If an apple a day keeps the doctor a way, what does a Big Mac a day do? Perhaps you should ask Donald Gorske of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who has eaten at least one of the McDonald’s staples – usually two – almost every day for half a century, missing only eight days in five decades.
Don is the Guinness World Record holder for most Big Macs eaten in one lifetime, with more than 32,340 tucked away since he got his first car on 17 May, 1972; so well-known is he at his local Macca’s that his portrait even hangs on the wall.
“I drove straight to McDonald’s, got my first three Big Macs, then got in the car and ate them. In that moment I said ‘I’m going to probably eat these for the rest of my life’.
“I threw the cartons in the back of my seat, and started counting them from day one,” he told Guinness World Records upon passing the 32,000 mark last year – and count them he has, with meticulous records of every container and every receipt, sorted by year.
The Big Mac is also his only burger love: while he’s sampled a couple of others, none have yet supplanted the classic formula of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun.
“I had one Burger King Whopper in 1984 and one Topper double burger in 1984. There are a lot of other burger chains that I have never had the desire to try,” he said.
If you’re concerned about his health, surprisingly, you probably don’t need to be: Don skips the fries and walks about six miles per day, and according to Guinness, has “great blood sugar” and “exceptionally good cholesterol”.
Perhaps we should consider the Big Mac diet for ourselves…
