Retired prison guard Donald Gorske has chowed through a colossal number of Big Macs in his lifetime, eating an average of 600 a year since 1972.

At one point the now 71-year-old from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was eating nine of the 580 calorie burgers per day, though he has since reduced his intake to just two.

His mammoth achievement has earned him a place in the Guinness World Records for the most Big Macs consumed in a lifetime, which as of this month, sits at 35,000.

But what cost has his decades-long fast food diet had on his health?

Surprisingly nothing, though he suspects there are intriguing reasons why. 

Speaking in a clip on YouTube, Mr Gorske’s wife Mary said medics had given her husband a clean bill of health. 

‘His blood sugar has been normal, his cholesterol has been exceptionally good,’ she said. 

For his part, Mr Gorske admits that ‘many people thought I’d be dead by now’. 

Retired prison guard Donald Gorske has chowed through a truly colossal number of Big Macs in his lifetime, eating, on average, over 600 a year since 1972

But he has credited his regular six-mile walks, and the fact he avoids adding fries to his meals, for his clean bill of health.

‘I’ve stayed in pretty good shape because, for one thing, I’m kind of hyperactive,’ he said. 

‘I do a lot of walking. I like to joke with people, I tell them I “walk around the block” but they don’t know it’s six miles around our block.’

He also told the Guinness World Records that he is ‘blessed with a high metabolism’ and has discouraged others from trying to dethrone him.  

‘I might be the only person alive who could eat Big Macs every day without ill effects,’ he said.

Mr Gorske said he plans to keep adding to his current 35,000 total until he dies or his teeth fall out, with his wife forbidding him from putting a burger in a blender.  

‘If I eat Big Macs every day and I do go, well my boys can write down which Big Mac was the last one I ate and they can tell people “Oh this many Big Macs will kill you”,’ he said.

Mr Gorske first ate McDonald’s flagship burger on May 17, 1972.

It was a case of love at first bite when Mr Gorske first ate McDonald’s flagship burger on May 17, 1972. 

On that occasion, and for every Big Mac since, Mr Gorske has kept the receipt and fast food container the burger came in to prove his record achievement. 

Medical advice states that consuming too much fast food, which is typically packed with fat and salt, will dramatically increase the risk of a host of deadly health problems.

Diets rich in fat and salt increase the chances of heart disease and high blood pressure, both of which increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. 

A single American Big Mac contains 11g of saturated fat, just over a third of a man’s recommended limit of 30g.

The burger also contains about 2.7g of salt, nearly half an adult’s recommended daily limit of 6g.

For comparison, a Big Mac sold in the UK contains 8.8g of saturated fat and 2g of salt.