thirteen weeks of bliss: a slider-specific diet

having just posted on morgan spurlock's supersize me, i must mention a more ambitious experiment conducted by the minnversity's jesse mcclendon in the 1930s. whereas mr. spurlock ate mcdonald's food every day for a single month, mr. mcclendon's subject (bernard flesche) ate nothing but white castle hamburgers for a full three months. whereas mr. spurlock had access to the full cornucopia of items on the modern-day mcdonald's menu, mr. flesche subsisted exclusively on hamburgers and water.

relative to a supersized mcdonald's meal, of course, the castle's sliders look downright nutritious: 135 calories, 7 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of protein. including, of course, a pickle slice. according to the news release by jack el-hai,

Flesche lasted through all 13 weeks of his White Castle hamburger binge. "The student maintained good health throughout the three-month period and was eating 20 to 24 hamburgers a day during the last few weeks," fast-food mogul Ingram stated, adding that the research proved that customers "could eat nothing but our sandwiches and water, and fully develop all [their] physical and mental faculties."

Flesche went on to practice medicine in Lake City, Minnesota. He died from heart problems at the age of 54. One immediate and chronic effect of his participation in the study: "He never willingly ate hamburgers again," says his daughter.

three questions:

1. i'm heartened that the student "maintained good health," but isn't it a bit unusual for doctors to die of heart problems at age 54?
2. that's a mighty suspicious qualifier in the postscript. whaddaya mean he never willingly ate hamburgers again?
3. were the castle's notorious side effects observed? or must subjects wash 'em down with pbr to induce this response?