That Sugar Film | |
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Directed by | Damon Gameau |
Written by | Damon Gameau |
Produced by | Nick Batzias Damon Gameau Rory Williamson |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Judd Overton |
Edited by | Jane Usher |
Music by | Jojo Petrina |
Production company | |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.5 million [1] |
That Sugar Film is a 2014 Australian documentary directed by and starring Damon Gameau. The film looks at hidden sugar in foods and the effect it can have on the human body.
The film follows Gameau's experiment on himself, changing from his normal diet containing no refined sugar to a 'health-conscious' diet low in fat but high in sugar, equivalent to 160 grams (40 tsp) of sugar per day. As a result, Gameau gained weight, grew lethargic, and developed fatty liver disease. [2] [3] The sugar diet was selected such that his calorie intake was not increased from his normal diet.
Interviews with experts attribute this change to the high level of sugar he was ingesting, and in particular suggest that fructose may be the main culprit. It is suggested that artificial sweeteners may be no better.
The viewers are introduced to the "bliss point", a term coined in the 1960s which applies here to the amount of sugar you can add to a food to make it optimally desirable. Adding more sugar beyond the "bliss point" leads to a significant drop in desirability.
Following the experiment, he returned to his previous diet, and the ill effects were largely and quickly reversed
In addition to Gameau in the lead, the cast includes Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry, Isabel Lucas, and Brenton Thwaites. Gary Taubes, Michael Moss and Dr. Kimber Stanhope gave interviews which are included, and Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel and Florence and the Machine feature on the soundtrack. Gameau's partner, actress Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, appears in the film while pregnant with their daughter, who makes an appearance after being born during production.
American reviews for the film were generally positive. According to a review by The New York Times , the "breezy blend of computer imagery, musical numbers, sketches and offbeat field trips" made "the nutrition lessons easy to digest". [4] The Hollywood Reporter concluded that "Gameau clearly has good intentions, and generally succeeds in sweetening a potentially bitter subject for easy public consumption." [5] However, a Slate review insisted "That Sugar Film is so highly processed, and so laden with chintzy, artificial arguments, that its many weaknesses are hidden from consumers." [2]
A local Australian review in The Sydney Morning Herald claimed that the film is "not rigorous enough to prove anything at all". However, the content of the article seems rather oriented towards ad-hominem attacks which have little to do with the substance of the subject. [6]
An article from SBS Australia discussing the film's legacy describes it as "One of Australia’s most successful docos". [7]
The film is recommended as an educational resource by Documentary Australia Foundation, which notes "THAT SUGAR FILM will forever change the way you think about ‘healthy’ food". [8]
Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with brand names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel. Aspartame was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and then again in 1981, after approval was revoked in 1980.
In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed by the gut directly into the blood of the portal vein during digestion. The liver then converts both fructose and galactose into glucose, so that dissolved glucose, known as blood sugar, is the only monosaccharide present in circulating blood.
A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant extracts or processed by chemical synthesis. Sugar substitute products are commercially available in various forms, such as small pills, powders, and packets.
Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose, making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; the mixture of 10 parts cyclamate to 1 part saccharin is common and masks the off-tastes of both sweeteners. It is less expensive than most sweeteners, including sucralose, and is stable under heating. Safety concerns led to it being banned in a few countries, though the European Union considers it safe.
Diet or light beverages are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want to reduce their sugar intake.
Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's food. The film documents the drastic effect on Spurlock's physical and psychological health and well-being. It also explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit and gain.
In human nutrition, empty calories are those calories found in beverages and foods composed primarily or solely of sugars and/or certain fats and oils such as cholesterol, saturated or trans fats, that provide little to no useful nutrients such as protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, or antioxidants Foods composed mostly of empty calories have low nutrient density, meaning few nutrients relative to their energy content. The consumption of large amounts of empty calories can have negative health consequences.
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzymes. To make HFCS, the corn syrup is further processed by D-xylose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose. HFCS was first marketed in the early 1970s by the Clinton Corn Processing Company, together with the Japanese Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, where the enzyme was discovered in 1965.
Diet food refers to any food or beverage whose recipe is altered to reduce fat, carbohydrates, and/or sugar in order to make it part of a weight loss program or diet. Such foods are usually intended to assist in weight loss or a change in body type, although bodybuilding supplements are designed to increase weight.
Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) was previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) until renamed in 2023 by a global consensus panel composed mostly of hepatology researchers and clinicians. The term metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is also used. MAFLD is excessive fat build-up in the liver without another clear cause such as alcohol use. There are two types; non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis, with the latter also including liver inflammation. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is less dangerous than NASH and usually does not progress to NASH. When NAFL does progress to NASH, it may eventually lead to complications such as cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure, or cardiovascular disease.
SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share.
Thunderstruck is a 2004 Australian film directed by Darren Ashton and starring Stephen Curry, Damon Gameau, Ryan Johnson, Callan Mulvey, and Sam Worthington. The title was taken from the AC/DC song of the same name. Its plot concerns five AC/DC fans who make a promise that if one of them died, the other four would have him buried next to grave of their idol, Bon Scott. When one of them dies, the remaining four embark on a road trip to fulfill their promise.
Damon Gameau is an Australian actor, director, and producer, known for his documentaries That Sugar Film and 2040. Gameau has also appeared in a number of award-winning TV shows and films, such as Love My Way, The Tracker and Balibo.
The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor cells located on taste buds in the oral cavity, mostly on the tongue. Taste, along with the sense of smell and trigeminal nerve stimulation, determines flavors of food and other substances. Humans have taste receptors on taste buds and other areas, including the upper surface of the tongue and the epiglottis. The gustatory cortex is responsible for the perception of taste.
Fat Head is a 2009 American documentary film directed by and starring comedian and health writer Tom Naughton. The film seeks to refute both the documentary Super Size Me and the lipid hypothesis, a theory of nutrition started in the early 1950s in the United States by Ancel Keys and promoted in much of the Western world.
Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates, and more broadly, sugars naturally present in honey, syrup, and fruits. They can take multiple chemical forms, including sucrose, glucose (dextrose), and fructose.
Pure, White and Deadly is a 1972 book by John Yudkin, a British nutritionist and former Chair of Nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College, London. Published in New York, it was the first publication by a scientist to anticipate the adverse health effects, especially in relation to obesity and heart disease, of the public's increased sugar consumption. At the time of publication, Yudkin sat on the advisory panel of the British Department of Health's Committee on the Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA). He stated his intention in writing the book in the last paragraph of the first chapter: "I hope that when you have read this book I shall have convinced you that sugar is really dangerous."
The protein leverage hypothesis states that human beings will prioritize the consumption of protein in food over other dietary components, and will eat until protein needs have been met, regardless of energy content, thus leading to over-consumption of foodstuffs when their protein content is low.
2040 is a 2019 Australian documentary film directed by and starring Damon Gameau. The film looks at the effects of climate change over the next 20 years and what technologies that exist today can reverse the effects.