Whenever I go somewhere that sells books, I am always on the lookout for anything related to health. You’d be surprised by how much is out there, and sometimes I stumble upon some really interesting titles. So it happened to be that I was looking through a library book sale a few weeks ago and I found this book called, Don’t Eat this Book. I couldn’t resist.
Many people have heard of Super Size Me, the 2004 hit documentary that followed Morgan Spurlock through a 30-day diet consisting of nothing but McDonald’s. Even I, before my health conversion experience several years ago, had seen the documentary. I don’t know what possessed me to watch it. I was a regular at the McDonald’s drive thru at the time, as well as at several other fast food chains. Even after watching it, I remember feeling really grossed out and knew that I shouldn’t eat McDonald’s anymore, but it didn’t last long. Within a week, perhaps less, I gave into my cravings and I was back at McD’s again, probably ordering a McChicken or McDouble (my favorites at the time.)
Even though watching Super Size Me didn’t change my life, I enjoyed the movie and appreciated the courageousness of Spurlock to willingly put his body through that. I was surprised to find that Don’t Eat This book was written by the same man, sort of a sequel to the movie. The book promised to be funny and entertaining, something I hadn’t been getting much of in my previous reads. Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t seen Super Size Me yet, you can watch it here and then continue reading.
Super Size Me
My expectations from this book were that I would have a lot of fun reading it and maybe learn a couple things. That’s basically what happened. Spurlock does a really good job of presenting the information in an easy to read format, making clever use of humor throughout the book. I really enjoyed it for that reason alone. For example, here is a short excerpt where Spurlock writes about his his inspiration for filming Super Size Me.
I never said I wanted to risk my health making my first movie, but what the hey? Everybody suffers for their art, right? Van Gogh lost an ear. Kurt Cobain lost his life. Poor Britney twisted her knee and had to cancel her summer 2004 tour. These things happen.
When he’s not talking about his movie, Spurlock spends much of his time talking about the disastrous situation of the health in our nation and the role that fast food has played in creating it. Much of what he writes about, the sad situation of food in schools, the growing obesity epidemic, advertising junk food to children, is not new news to me. For many people who are not aware of how bad the food has become in our nation, they will be very surprised at what he has to say.
Do Health Books Have to Be Written by Doctors?
Some people might ask how Spurlock could write a book related to health even though he is not a doctor. My opinion about that is that some of the best books on health that I have read have come from regular people. These books were the result of investigative journalism, boiling down years of exhaustive research into a few hundred pages. I admire that kind of effort. Such books as Salt, Sugar, Fat, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Caffeine Blues, and Fast Food Nation are all excellent examples. Still, while preparing for his movie and in writing this book, Spurlock called upon the advice and support of a small team of physicians and health experts including a cardiologist, nutritionist, gastroenterologist and hematologist, ear, nose, and throat specialist, and a gynecologist.
We Need More of These
From the time I left home until I had my health transformation, I ate a lot of fast food. Much of it was at McDonald’s. From my own experience and from everything that I’ve read and researched up til now, I can say without any doubt in my mind that the kind of food that is served at these places is a major cause of many of our health problems today. But you don’t have to take my word for it. If you look at the research, you will come to the same conclusion as me. For example, in 2005, The Lancet (one of the oldest and best known medical journals) published a study1 examining the connection between fast food use and weight gain and insulin resistance (Type II Diabetes). Their conclusion? I quote:
By comparison with the average 15-year weight gain in participants with infrequent (less than once a week) fast-food restaurant use at baseline and follow-up (n=203), those with frequent (more than twice a week) visits to fast-food restaurants at baseline and follow-up (n=87) gained an extra 4·5 kg of bodyweight (p=0·0054) and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance (p=0·0083).
No surprise here. Thank you for this book Morgan Spurlock. Any book that brings greater awareness and education to the public and empowers people to make better choices for their lives is welcome anytime.
1. Pereira MA, et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15 year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005;365:36-42. [Pubmed]
