Just because you're not literally feeding yourself with a spoonful of sugar doesn't have to mean you're no longer eating it. A man dares to prove that sugar is actually present in more than 75% of food products in grocery stores, including those packaged as healthy.
TV actor and filmmaker Damon Gameau does Supersize Me, only this time he didn't eat McDonald's or any other fast food meal. Rather, he consumed sugar-lots of it. In fact, he ate as much as 40 sugar cubes every day for 60 days. (The average sugar intake of teens is about 20.) His journey is documented in a movie called That Sugar Film, which will be released early next year in Australia.
Where did his sugar come from? He actually didn't eat cakes, ice creams, sodas, and every other food we already know has too much sugar. Instead, he dined on those products that are low fat and are supposedly healthy, like yogurt, energy bars, juices, and sandwiches with sweet spreads.
By the third week of this sugar-heavy diet, he was already experiencing mood swings and was later diagnosed to be "mentally unstable" by his doctor. He also gained some weight and built up fat around the midsection, a common health problem that often leads to obesity and, later, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. He also confessed being hungry all the time.
Perhaps the most shocking of all is that despite the short amount of time of being on such a diet-he quit sugar three years ago-he was diagnosed with an early-stage fatty liver disease. Although it can be controlled like obesity, if it's allowed to progress, this may eventually lead to liver failure.
Gameau explains his decision to take on such a challenge through a parent's viewpoint. As an upcoming father, he wants to show parents that the food they normally serve their children and pack for school lunches are not as healthy as they think they are.