# McDonald's Really Messing With Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583 "2010-03-24T04:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/41 "2010-03-25T01:58:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Obviously the answer is here. McDonald’s didn’t drug you; your kids did. I’d buy that. ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/42 "2010-03-25T02:06:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You’ve got those free test subjects living in the house with you. Drag those kids back to McDonald’s and force them to start chowing down! > > Or just look around at the other tables in the McDonalds and notice that nobody else is doing what you said you were doing. Obviously they’ve built up a resistance or a tolerance to those drugs. Happens to addicts, you know. ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/43 "2010-03-25T02:13:19Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > There is no such thing as a nutritional vacuum. What you experienced is a phenomenon known as confirmation bias. You experienced an unfamiliar feeling probably caused by a metabolic issue (being too hungry, eating food you don’t normally eat, low blood sugar, possible developing medical condition, etc. There’s literally more than a hundred reasons you could have felt the way you did) and associated it with McDonald’s reputation for serving unhealthy food and using some advanced psychology in their marketing. Combine that with the fact that you’ve heard McDonald’s might go as far as to drug their food to stimulate the feeling you had, and suddenly the one thing seems like evidence for the other. > > There’s plenty of reasons not to eat at McDonald’s, but “I’m afraid of being drugged” isn’t one of them. There probably isn’t a restaurant chain under more regulatory scrutiny than McDonald’s. The food just sucks. Yeah, but. . . but. . . . “it was all in your head” seems a little too easy, a little too trite, and smacks a little bit too much of “blame the victim.” Hey, the head’s a powerful thing, sure maybe it was all in my head. . . . . . but I think there’s more here. I certainly didn’t consciously believe that McDonald’s drugged their food or I’d never go there. It was such a bizarre experience that I figured the collective intelligence of this forum could cough up some similar anecdotes or maybe some good ol’ military-industrial conspiracies. Or maybe someone out there’s a nutritionist, or maybe a top-level McDonald’s employee willing to go public anonymously. I think there’s more fancy food science here than psychology. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/44 "2010-03-25T02:14:56Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Another rational response. A couple questions: What’s an OP? and . . . . what’s special about McDonalds’ fat, sugar, starch, and salt? I’ve never had this experience at other fast food places. An OP is the first post in a thread, “Original Post”. It can also refer to the person who posted the OP. Also, not meaning to Jr. Mod here, but name calling is frowned upon in this forum. Welcome to the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/45 "2010-03-25T03:08:53Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Hey, the head’s a powerful thing, sure maybe it was all in my head. . . . . . but I think there’s more here. The evidence doesn’t support that conclusion. You were hungry and binged a bit, that’s not a sign of anything significant. Fast food is designed to make you want to eat it, especially if you are hungry to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/46 "2010-03-25T03:13:29Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > No, idiot, that’s not about right. Asking for assistance and then insulting the volunteer responses doesn’t bode well for future help requests. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/47 "2010-03-25T03:14:06Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > What in the world is going on? I’ve heard that McDonald’s drugs their food so it never fills you up. I thought that was paranoid and far-fetched, but now I’m a believer! Have you heard that McDonald’s is using spider eggs and ground glass in the hamburgers? I have. That’s a _much_ better one. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/48 "2010-03-25T03:29:01Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Have you heard that McDonald’s is using spider eggs and ground glass in the hamburgers? I have. That’s a _much_ better one. No, it is worms (spider eggs are in bubble gum)… who cares that is costs more per pound than something like… oh, maybe beef. But Bapris, I agree you were drugged. I can’t think of any better explanation. I’m sure someone will come along with some arguement about the Ox Man’s Shaving Kit or something, but stick with your gut buddy. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/49 "2010-03-25T03:37:03Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > No, idiot, that’s not about right. I actually -ate- there and the experience was so horrific that maybe I will see a doctor - - - something’s just not normal over there. [Moderator Note] **[baprisbrey@aol.com](mailto:baprisbrey@aol.com)**, insulting other posters is not permitted in any forum other than the BBQ Pit. Also, being sarcastic towards other posters about their “rationality” after posting a rather credulous OP is not the best strategy in this forum. Since you are new, I am making this a note rather than a formal warning. However, don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/50 "2010-03-25T03:41:17Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Yeah, but. . . but. . . . “it was all in your head” seems a little too easy, a little too trite, and smacks a little bit too much of “blame the victim.” Hey, the head’s a powerful thing, sure maybe it was all in my head. . . . . . but I think there’s more here. I certainly didn’t consciously believe that McDonald’s drugged their food or I’d never go there. It was such a bizarre experience that I figured the collective intelligence of this forum could cough up some similar anecdotes or maybe some good ol’ military-industrial conspiracies. Or maybe someone out there’s a nutritionist, or maybe a top-level McDonald’s employee willing to go public anonymously. I think there’s more fancy food science here than psychology. Because everybody is telling you that you were not drugged you are choosing to discount the given explanations and question the collective intelligence of this forum? There is no conspiracy. You were not drugged. Thimerosal does not cause autism. AIDS was not invented by the CIA to kill black people. Lee Harvey Oswald really did kill Kennedy. 9/11 really was 4 hijacked planes, no missiles involved, and Bush did not plan it all. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/51 "2010-03-25T04:07:46Z")
Lets look at it this way… a huge global company with everything to lose if they were caught somehow makes a previously unknown drug (in their secret drug R&D Lab) that is totally tasteless and odorless with no side affects nor alergy concerns, that must work very fast so the person would feel the effects in less than 15 minutes or so to cause them to order another $0.99 double cheeseburger… so I guess it better cost less than $0.99 per dose (after factoring in that secret R&D expense). Oh, and I think there are maybe a couple hundred employees or so past and present who would have to keep their mouths shut all this time. OR Someone was hungry and binged. Conclusion: Drugged. I had fried chicken tonight and ate a lot. I just went back and ate anothe piece cold. This drugging scandal is getting out of control!! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/52 "2010-03-25T04:17:10Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > I certainly didn’t consciously believe that McDonald’s drugged their food or I’d never go there. [Moderator Note] I should probably remark on this as well. If this is true, then you misrepresented your actual beliefs about your experience in the OP. This is a behavior known as “trolling,” and is severely frowned upon on this site, and especially in this forum. Doing something like this again could put your posting privileges here in jeopardy. > [@](#): > > It was such a bizarre experience that I figured the collective intelligence of this forum could cough up some similar anecdotes or maybe some good ol’ military-industrial conspiracies. This forum is for factual information, not for anecdotes or spinning conspiracy theories. If that’s what you were looking for, you should have posted your questions on some other site. > [@](#): > > Or maybe someone out there’s a nutritionist, or maybe a top-level McDonald’s employee willing to go public anonymously. I think there’s more fancy food science here than psychology. Now, if this is the kind of information you are looking for, that’s fine. But if that’s what you want, it’s best not to start off by exaggerating or misrepresenting your actual experience. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/53 "2010-03-25T04:54:27Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Wait. Did I just read this right? You heard that McDonald’s _drugs_ their foods? I’m not sure what’s worse; you believing that or you taking your kids there despite believing that. Ok, Idiot #2, I don’t (er, didn’t) really believe that McDonald’s drugged their food, I just thought it was tasteless junk food. Somehow more tasteless than other places, but still not terribly different. But after that bizarre eating experience, man, I can tell you NOW I’m avoiding them! ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/54 "2010-03-25T04:58:21Z")
I just re-read the OP, and it sounds like he didn’t actually order anything more based on the drugging, but instead ate everything that he ordered (even though it was for kids). So maybe this drugging is for the good of the world to eliminate waste and not to sell more cheeseburgers! This is all done in our best interests! ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/55 "2010-03-25T05:00:34Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Ok, Idiot #2,! Maybe you should read the moderator warnings before you post any more. ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/56 "2010-03-25T05:02:25Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Ok, Idiot #2, I don’t (er, didn’t) really believe that McDonald’s drugged their food, I just thought it was tasteless junk food. Somehow more tasteless than other places, but still not terribly different. But after that bizarre eating experience, man, I can tell you NOW I’m avoiding them! whoa, I apologize! I apologize! no more name calling! I’ll take the snarky comments without complaint! ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/57 "2010-03-25T05:03:46Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Maybe you should read the moderator warnings before you post any more. yes, I agree, whoops, and I apologize! My apologies! ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/58 "2010-03-25T05:18:14Z")
See, here’s the base of the problem “What in the world is going on? I’ve heard that McDonald’s drugs their food so it never fills you up. I thought that was paranoid and far-fetched, but now I’m a believer!” In this forum we are supposed to take things as true as posted. You are brand new here so we don’t know your style of humor. We also get trolls and it is hard to sort them out. There are other forums that are much more relaxed and we expect many of the posts to be somewhat in jest. The pit is also there if you have a beef with a poster and want to call them names. I’ll admit that idiot isn’t too bad, but not a good first impression. ---
**Author:** ![baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baprisbrey_aol.com)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/59 "2010-03-25T05:26:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Moderator Note] > > I should probably remark on this as well. If this is true, then you misrepresented your actual beliefs about your experience in the OP. This is a behavior known as “trolling,” and is severely frowned upon on this site, and especially in this forum. Doing something like this again could put your posting privileges here in jeopardy. > > This forum is for factual information, not for anecdotes or spinning conspiracy theories. If that’s what you were looking for, you should have posted your questions on some other site. > > Now, if this is the kind of information you are looking for, that’s fine. But if that’s what you want, it’s best not to start off by exaggerating or misrepresenting your actual experience. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Ok, let me start of by apologizing for name-calling, and offer my appreciation for a warning, and see if I can set this straight . . . . (1) I really did go to McDonalds, and had a bizarre binging experience, and afterwards I was completely starving, stark ravenous starving. It was so extremely weird that I thought that something really was up. (2) So far, this forum’s replies are along the lines of: - The problem lies with the OP - He’s just exaggerating - He just binged, and was hungry, and nothing more unusual than that - He’s suffering from confirmation bias - McDonald’s food is like other junk food and fast food in that: - High on starches, sugars, fat, salt, encourages binging - Low on fiber so you don’t feel full - Blood sugar crash follows the carbohydrate binge - Low on nutrients so you just don’t feel full. One poster, possibly the food scientist I was looking for, posted an article by a food industry insider (who wished to remain anonymous) that indicates fast food really does have an unusual design (if I understand right). And let’s weigh the evidence: (1) It’s just me, the O.P. If nobody has ever had, or heard of, a bizarre McDonald’s-related binge experience, then I accept that it is just me. But I frown on exceptionalism (I’m just not that exceptional of a guy, in any dimension.) And I haven’t had anything remotely similar to that in any other eating experience. Maybe next week I’ll discover I’m diabetic, and the problem is solved. I guess I’ll leave it to the collective wisdom of the forum to uncover any other instances of McDonald’s binge-starvation weirdness. (Not just typical I-find-that-junk-food-unsatisfying.) (2) There’s something peculiar about junk food/fast food in general sure, I’ll buy that. But why was McDonald’s so exceptionally weird compared to other fast food/ junk food eating experiences I’ve had? (3) There’s something peculiar about McDonald’s in particular this is where I’m hoping someone will uncover something interesting. I might be approaching “confirmation bias” here, but I’ve heard that McDonald’s food is the most engineered food on the planet . . . . . . it’s just not normal food (as per “Supersize Me” and their french fry demonstration, for example.) I honestly, truly, really, wouldn’t be surprised if they did create some weird additive, nutrasweet, modified human hormone, that the FDA doesn’t know anything about and won’t be illegal for another ten years. Or maybe they engineer their food so fantastically that they don’t need a drug but the effect is the same. Finally, my sincere apologies for name-calling (Hey, Cecil is awfully snarky in his column, I thought it was the spirit of the place) AND my appreciation for the moderator for stepping in with just a warning, AND my thanks for everyone who has read this and posted a comment. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583/60 "2010-03-25T06:30:15Z")
> [@baprisbrey\_aol.com](#): > > Yeah, but. . . but. . . . “it was all in your head” seems a little too easy, a little too trite, and smacks a little bit too much of “blame the victim.” Hey, the head’s a powerful thing, sure maybe it was all in my head. . . . . . but I think there’s more here. I certainly didn’t consciously believe that McDonald’s drugged their food or I’d never go there. It was such a bizarre experience that I figured the collective intelligence of this forum could cough up some similar anecdotes or maybe some good ol’ military-industrial conspiracies. Or maybe someone out there’s a nutritionist, or maybe a top-level McDonald’s employee willing to go public anonymously. I think there’s more fancy food science here than psychology. I didn’t say it was all in your head. Your feeling unsatisfied by food was certainly not just a psychological issue. I’m saying the conclusions you reached and your willingness to accept outrageous explanations as plausible are psychological. You won’t find many people willing to support a good old fashioned conspiracy theory here. We’re the type of people that put that junk to rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-really-messing-with-me/533583.md?page=4)