In the fourth and final quarter of "Don't Eat This Book" I am now finished and have read a total of 16 chapters. The summaries of these chapters include health care and dieting, his experiment wrap up, and how we can make a difference in the future generation of food.
In chapter 13, Morgan starts the debate on "dieting, America's favorite pastime". According to statistics in this book, Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on dieting and diet-related products. This happens to be twice as much as we spend on fitness and health-related products. What ever happened to losing weight the old fashioned way, exercising? Americans today are so worried about the latest "fad diets" when in reality 95% of all fad-diet followers regain their lost weight. The thing that sucks us in about these "miracle" products is the promise of immediate magical results. Well guess what, that just doesn't happen! We only see short term results because the weight that we do lose is strictly water weight and lean muscle mass, not fat.
Another interesting topic he brought up was the lack of "nutritionally literate" physicians. "Physicians in Western medicine (America) aren't taught wellness and preventative medicine; they're set up only to react to illness. In our medical schools, newly trained doctors aren't getting the essential nutritional training, therefore they tend to shy away from problems related to it (obesity). This lack of nutritional expertise is what leads to the overprescription of medication in our country.
Chapter 14 comes the final day of Morgan Spurlocks 30-day McDonald's experiment. When running through the final rounds of blood tests and check ups, his doctor reveals some astounding results. First his weight was up to 210 lbs from a beginning weight of 185.5 lbs, meaning that he gained a total of 24.5lbs...in one month. Yikes. Next, he went on to describe that during this "McDiet" he was averaging nearly double the calories, about 180% of carbs, 1 1/2 times the protein and twice the fat of the daily recommendations for his body. He was ingesting 450 grams of sugar everyday (one pound a day) and topping his fat total by over 200% in averaging 184 grams of fat (60 grams of saturated fat) daily. In addition to processing all of this sugar and fat, his cholesterol soared from 165 to a whopping 230 points. The average level is around 180. His blood tests revealed that he was suffering from early signs of liver disease, hyperuricemia and hypoglycemia. All of these conditions were non-existent in the beginning of his experiment. Scary to think what one month of fast food eating can do to your long term health! After 5 months of eating nutritionally and slowly incorporating exercise back into his daily routine, Morgan Spurlock had lost 20lbs. His last 4.5lbs, however, took him an extra 9 months to burn off, due to the increase of fat cells in his body. He hasn't been in a McDonald's since the experiment. "Not even to pee".
Chapter 15 and 16 discuss how we can make a difference to our future generations. First he states that the UK is moving in the right direction in making their customers more aware by introducing the "traffic light" system. This is a system that would mark fatty, sugary foods with a red label and nutritious foods with a green label. I think this would be a good way to wake up consumers in America. It would spark the government, who are just waking up to the health-care burdens of obesity-related illnesses that racks up $117 billion annually. And we wonder where all of our money goes?!
"Every time you eat, you vote with your fork", quoted from Marion Nestle, is a powerful statement that implies you make a stand about what kinds of food you put into your mouth. You are stating what you stand for, what you believe in and what you want to display as an example for those who look up to you (your family, kids, siblings, friends). "You are what you eat and if you continue to eat bad food, you will suffer from bad health. If you want things to change, remember that change starts with you. So get aware and get active". Be prepared to influence a healthy change in your life and advocate the same in others around you.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about this book, because it was a real eye opener for me. I never realized the impact that the fast-food chains had on our country and how they were disintegrating our lives. The 3 most important things I learned and my challenge to you: advocate for health and well being, don't support the "power" companies and start packing your own lunch, and be a good role model for those around you. This is important because I believe that you alone can make a difference. I highly recommend this book because it really opened my eyes to the fast-food industry and how it's destroying our world. I think that everyone should be aware of what they are consuming and how it affects their overall health.
I like the being a role model portion, I truly believe that in our profession you must "practice what you preach."
ReplyDeleteWe are a nation of instant gratification, therefore we want to lose weight, but we don't actually want to take the time to lose it. I agree all these fad diets do nothing. Not only do people need to start eating right, but they also need to remember to exercise!
ReplyDeleteI really like the quote about the food vote. I've never thought of it that way. Drew Carey recently lost a lot of weight and he commented how we like to reward ourselves with junk food but that is actually for of a punishment for our bodies. We should reward ourselves with healthy tasty foods instead.
ReplyDeleteWow i can't believe we spend twice as much on dieting and diet related products as we spend on fitness and health! This seems to be a really big problem we have in America- trying to solve things AFTER they're already become a problem instead of taking preventative measures. We take the same approach with our health, the environment, and just about everything. Very valid point.
ReplyDeleteI liked the statement about voting with your fork. Every day we vote with our dollars. What we buy is what we support. It is weird to think of it that way, but we are voting everyday.
ReplyDeleteThe effect of the McD's diet on Morgan is astounding. It's easy to justify guilty pleasures by saying they're just once in a while but this proves that when you're indulging everyday, it will catch up to you fast! Thanks for sharing Katie!
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