When Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald’s for 30 days

Documentary film director Morgan Spurlock, who died of complications from cancer at the age of 53 on Thursday, 23, set himself a challenge to question the eating habits and weight gain of North American society. To do this, he started eating only McDonald’s snacks for a month. The menu included breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The result was the documentary Super Size Me: The Clown Dietfrom 2004. Nominated for an Academy Award the following year, the production generated worldwide buzz and misunderstanding about the consumption of ultra-processed foods in fast food chains.

The documentary is available on Prime Video.

Watch the trailer

At the time, doctors warned Spurlock that he would be putting his health at risk with the experiment. And that’s exactly what happened: On a diet of about 5,000 calories a day, he gained 12 kilograms, suffered from increased cholesterol, gained liver fat, and suffered from sexual dysfunction and mood changes.

To demonstrate the effects, the documentary director conducted before-and-after tests and recorded daily reports on the production. In addition to the usual meals, Spurlock accepted offers from employees to increase the combo size — that is, eat larger portions of sandwiches, soft drinks and fries — whenever they suggested it.

In 2017, Spurlock released Part 2 Super Size Me: Our everyday chickenwhere he opened his own fried and baked chicken franchise to question brands like KFC.