“THAT SUGAR FILM”

MOVIE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

Sugar is not evil but life is so much better when you get rid of it. Sugar is a very calorie-
dense. So you can easily consume a lot of sugar in soft drinks. And in all kinds of food that
contain added sugar. It’s not that the sugar calories are more fattening than any other calories.
It’s just calories are calories, and sugar packs a lot. Sugars put you at a higher risk for a poor
lipid profile or known as fats and it only increases your risk for heart disease. Added sugars
increase your risk of high blood pressure and promote inflammation. All types of sugar do
promote tooth decay. The more often you’re eating sugary foods, then the more often you give
bacteria in your mouth. Another problem is that it can be a contributor to obesity and weight
gain.

While watching this film I have some thoughts and questions regarding my own diet and
it is better if I will change. It doesn’t apply only to me but everybody. Regardless of whether
Damon’s experimental diet mimics the Australian diet or not (an Australian actor) I am certain
that we could all make some improvements to our diet from a sugar and processed food
perspective.

That Sugar Film is a documentary about the effects of consuming high amounts of
hidden sugar in our food supply. In a nut shell, it’s a vibrant, highly engaging documentation of
a 60 day sugar binge that will leave you questioning many aspects of the way you view food
and its role in our body and our health. It will also make you regret by just eating a pack of
snack and one bottle of coke.

Damon, accustomed to eating low amounts of sugar in his regular diet, consumes the
equivalent of 40 teaspoons of sugar per day for 60 consecutive days. But he’s not allowed to
meet his 40 teaspoon a day target through ‘junk’ foods like soft drink, lollipops, chocolate and
ice-cream. He can only eat foods with hidden sugar. These are typically low fat products and
foods commonly thought of as ‘healthy’. This includes food like commercial breakfast cereals,
flavored yoghurts, dried fruit, fruit juice, jarred sauces and other packaged food or meal
replacement style drinks.

After two months on his high sugar diet, Damon finds that his body and health has been
significantly affected. Biochemical tests show the initial signs of fatty liver and he puts on a total
of 12kg and reports mood swings and a decline in his overall mental state.

Damon Gameau occasionally shrinks himself down to Ant-Man size, at one point hanging
by a rope from his own nose before traveling through his body. Brit wit Stephen Fry explains
the difference between glucose, lactose, sucrose and fructose in rhyme. An unbilled Hugh
Jackman does some hocus pocus with visual aids concocted with sugar granules on a lit-up
podium to illustrate the history of the substance.