That Sugar Film
In today’s society there are so many new and upcoming (also old and decrepit) ways of eating of ‘diets’ out there. From the Atkins diet to meal replacement shakes; from paleo to raw food – there’s no wonder people are confused and fed up.
As a nutritionist I aim to educate my clients, the people around me and the community about the importance of healthy food. Unfortunately, forevermore, there will ALWAYS be differing opinions. What an individual has to learn is that no one opinion is right and every person is different and will thrive in their own way on diverse foods.
Recently, I went to see the movie/documentary ‘That Sugar Film’. The movie was directed by actor Damon Gameau. He himself embarked on a 60 day journey of only eating what people commonly perceive as ‘healthy food’. Keeping in mind previous to this he had cut out sugar (mostly) from his diet for several years he ate the following foods everyday: Click here to read more on Damon’s Journey
- Up & Go’s
- Low fat yoghurt
- Frozen yoghurt
- Muesli bars
- Juices
- Sports drinks
- Cereals
- Chicken and meat with sauces on top
He didn’t at all eat any ‘junk’ foods e.g. ice cream, cookies, confectionary etc.
The average person consumes around 40 teaspoons of sugar per day and Damon got to the 40 teaspoons very easily by only eating the foods listed above.
The dangers of clever marketing and packaging are very real and people these days need to be informed of what exactly they are buying at the supermarket.
People need to know the dangers of ‘low fat’ and ‘no sugar’ as this normally means something nasty has been put in the foods to take it’s place. If its ‘low fat’ it’s most likely got twice the amount of sugar in it. If it’s ‘no sugar’ it most likely has a harmful artificial sweeteners added to make it sweet.
It is needed to be pointed out Damon was eating the same amount of calories per day as he was before he started this experiment. In the 60 days he put on 8 kg, his liver enzymes were elevated, he was on the road to heart disease, his brain became foggy and he couldn’t curb his appetite. These are all the dangers of eating processed and high sugar foods that the package tells you are healthy.
So what do we do with the information?
- Be informed! Know that ‘fat’ doesn’t make you fat, sugar makes you fat
- Consume and snack on protein and good fats such as: nuts, avocado, hummus, homemade dips, veggie sticks, eggs, salmon to name a few.
- Stay away from processed foods. Eating foods in their whole form is always the best way!
- Come and book a consult with me and I can work with you as an individual and cater to your needs.