nosh magazine
Dietitians have been warning people for
the past five years or more not to “drink in
the calories” and that juice is fruit in
concentrated form (read my post on “Why
juice is not fruit”, for example). Whoever
said flavoured milk or iced tea drinks are
‘healthy’? They may be healthier choices
than sweetened soft drinks but they are not
on any ‘must eat lists’ or pyramids.
Damon does not drink any fizzy drink
(despite talking about it a lot), nor eat
lollies or chocolate. He says he’s only eating
‘healthy food’ – but they aren’t truly
healthy foods by any definition; instead,
he’s consuming a lot of processed snacks.
2. Damon is not eating a healthy
balanced diet
Damon eats an extreme diet, choosing
processed foods with a ‘health halo’. This is
not typical and it’s definitely not healthy. As
far as I can see, in the film, he eats no veggies,
whole fruits, nuts, legumes or whole grains.
Little wonder then that he complains that
he is now snacking a lot more without
feeling full. I saw lots of pouches, bars,
If your kinder, school,
corporate or community
group is planning a private
screening of That Sugar Film,
contact n4 food and health
to have a Nutrition Expert
attend your screening and
respond to audience
questions. They will help
decipher the fact from the
fiction and share some
evidence-based information
about sugar. To have a
Nutrition Expert join you for a
post-screening Q&A, email
[email protected]
milk drinks, purees and fruit juice drinks
being slurped down. There’s little fibre or
protein in his diet.
is not representative of the average intake,
and certainly way too high for a man in his
late 30s with his activity level.
3. Sugar is singled out as the
villain, but what about refined
carbs and processed foods?
The bottom line
At the end Damon acknowledges that sugar
is “not the only thing to blame, the real
cause is refined carbs and fructose”. This is
my sentiment exactly and I’ve written about
the real causes of the obesity epidemic and
why sugar loves fat and refined starch on my
website in recent times.
4. 40 teaspoons a day is not an
average adult intake
At 40 teaspoons of sugar a day, Damon’s
intake is more suited to a 15-year-old boy’s
intake, which is pretty high due to the growth
stage and high levels of physical activity.
From the 2011-12 Health Survey*, the
average adult now consumes some 26
teaspoons of sugar, with the highest group
being young adult males 19 to 30 years who
take in some 33 teaspoons. So 40 teaspoons
If That Sugar Film helps people reduce the
amount of processed foods they eat in
favour of home-cooked, whole foods using
basic ingredients then that’s great.
I do hope that it doesn’t contribute to people
missing the point – that the obesity crisis is
not purely about sugar, but about processed
food and our total diet as a whole.
This film had an opportunity to shine a
light on the hidden sugars in our diets, I
just hope the obvious ‘overloading’ doesn’t
make people either discount it altogether
as being a set up, or tip them the other way
into removing sugar entirely.
As usual the message is, MODERATION is
what works!
Reference:
*Australian Health Survey. Table 10.9
summarising carbohydrates N
CATHERINE SAXELBY, APD
Learn more about Catherine: website | profile
Catherine Saxelby helps busy women eat right, lose weight and boost their
energy through her website, Foodwatch.
www.n4foodandhealth.com
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