Fast food bad? Shock!

Remember “Super Size Me” with Morgan Spurlock, that self-sacrificing documentarian who ate nothing but McDonald’s food for a month? (Ick - makes me shudder just thinking about it.) Well, Gut (great name for a journal, don’t you think?) recently published an article that illustrates some of the biochemical effects of fast food consumption. Subjects were instructed to eat at least two fast food meals a day and limit their daily exercise to less than 5000 steps (not a hell of a lot). Even after just a week of this, over half the group showed abnormally elevated levels of a liver enzyme (ALT, for those who care). These levels persisted for the rest of the 4-week study. If I remember the documentary correctly, Spurlock experienced elevation in his liver enzymes, as well. In fact, I think I remember his PCP seeming rather concerned by it. Oh - and the average weight gain by the end of the study? 14 pounds. As if we needed any more reason to shy away from those Big Macs.
14 Feb 2008 ekchung
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.