That Sugar Film

Thank you Sunshine Sachs for sending us a DVD screener of this film!

Thanks to his girlfriend of five years, Damon Gameau has been eating a healthy diet with very little sugar in it. With a baby on the way he wants to see firsthand what impact seemingly healthy foods would have on his trim body. His goal is to eat the national average of forty-four teaspoons of sugar a day for two months and to record the negative changes his body goes through as a result. Instead of indulging on known sugary food like candy and ice cream, his new diet will include food with hidden forms of sugars in food such such as yogurt, granola, and fruit juices. 

To document his journey, Damon enlists the help of several doctors and a nutritionalist. While they monitor his calorie intake and the deterioration of his liver, Damon still exercises as he did before this experiment. Not surprisingly Damon started to develop fatty liver disease, mood swings, and loss of energy throughout this documentary. His abdomen and rear end grew in size as well.

That Sugar Film is not just about Damon - he travels across Australia and to the United states to interview Aborigines and other people impacted by sugary sodas like Mountain Dew. Soda addiction has put many Aborigines in the grave or on dialysis and there was a seventeen year old in the US with such badly rotten teeth that he needed to have them pulled and get dentures. The dental procedure is a little graphic and there are some images of naked Aborigines. 

Other than those scenes, there are some light hearted skits and silly songs featuring famous actors like Stephen Fry and Hugh Jackman. Most of the film is as serious as the issue at hand. People have to learn to read the labels on all of their food items; many foods look innocent, but contain the daily suggested amount of sugar by themselves! After seeing That Sugar Film and Fed Up, our family has been paying closer attention to how much sugar is in the food we are eating and have eliminated sugary cereals from our pantry. Thankfully we have never been big soda drinkers, but we have been fooled by seemingly healthy food. I highly recommend watching this movie, and if you don't please pay more attention to the amount of sugar (in all of its forms) in the foods you are eating.