheek documentary, called "Super Size Me", which he has taken to the Sundance Film Festival with the hopes of getting a distribution deal. Over the course of the film, Spurlock is regularly examined by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist and SoHo-based general practitioner, Dr. Daryl Isaacs, who told the Post, "He was an extremely healthy person who got very sick eating this McDonald`s diet." Dr Isaacs continued, "None of us imagined he could deteriorate this badly - he looked terrible. The liver test was the most shocking thing - it became very, very abnormal."

In the article Spurlock further recounted his ordeal, "I got desperately ill," he says. "My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I`ve never had in my life. My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It was amazing - and really frightening. I was feeling like a typical American on Thanksgiving - very bloated on the couch - and at some point on the news they were talking about two women who were suing McDonald`s. People from the food industry were saying, `You can`t link kids being fat to our food - our food is nutritious.` I said, `How nutritious is it really? Let`s find out."

Not surprisingly, Spurlock has steered clear of the Golden Arches since the filming of his documentary was completed because it made him GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN inside and out.