All language subtitles for That.Sugar.Film.20142_Eng

My name is Damon Gameau.

This is my weatherboard house.

This is a time-lapse
of my girlfriend's pregnancy.

There's three months to go.

And this is a photo of me
at age 10.

I was a rare boy whose face
grew into his teeth.

Five years ago,
when I met my girlfriend,

I was pretty much
living on cigarettes,

sugar and my homemade
Australian pizzas.

But then, as men often do,

they feign interest in things
to impress a girl.

The lovers' bike.

For me, it was healthy eating.

I actually cut out refined sugar
from my diet to seal the deal.

But now sugar is
dominating the headlines

and there's so much debate
and conjecture on the topic

that it's hard to know
what to believe.

But with this little person
on the way,

I feel like I need some
definitive answers.

If the average Australian family
of four

had to buy the sugar
they are consuming in a week,

they would be going to
the supermarket,

taking six 1-kilo bags of sugar
off the shelves - six -

taking it home,
eating it all that week

and then going back next week
and doing it again.

Clearly, the ability
to be on a high-sugar diet

is really new,

especially in terms of
evolutionary time zone.

Sugar has become
so prevalent in today's society

that if you removed
all the items containing it

from a standard
supermarket's shelves...

..just 20% of items
would remain.

Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls,

this is the condensed
history of sugar.

The first reports of sugar came
from New Guinea in 8000 BC.

Local mythology says that
the human race came about

after a man made love to
the stalk of a sugar cane.

Ow.

Then,
via trader migration routes,

the cane made its way to India.

Thank you.

In the 12th century,
sugar arrived in Europe.

And, due to its rarity,

it quickly became
a status symbol for royalty.

Queen Elizabeth I had
a real love of sugar.

So much so that her teeth rotted
and went black from it.

- Eugh.

At the start of
the 20th century,

sugar was still seen
as a treat -

something you would add to
a cup of tea or cup of coffee -

but then, in 1955,
an event occurred

that significantly influenced

the amount of sugar
we eat today.

A stunned nation
hears that its president

is stricken with
a heart attack at...

On September 23,
1955,

the US President
Dwight Eisenhower

suffered a heart attack

and the issue of heart disease

was thrust into
the public domain.

Summoned
to the hospital,

a famed Boston
heart specialist...

Two strong
theories emerged.

One, led by an American
scientist named Ancel Keys,

who declared that fat was
the problem...

..while a British doctor
named John Yudkin

believed sugar was to blame.

I'd be very happy if everybody
ate four pounds of sugar a year.

They eat a hundred pounds!

Over
the next two decades,

the discussion brought fierce
arguments from both camps.

But by the end of the 1970s,
Ancel Keys had won out.

Fat became the villain,
sugar was exonerated,

and the low-fat movement
was in full swing.

We institutionalised
this idea

that a low-fat diet
is a healthy diet.

So what you want to do
is remove fats...

This is how industry
perceived this.

We're gonna remove fat
from otherwise healthy foods,

and when we do this
we have to replace the calories,

we have to make sure
we have the right mouth feel.

And it has to taste as good
as it did with fat,

and the best way to
do that is with sugar.

With sugar now
saturating our food supply

and the constant confusion
over its effects on our health,

the only real way to get
some answers

is for me to start
eating sugar again

and see what it does
to my body.

So the first step is to set up
an experiment

with the help of a team
of experts.

My chief sugar adviser is
the author David Gillespie...

..aka The Crusader.

In charge of my blood tests

is one of Australia's
leading clinical pathologists,

Dr Ken Sikaris,
aka Professor Blood.

My nutritionist is
Sharon Johnston...

..the Celtic Food Queen.

And supervising my overall
health is Dr Debbie Herbst,

aka Check Upz.

OK, so, I want to do
this mission,

I want to find out what
sugar does to me.

What kind of things
do I need to do?

If you want to match
Australian averages,

you're gonna have to be
in the range,

40 teaspoons of sugar a day.

- 40 a day?
- Yeah, 40 a day.

That's what's embedded in
most of the processed food

that most people are eating.

So...

Right, so does that mean
I'm gonna eat a lot

of these kind of
sour rainbow blowpipes?

I mean, is that... How am
I gonna get to 40 teaspoons?

You won't need to come near
a place like this

to get to 40 teaspoons.

You just go to a supermarket
and you'll get to 40 teaspoons.

Right.

The point is to test out
a very high sugar diet

and to see what effects we get,

what changes I notice
in the body.

Two months, I wanna eat
40 teaspoons of sugar a day.

- 40 teaspoons?!
- 40 teaspoons.

How are you gonna do that?

Off-the-shelf breakfast cereals,
like Just Right,

low-fat flavoured yoghurt.

Another good one would be
some beans on toast.

Baked beans?!

One serving of an iced tea,

you'll end up with nearly
nine teaspoons of sugar.

If I can achieve
40 teaspoons a day

without touching perceived
candy or junk food...

I mean, I can't quite fathom
that's possible,

but if we can do that
and see some changes,

then that's, yeah, that seems
like a pretty good story.

A lot of your health markers
are going to be going

in very much
the wrong direction,

and I'm very glad to hear
that you're gonna be having

some medical supervision,

'cause I think
you're gonna need it.

Anyone in the family
have diabetes?

- No.
- OK.

- Not that I know of.
- Not that you know of? Good.

And heart disease?

No. All pretty thin
and wiry Irish or French folk.

We're going to look at how the
blood sugar changes, obviously.

We've got blood tests that can
look at the effect of the heart.

But, even more than that,
we're looking for the changes

that might occur in the liver
and its production of fat.

I'd like to go to 1932, please.

Done.

Coming.

Let's just see
how tall you are.

So you've got a really normal,
healthy blood pressure -

121 over 79.

Your heart rate's pretty good
at 75, so that's pretty good.

Alrighty, so, we'll just have
a listen to your heart,

see what it sounds like.

You know what it's saying,
Damon.

Don't do
this crazy thing?

Exactly. That's exactly
what I heard it saying.

There are some tests
that we're doing

just to make sure

that you're not doing
anything too stupid here.

Usually I'm telling people not
to eat all this sort of stuff,

so...

I personally think you're
insane for doing it at all.

But... No, no, no, honestly.
I think it's dangerous.

But I guess on the plus side,

everybody else
is already doing it.

So, this is where my
health stands pre-experiment.

My total calorie intake is
approximately 2,300 a day.

With 50% coming from good
fats like avocado and nuts,

26% from protein such as eggs,
meat or fish,

and 24% from carbohydrates
like fresh vegetables.

And of course there is
no refined sugar.

I currently weigh 76kg

with a waist circumference
of 84cm.

My blood tests showed
a very healthy liver,

a very low level
of triglyceride,

which is fat in the bloodstream,

and, thankfully, no sign of
insulin resistance or diabetes.

Overall, I rated
slightly healthier

than the average
Western male of my age.

The next step in the experiment
was to do a shop.

To calculate my 40 teaspoons,

I need to keep in mind
that one teaspoon

equals roughly four grams
of sugar.

But I also need a lesson
in the different types of sugar.

Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls,

it's time to meet
the sugar family.

When we eat certain foods,
they adhere to a rule.

They break down to glucose
which our body uses for fuel.

Breads, pasta, vegies
and grain

all turn to glucose
to be used by our brain.

Ooh!

But also our cells
and our organs, too.

So without any glucose
there would be no you.

Lactose is next,
and she's as smooth as silk.

She's the first sugar
mammals have -

it's in their mother's milk.

You'll find it in cheese and
milk and tubs of yoghurt, too.

But take care
if you're intolerant,

you'll be rushing to the loo.

Now, sucrose is the sugar
that all the fuss is about.

Some say it's dangerous
while others still have doubt.

Sucrose is the table sugar
we have in coffee or tea.

She's the sugar family's
sweet little daughter.

Or not, apparently.

- Ooh.

Now, this table sugar,
or sucrose,

is made up of two sugars.

It is 50% glucose, the head of
the family, plus 50% fructose.

Now, fructose may well be

the sugar family's
mischievous teenage son,

because in the past this
fructose was very, very rare.

It was found in fruit and vegies
and honey, if you dared.

But now we find it everywhere!

In so many foods we eat.

And you'll always know
if you're eating fructose

'cause it's the thing
that makes food sweet.

You see, people on this planet
are growing sicker every day,

and many scientists now believe

that fructose
has a role to play.

- Hey, hey!
- The first load.

Why don't we make these
middle shelves the sugar zone?

- I love it.
- Here's some juicy juice.

- Juice boxes, babe.
- Yep.

Up&Go.

So, here are the rules
for my next 60 days.

I must consume 40 teaspoons
of sugar a day,

but they must be hidden sugars

found in commonly perceived
healthy foods and drinks.

So no soft drink, chocolate,
confectionary or ice-cream.

These 40 teaspoons of sugar
will consist of sucrose

and fructose specifically.

They can be added, like jam,
or naturally occurring,

like sultanas.

I must always choose
low-fat foods

and maintain the same level
of exercise as I already do.

That's three laps of my garden
twice a week

and a 10-minute workout
on my homemade gym.

And by homemade,
I mean homemade.

Tomorrow morning I start.
What are your feelings?

Uh...

I hope you're OK.

Darling, do we have a metric
cup, like, to measure size?

Yep.

Right,
so, this Just Right tells me

that it's 12 grams of sugar
per serving, right?

So, that's...

Divided by four,
that's roughly three...

..three teaspoons of sugar
per serving.

That's a recommended
serving size

with three teaspoons of sugar.

Now, I don't know about you
but I'm a growing boy.

I'm gonna need
a little bit more of that.

That feels like a shot
of Just Right.

Yeah, maybe 2.5.

OK, so, 2.5...

So, one was just under three
teaspoons, two is six teaspoons,

and the other half
is about 7.5 teaspoons of sugar,

just in that bowl.

And I haven't added
the yoghurt yet.

Per serving there is 27 grams,

but a lot of that's gonna be
lactose, so I reckon 18 grams.

18 divided by 4 is just over 4.

So, four to my seven, so there's
11 teaspoons of sugar,

and then I've gotta
add my juice.

I'm gonna put about 400 mils
of apple juice, that will do me.

There we're looking at nine
teaspoons, so this combined,

I'm looking at nearly
20 teaspoons to start the day.

Hey, David. How are you going?

Good.
How are you?

Mate, I've just got a quick
question. We just were...

I just sort of had
my first breakfast

and it got to about
20 teaspoons.

20 teaspoons?!

I almost
couldn't believe it.

But I did all the maths
and it just seems ridiculous.

Mate, you're
gonna have to be on a diet

for the rest of the day if
you're only allowed to have

20 teaspoons
for the rest of the day.

That's what I mean!

I'll have to eat celery
for the rest of the day.

Just obscene.

When we were still foraging
and hunting and gathering

and trying to search for fruit
and things in our environment,

we needed to be highly attuned
to what sweetness there was,

because we really need
the calories.

And of course now
we bring with us

that ancient lust for sugar,

that ability to find
even small amounts,

and it's a case where
we were looking for a little

but now we have too much.

And so the system,
in an evolutionary terms,

is not really set up
to deal with

this sudden abundance
of highly refined sugar.

After just two days
of the experiment

I was amazed at
how easy it was

to get to 40 teaspoons
without eating any junk food.

I've just had a breakthrough as
to how we might be consuming

so much fructose.

I just bought these four apples.

Now, I know that if I tried
to eat these apples

I'd probably get through
two of them and I'd feel full.

The fibre in the fruit
would tell my body to stop,

it's had enough to eat.

But I wanna see what happens if
I can juice these four apples.

Right, so that's four apples.

That's the sugar from
four apples in one glass.

Now, one apple is about
four teaspoons of sugar,

so that's 16 teaspoons
of sugar in that glass.

See, nature has given us
this perfect little packet,

and it's got all the nutrients,
the fibre

that tells us when we're full,

and just the right amount
of sugar in this.

But what we do is
we invent a machine like this

which extracts only the sugar

and then we throw
everything else away.

This high amount
of sugar in juice,

and drinks in general,

was certainly the biggest
surprise of the first week.

Beverage tend to
really create a rush,

what I kind of call
a tsunami effect.

So you basically have
this huge wave of sugar

that gets to your liver.

And that has a lot
of consequence.

It was now day 12
and time for my first weigh-in.

Moment of truth.

79.3. Huh?

- I'm about to cry.
- Why?

3.2 kilos.

- In 12 days?
- In 12 days.

And that's without
one fizzy drink,

no ice-cream, no chocolate.

That is eating healthy food.

It's alarming.
Alarming, alarming.

Debbie's alarm
wasn't about

the amount of weight
I had gained...

..it was the fact that it was
all around my belly.

This is what's known
as visceral fat.

I'm having a baby!

Here's a great example of it.

On this person,
the fat comes up as black.

You can see there is
a very small amount of fat

just under the skin, but lots of
visceral fat on the inside,

cramping the organs.

There is a term for this:

We know
that with fructose,

you tend to accumulate
more fat in this area.

We don't know why,
but we know, on the other hand,

that when you do accumulate
that fat in this area

you have a lot
of metabolic disease

that are associated with this.

On day 15,
it occurred to me

what 40 teaspoons of sugar

would actually look like

stripped of its cleverly
marketed packaging.

Today I'm gonna eat 40
actual teaspoons of sugar.

Just Right, low-fat yoghurt -
there's 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Here, just a bowl of plain Vita
Brits. So what I'm gonna do...

This now equals that.

It's time for
my midmorning snack.

Now, I could have this
amount of frozen yoghurt or...

11.

So it's lunch.

I have this delicious
piece of chicken here.

Now, I could add half a packet

of this teriyaki chicken
sauce...

..or, alternatively...

Now, to wash it down,
I could have one of these

or...

So, it's the midafternoon slump.

Now, as a pick-me-up, I could
have this Go Natural Superfood

Apple Strawberry Cranberry
Ripple bar

or I could have this 7-teaspoon
water cracker sugar sandwich.

It was at this point

that I thought I'd better
check in with Professor Blood.

The big change is that
the liver function tests

have had an amazing rise
in one of the enzyme levels,

the ALT level.

The ALT is an enzyme
in the liver

which helps
the reactions go out.

If it appears in your blood,

'cause that's where
we measured it,

it shows that the liver cells
are releasing their contents -

i.e., they're being damaged
or dying.

And so the...

You know, the... It's really...

- My liver cells are dying.
- They are. They are.

It's obviously
getting full of fat.

You've got the signs
of a fatty liver.

And this is really
the first time

I've actually seen that it
can be actually developed

in two or three weeks.

Given my liver
has turned to fat

after just 18 days,

I think it's time to take
a closer look

at what sugar does
once it enters the body.

This is the actor
Brenton Thwaites.

He's very kindly
volunteered his body

for the following demonstration.

After sugar enters the body,
it splits into two parts -

fructose and glucose.

Both of which
make their way to the liver.

Now, once in the liver,

the glucose is dealt with
efficiently.

It's either used immediately
for energy

or it's stored for later,
like a spare battery.

But the fructose half of sugar
is very different.

The liver doesn't have a system
to regulate the fructose

because it was so rare
in nature,

so it hoovers it out of
the bloodstream

whether it needs it or not.

And if all our spare
batteries are full,

then it rapidly turns
it into fat.

Some of that fat
is gonna stay in the liver

and you're gonna have
increased risk

for insulin resistance
and diabetes.

What also happens

is that this fat in the liver

is then sent out into the
bloodstream as triglycerides,

which can lead to excess weight

plus blocked arteries
and heart disease.

Now, when we're eating
lots of sugar

and other carbohydrates
like bread and pasta,

we're producing lots of glucose.

A hormone called insulin
is released,

which is like a key that helps
to open our cells' doors

so they can absorb
all the glucose,

remove it from the bloodstream
and burn it for energy.

The more glucose in the blood,
the more insulin is released.

But the key point for us

is that while this insulin
is in the blood

dealing with all the glucose,

it tells our fat cells
to hold on to the fat.

It actually turns off
our fat-burning processes.

So when we're eating
lots of sugar,

we're putting fat into our
bodies via the fatty liver.

Plus, because of
all the glucose,

we maintain
the level of insulin,

which tells our fat cells
to hold on to the fat.

We can't burn off fat

when insulin is around
dealing with all the sugar!

This is what may be happening

to a huge number
of the population.'

It's highly unlikely
with Brenton, though.

The issue
that we're talking about

is that there are these
chronic diseases

related to obesity
and diabetes -

heart disease,

many cancers,
gout, hypertension,

high blood pressure,
possibly Alzheimer's disease.

The question is,
would these diseases exist...

..if sugar wasn't in the diet?

So, this morning I've woken up
and I feel pretty drained.

I had a chicken dish last night
that was pretty sweet.

And I could just tell
that my body feels lethargic

and it's waiting for
its next sugar injection.

So the perfectly named Up&Go

is gonna start my day today.

Banana flavoured with, uh...

..about four to five
teaspoons of sugar.

It was obvious

that sugar was affecting me
physically,

but the real surprise

was the impact it was having
on my moods.

It's amazing, it's so sweet

and I can feel my brain responds
to it straightaway.

Like, it tastes delicious.

The thing I've noticed the most
is the mood swings.

Big highs when I have the sugar
and I feel super alert

and switched on
for about 45 minutes

and then I'll get this feeling
of real lethargy,

I'll feel vague, a bit aloof
until I get that next hit again

and then I'm right to
concentrate.

I just noticed the attention
is reduced

and he's much more distracted.

- Hm.
- And it's very unlike him.

Very unusual.

What you're describing
is absolutely

what the research has shown,

is a high concentration, energy,

followed by a crash.

The brain and body
runs on glucose.

If the glucose level is going
constantly up and down,

you know, zinging high and low
and high and low

and back and forth,

then your mental function
is just unstable.

If your glucose level is stable

and not fluctuating,
then you have more clarity.

It's almost like the body is

getting used to this new reality
that I've created,

and it gets its burst of energy
from the sugar.

And then
when that's not happening,

it's, like, going,
"OK, we're ready."

Like, I guess, I used to smoke,
it's a similar feeling.

Tell me a little bit
more about what it's like

when you've just had
some sugar

and when you're
on the sugar high.

A quite childish thing
comes out in me.

I go, "Whoo," and then I'm
full of beans for a while.

He can be like that
in day-to-day life, too,

he's really fun and playful,
but the difference is

there's a kind of manic edge
to it that wasn't there before.

It's kind of a bit more
like, "Ah'."

Now, the manic state
is quite interesting

because it's not the same
as happiness, right?

There's a sort of a sense
of being wired.

It's raining sugar!

So, it's interesting
'cause that's what we do see.

And I'm not suggesting
you've got bipolar disorder

but it's a phenomena that we
see in that particular condition

where there's a very high mood

but it's not actually
a very pleasant mood.

So, Damon, the way that blood
sugar affects your mood,

I like to explain to people with
a really simple diagram.

So, this is your
blood sugar levels here.

This is the point where
your brain is really happy

'cause it's got enough sugar
to keep it going.

It is your most important organ
in the body, in that way.

When you eat something
that's really sugary,

like lollies or fruit juices,
that sort of thing,

your blood sugar will spike
really quickly

and then it will crash down
again really quickly.

The reason it crashes
really quickly is because,

in response to that sugar,
the body releases insulin,

the hormone that takes
it into the cells

so it can be used for energy.

So, that big crash though

means that your brain's
no longer happy,

so, in response to that,

we get the release of stress
hormones like adrenaline,

which is then signalling
the brain

to tell you to eat something
sugary again

so that we can get it
back up again.

And so, once again, we get
more insulin and it dips down,

and that's why you get
the fluctuations in your mood,

from that sugar
spiking and falling.

And the problem with
the adrenaline

is that that can lead to anxiety

and even panic attacks

because of those
mood changes.

Given my experience

of fluctuating
blood sugar levels,

I couldn't help
but think of children

struggling to learn at school.

Could a diet
full of hidden sugar

be contributing to the problem?

This has had
a very profound impact

on children's behaviour,
on mental illness.

It has exacerbated
many different types

of neurological disorders,

but we don't actually name
what the cause is,

which is the sugar
that's in the diet.

Sugar Crisp
is candy-coated

right down to the last
wheat puff in the box.

- As a cereal it's dandy.
- For snacks it's so handy.

Or eat it like candy.

♪ Post's Sugar Crisp. ♪

Don't laugh. It's for the...
You know why I'm doing it.

The speed
at which my high-sugar diet

was affecting me
took us all by surprise.

I was going to have to expand
the scope of the experiment,

and this would take me
out of town for a few days.

In 2002 I spent some time with
an Aboriginal community

and was stunned by the amount
of sugar they consumed.

Like so many
indigenous cultures

introduced to a Western diet,

their relationship with sugar
seemed particularly destructive.

The Aborigines
have remarkably little sugar

in their diet.

Two or three
small pieces of candy

would be equal to the sum total
of the amount of sweetness

that an Aborigine would get
in one year.

In 2008,

Coca-Cola claimed that
Australia's Northern Territory

was their highest-selling region
per capita in the world.

This was, in large part,

due to the local stores
in the Aboriginal communities.

Just 100km from Uluru
is the small town of Amata.

It has always been alcohol-free,

but in 2007 its population
of just under 400 people

consumed 40,000 litres
of soft drink.

So one Aboriginal man decided
to do something about it.

His name is John Tregenza.

This is his case,
this is his putaru

and this is his nickname.

Why?

'Cause I cut through
the bullshit.

When I first come up here,
in 1973,

I would estimate that,

say, 10% of the people's diet
came from the store,

and now it's almost 100%.

So it was obviously critical
that people's health

depended on what they were
carrying out the store door.

This reliance
on the store

has been caused by a variety
of environmental changes.

The main one being the
introduction of a foreign grass

that took over the plains

and drove away the native plants
and animals

that had provided bush tucker
for centuries.

Being in Amata, it was hard to
believe that only 40 years ago

these people were living
predominantly off the land.

All our families
and old people,

all our grandfathers
and great-great-grandparents,

they only eating bush tucker,

like emus, kangaroos, turkey,

wild tomatoes, wild beets.

And they were healthy,

no sickness.

And then the whitefella
came into Australia,

he bring all the sweet things

like lollies...biscuits,
everything.

With stores filling up

with highly profitable
sugary items

and the community's health
rapidly declining,

John, his colleagues
and a local health council

established a program

to ensure people had access
to fresh, healthy produce.

They called it Mai Wiru

The Mai Wiru quickly
went to work.

They removed deep-fryers,
added free cold water fountains

and hired a nutritionist to
educate the community.

For the children,
they made music videos

with psychedelic vegetables

and put up these signs
on the store's fridges.

I put this one to the test

and I think they might be
onto something.

But, most importantly, the local
people were empowered

and began making their own
decisions about their health.

The community
at Amata decided

that they were wanting to reduce
the amount of sugar intake

that they were having
throughout the community.

The first
high-sugar item to go

was the black fizzy stuff.

Then they've said,
"We don't want Coke,"

so they don't have Coke.

So no-one is upset about it,
it is a decision by the elders.

And so we don't have Coke.

Mai Wiru was working

and in a very short time
Amata had

the lowest rate of sugar
consumption in the region.

With the level
of sugar consumption

in other communities I've been
in, it's astronomical.

It is over the top.

I think the Mai Wiru group,

in itself, could teach a lot of
the other communities a lot.

But just when
everything seemed to be

headed in the right direction,

the government slashed
Mai Wiru's funding.

The organisation is now left
with a skeleton of staff,

the nutritionist was
the first to go.

The Pitjantjatjara
Yankunytjatjara people

really feel it
because it was their idea.

Like, they're the ones
who saw the problem,

they're the ones who bury
their own people,

they're the ones who wanted
to make a change

and they've been
totally ignored,

overridden and having
funding taken off by

the Federal and
State governments

and given to
a non-Aboriginal organisation.

It's really quite outrageous.

The thing that
struck me about Amata

is that although Coke is gone,

without a nutritionist to
continue the education

people are still consuming
vast amounts of sugar

in other products.

And their health is suffering
as a consequence.

There's
a perception abroad

that the problems with
obesity and diabetes

may be related to alcohol,

but here at Amata it's been
a dry community

ever since it was established,
so all of the health problems,

including diabetes
and kidney failure,

is all related to the diet.

John offered to
take me to a special place

where the full effects of a
disabled Mai Wiru can be felt.

I've known
almost everyone buried here.

I've got family members
buried here.

These five graves here
are all people under 40.

That's another young
person in there.

A whole group up here
of two sisters and a brother

who all passed away
from kidney failure.

Most of these deaths
here are premature

and could have been avoided
with correct diet

and access to affordable
healthy food.

It's a complete tragedy.

After four days
in Amata,

it occurred to me that
what is happening to my body

is perhaps a concentrated
version

of what has happened here

and in many other
Indigenous communities.

I'd been sugar-free
for a long time

and now, by suddenly subjecting
myself to a high-sugar diet,

the effects have been both rapid
and acute.

If immediate action isn't taken

to restore the positive
direction

that Mai Wiru was heading in,

then the oldest living culture
on earth

is in great danger
of disappearing.

Oh, look at that.'

81.2.

81.2

- OK, so what's that in...
- 1.6 kilos.

So in a month I've put on five.

Something like that.

- 76.
- You started out at 76, yeah.

Over five kilos.

- Oh, my God.
- What?

Hang on, is that a...
Hang on, don't tell me.

91.

- 91?!
- 91.

So, OK, 7cm.

7cm.

If I keep going for
the next three or four months

at these levels, would I be
knocking on the door of obesity?

Definitely.
You haven't got far to go.

I'm eating a lot more
than I would.

Um...I'm snacking a lot more
than I would have before.

I find it very hard
to feel full.

Not surprising because you're
not eating very much good fats

or proteins.

It's the fat and the protein

that actually helps us
feel fuller.

All the low-fat foods that we've
been told are good for us

and that we should be eating

actually tend to be
higher in sugar anyway,

as you know,

and they're not helping us
to feel full.

With the effects
of sugar

now clearly taking a toll on me,

and having witnessed
its devastation in Amata...

I'm packing.

..I needed to talk
to some people

that knew a lot more about
the subject than I did.

Have a look behind
you.

It's hanging off
my cupboard door.

It was time to head to

the cultural capital
of convenience,

the mecca of the processed
food and sugar industry,

and the current
number-one-ranked

world obesity champion...

Look out, America.

Here comes Sugar Daddy.

So,
we're here in America.

Day one, jet lag.

So I just went in to Jamba Juice
and got me one of these.

139 grams of sugar.

I actually need the calculator
for this.

That...

..that is 34 teaspoons
of sugar...

..in that drink.

That is nearly my daily
allowance in this cup.

What a great jet lag cure.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Now, if I was to eat
the same amount of sugar

that was in that smoothie

but the sugar was in
its original fruit packaging

I would have to eat four
peaches, nine limes,

30 lemons and 30 strawberries.

This might be fine for a bear
about to go into hibernation,

but it can have damaging effects
for a human

who thinks they are making
a healthy choice.

One of the interesting conflicts
today is this idea,

pushed by some of our
government...

..well-meaning
government officials,

that if you could just get
Coca-Colas out of McDonald's

and get the kids to drink fruit
smoothies they'd be healthier.

And yet the fruit smoothies have

just as much sugar
as a Coca-Cola.

The first thing I noticed
with American foods

was how difficult it was gonna
be to stay under 40 teaspoons.

It wasn't just the abundance
of sugar in the food

but also the presence
of a sweetener

called high fructose corn syrup.

Its primary delivery system
is soft drink,

which adds roughly
4,000 teaspoons a year

to the diet of each American.

People don't actually
realise

that high fructose corn syrup
and sugar

are virtually identical.

See, corn refiners back in
the 1980s did their best

to make sure
that people didn't equate

high fructose
corn syrup with sugar.

Flash forward 20 years later,

people are blaming
high fructose corn syrup

for the obesity epidemic.

And now the corn refiners
are desperately trying to say

that they are sugar,
they're no different,

and the sugar industry's going,
"No, you're not.

"You're entirely different."

With sugar
and high fructose corn syrup

now in the spotlight,

I notice that companies
are using

a range of seductive names

for other fructose-based
sweeteners.

Any sugar -

brown sugar, white sugar,
high fructose corn syrup,

fruit juice concentrate
from fruit juice -

equal effect on your health.

Not feeling very well
at all today.

Nauseous in my stomach
and had a headache all morning.

And it's interesting,
'cause we're driving through

rural America now,
we're in North Carolina.

It's so hard to get any kind
of decent food.

There are signs that say
'food exit',

but that food
is either McDonald's

or Taco Bell or KFC.

It's impossible.

And if you grow up as a kid

and this is your only experience
of food

and what food is,

it's little wonder that there's
a massive problem

in this country.

The next stop was
Barbourville, Kentucky.

In the great cola wars
of the 1990s,

Pepsi and Coke were
engaged in a fierce battle.

The Pepsi army took
a strong foothold

in the state of Kentucky

and their number-one sniper
is the drink Mountain Dew.

In this 1.25-litre bottle

you'll find 37 teaspoons
of sugar

and 40% more caffeine than
the same size bottle of Coke.

The people of Kentucky
have understandably had

some problems with their teeth,

and one dentist is doing
something about it.

His name is Edwin Smith.

This is his letterbox,
this is his daughter

and this is him
as a collectable figurine.

Edwin drives around the state
of Kentucky in RVs

he has converted
into mobile dental clinics.

He and his team visit schools,
educate the kids

and treat their teeth.

Early in my practice

I saw these patients who
would have this unusual decay,

brown decay,
around the gum line,

usually the front teeth.

Most of these people were
addicted to Mountain Dew,

in particular.

And that's where
we came up with the term

'Mountain Dew mouth'.

I've talked to some kids who say
they may drink 10 a day.

They started drinking it
so early that they don't know

when they started.

Mountain Dew will
tickle your innards

'cause there's a bang
in every bottle.

They take the lid off,
they take a drink.

20 minutes or so,
it starts to wear off

and they take another drink.

It takes the oral cavity
about 20 minutes

to cleanse itself naturally
with saliva,

so if you're taking a drink
every 20 minutes,

it's as though you're bathing
your teeth in this all day long.

What's the youngest
kids that you treat?

Sometimes 3-year-olds,

3-, 4-year-olds that have
a lot of tooth decay.

And those are usually what they
call baby bottle tooth decay,

and that's from having juices
in baby bottles.

Sometimes it's from having soft
drinks in the baby bottles, too.

Do you do the majority
of your treatments in Kentucky?

- Yes. Yeah.
- OK.

It's eastern Kentucky,
the Appalachian region,

the mountains.

That's the poorest region
in the state.

It's directly related
to poverty.

Yep.

It's pretty common
for people around here

to drink a lot of pop.

Mainly it's Mountain Dew
and Pepsi.

This is 17-year-old
Larry Hammons.

He's lived in Kentucky
all his life.

This is his tatt,
this is his favourite T-shirt

and these are his teeth.

My 18th birthday's in eight days

and, I mean,

people look down upon me
because of my teeth.

As I was a kid I was never
worried about my teeth

and I would just take a pop
everywhere I went

and I'd always have
one in my hand.

And how old do you
reckon you were

when you had your first
Mountain Dew, like, how old?

I would probably say two
or three.

And how much a day
would you say you have?

I would say at least four
or five bottles.

If it was cans,
I would say at least a 12-pack.

12 cans a day.

Man, are there people
doing that in this town?

Yeah.

What about...You were talking
about your cousin before.

I would say about six
or seven cans a day,

and he's only three years old.

Wow. And how does he...
Does he drink it from the can?

No, from a bottle.
She puts it in his bottle.

Edwin is meeting
Larry today

because he plans to remove
all of his teeth

and replace them with dentures.

He has 26 teeth that
need to be extracted altogether.

I'd like to say that that's
really rare but it's not.

- You doing OK, Larry?
- Yeah, pretty good.

- Nervous.
- OK.

Have you got any questions
about today?

- Yeah.
- What?

When can we get this started?

Can we get his mom in here?
OK.

I don't want no pain for him.
I wish I could take it for him.

You're doing well,
mate.

Hell no.

You're a brave man.

My blood pressure is saying,
"Whoosh."

Yeah.

Well, right now,
Larry doesn't feel numb,

and I think we have a couple of
factors playing a role in that.

One is that he's very nervous
and the adrenaline's flowing,

and the other is that he has
infection in there

and has had infection
for some time,

so the anaesthetic does not
take effect as well.

The condition his teeth
are in now

you know he's suffered a lot
before he's even been here,

so he knows what pain is.

Due to infection,

no amount of anaesthetic
would work on Larry's gums,

so Edwin has decided to
postpone the procedure

for another day.

When contacted,
Pepsi said that in moderation

Mountain Dew is part of
a healthy, balanced diet.

But I would argue that any drink
with that much sugar

and caffeine in it

is quite difficult to have
in moderation.

In fact, despite sitting through
Larry's ordeal,

the biggest shock came
when Larry told me

that he still loved Mountain Dew
and would continue to drink it.

Hi, honey.'
Oh, it was an amazing day.

When you think of Amata
and now this,

you're seeing the direct effects
of what sugar's doing,

and the companies,
they just don't see it

because they're...they're
worried about making money,

they're not on the ground level
seeing the effects,

and they don't care, really.

And I spoke to
the dentist about, like,

what Pepsi have done about it
and stuff, and he said,

"Oh, look, they contacted me
and said,

"'Look, we really wanna help you
out,'"

and, you know,
so they've bought an RV,

another car to help with
the kids, but he's, like,

"Look, yeah, it's good,"

but they don't really need
an RV, they need education.

But, as he said today...

They need to not drink
Mountain Dew every day.

But, as he said, they're not
gonna educate the kids

'cause that means
they'll stop drinking it,

and that's a disaster
for them.

My experience with Larry

led me to a Pulitzer
Prize-winning author

who has written extensively
on how the food giants

have got us hooked
on their products.

You can't underestimate

the amount of scientific effort

that these companies
will put into

maximising the allure
of their products.

Understanding the sort of
fundamentals

of how we taste

and why we crave
and what makes food addictive.

I was lucky enough
to spend some time

with a legend in
the processed food industry.

His name is Howard Moskowitz.

And he walked me through
his recent creation

of a new soda flavour
for Dr Pepper.

He started with 61 levels of
sweeteners in the formulation,

subjected that to
more than 3,000

consumer taste tests
around the country,

then took that data

and out came the optimum
level of sweetness

that was guaranteed to send
their new soda

flying off the shelf.

Behind
the closed doors of industry,

this optimal amount of sugar

is referred to as
'the bliss point'.

Back in the 1970s,

Howard Moskowitz discovered

that as you increase
the amount of sugar in a product

people liked it more and more.

But then they peaked

and if any more sugar
was added

then they stopped liking it.

So I discovered the bliss point,

and that's what it was
christened - the bliss point.

Well, fast forward 45 years
later, it means pasta sauce,

it means sodas,
it means cereals.

Creating bliss points in
products all over the place

is exploiting the biology
of the child.

You know, it's created
this expectation in kids

that everything
they eat should taste sweet,

so when you get to
the vegetable aisle, right,

and you're trying to get little
Mikey to eat that broccoli

and he starts tasting
those bitter notes, right,

instead of sweetness, you know,

you're in for a load of trouble
as a parent.

It's understandable
that our palates have adjusted

to all of these
blissed out foods

when we have such
a primal desire for sweet.

Even Mother Nature herself
has created a berry

that makes everything
taste sweet.

So, in front of me
I have three food items

that it's fair to say
I don't enjoy.

This here piping hot chilli,
this here sour lemon

and this nasty bottle
of apple cider vinegar.

But apparently

if I put this miracle berry
onto my tongue

and then eat those things,

it's supposed to make them
taste sweet.

No way!

That's an orange.

I'm dubious.

When it hit my throat
it was really intense,

but in the mouth...

..I don't know what
it tasted like.

Maybe, um...lemonade
kind of thing.

Wasn't too sweet, but it was not
apple cider vinegar.

But this has got me nervous.

I do not like chilli at all.

Please work.

Nothing.

Oh! It's hit my throat, though!

There's no miracle berry
on my oesophagus.

Damn.

This experiment
with my tastebuds

made me realise what the food
companies have always known -

that adding sweetness
can make anything palatable.

I'm so sorry.

Well, almost anything.

It was now day 35,

and the rule of the experiment

I was finding increasingly hard
to maintain

was exercise.

My motivation had plummeted.

My heart hurts.

Hello, Sharon.

How are you feeling?

Well, if you could see
me you would not recognise me,

'cause there's a few pimples
that have arrived,

there's a lot of fat
and fullness in my face,

and my tummy is really
quite something to behold.

I can't fit into my favourite
new shorts anymore,

which is a bit disappointing.

When did the pimples
break out?

About three days ago.

Um...it's probably
your liver reacting.

Often skin conditions
are related

to poor liver functioning.

So, if someone's on a sort of,
like, high-processed sugar diet,

you'll see it in their eyes,
you'll see bags under the eyes,

you'll see it in their skin.

Whether they're here or they're
just really drawn and lethargic.

Sugar's effects on me
physically were obvious,

but my cravings for it and
the mental toll it was taking

prompted me to explore what
it was doing to my brain.

So I took my pimply face to
the Oregon Research Institute.

This group of scientists, who
I'm trusting enormously,

own this colossal
magnetic sucking machine

called an FMRI...

..which they are going to
put me and my brain into.

They will then show me
images of this high-sugar,

low-fat milkshake and
then feed me the milkshake

through a special megastraw.

Then they'll take
some photos of my brain

and show me how it reacted.

Wow.

Now I'm gonna climb
into my own brain

and see what effects
sugar just had on it.

Now, the first step is that we
see what's called a cue,

or a trigger -

which, in my case,
was the milkshake.

It can be a picture of one
or the real thing.

Now, when we see this sugary
cue, or trigger,

a chemical called dopamine
is released in our brain.

This is an evolutionary urge
when sweetness was rare,

so when we saw it,
our brain said, "Get that,

"'cause you need it for quick
energy and to feel good."

Now, the next step is that
we get the sugary item.

We bring it to our mouth
and we taste its sweetness.

It's then that chemicals
called opioids

and beta-endorphins are
released and we feel terrific.

Sugar loads have the same
reward areas as nicotine,

cocaine and sex!

But it doesn't last long.

Now, if some of us eat
sugary foods often enough

and establish this happy feeling
of reward,

it can create subconscious
or mindless habits,

which are easily triggered by
more images of sugary foods.

Throw into the mix that
the fructose half of sugar

also affects our appetite
control centres,

plus the glucose half
affects our moods,

and suddenly we have
a very volatile combination

on our hands.

One of the very interesting
emerging findings

in this literature is

the more you eat
high-sugar foods,

the more you're gonna desire
high-sugar foods

and wanna continue
eating them.

This desire to wanna
keep eating more sugary foods

sounds a lot like
addictive behaviour.

Serge Ahmed, who's
now in Bordeaux, in France,

published a really cool study
where he basically showed that

rats will work harder for sugar
than they will for cocaine.

Unlike the drug dealer,
who's, you know,

squired away some place hiding,

the food giants are in your face
everywhere you go.

In the boardrooms
of these food giants,

'addiction' is a dirty word.

When it comes to obesity
and illness,

the food industry have always
argued that people need to take

personal responsibility
for their food choices.

When it comes to
eating,

fat people are
basically very stupid.

No, but, you see,
I was away this weekend

and it is difficult
in friends' houses.

OK, Mrs Wright,
no more chocolates.

For more
than 50 years,

the food industry has insisted
that obesity is caused

by too many calories
and not enough exercise.

Which implies that
anyone overweight

is simply lazy or greedy.

OK, so, we just passed halfway.

And I've never counted
calories in my life.

I'm trying my best
in this experiment.

It's hard to be accurate,
obviously.

But it looks like my calories
so far are pretty much

exactly the same as they were
pre-experiment.

And that feels strange because

I feel like I'm eating
a lot more.

But I can see here that

when I was eating,
pre-experiment,

avocado and nuts and stuff,

there's a lot more calories
in fat than there is in sugar.

So...in fact, it's half.

Like, nine calories
per gram of fat

whereas sugar's only got
four calories,

so I can see why we're told that
sugar's OK and don't eat fat,

'cause there's less calories.

But...I'm eating
the same amount of calories

as I did before but
my liver's turned to fat,

my belly's chasing my lady's.

It's doing something
to my brain, we know that now.

And I'm not feeling full.

So it feels like the calories
from sugar

behave very differently
to other calories.

The sugar industry absolutely
depended on this idea

that it's just about
energy balance.

'Cause if there's something
uniquely deleterious

about sugar...

..then they're in the realm
that cigarettes are in,

tobacco and lung cancer.

But if it's just about
eating too much

or not exercising too little,

if a calorie of sugar
is no different than

a calorie of broccoli,
they're fine.

Just tell people to
moderate their weight -

if you're getting fat, eat less
and that's all there is.

So the sugar industry also
sort of pushed this idea

that a calorie is a calorie
is a calorie,

and yet these calories do

dramatically different things
in the human body,

and they always have.

It's become clear
to me

that in the search for profits,

the food companies
are not only targeting

our primal desire for sugar,

but are also insisting
that all calories are equal.

The result is that
we feel like failures

if we're addicted or overweight.

Perhaps the greed that is
actually making us overweight

and sick

is of the corporate variety.

- Hello, you.
- Hello, honey.

Can you show me the belly?

Have a look at this baby. He's
actually doing little kicks.

Quick.

Aww.

Hello, baby.

- Hello, baby.

Hello, Daddy.

- Bye.
- Love you.

- Bye.
- Bye-bye.

- Bye.
- Bye.

Do you know how many
sugarholics there are

in this country?

Millions and millions of them.

As you go around
the schoolyards,

you watch the young boys
and girls of this country

and see how many of these
children...

Their soft, weak muscles
are out of condition,

they don't have the energy
and vitality they should have.

They look like sugar,
they don't...

After 45 days,

it became more and more
evident

that we're just not getting
a clear message about sugar.

Could the fact that sugar's
global trade is worth

$50 billion

have anything to do with it?

It turns out that the
suppression of the message

began in the 1970s

when the US Government was
reviewing the safety of sugar

for the first time.

The Sugar Association
launched a campaign

to ensure their product
wasn't vilified.

In this case,
what the sugar industry did,

is they stepped in when the
evidence was ambiguous

and they said,

"We're gonna kinda make sure
it's always ambiguous."

To do this, the Sugar
Association paid scientists,

hired a PR company

and released a report with
a press release that read:

They put out this document
called Sugar in the Diet of Man.

There was no sign that it was
paid for by the sugar industry.

It looks like
a very official document,

it's published in a journal.

The sugar industry sends out
25,000 copies.

This report was then
used by the government

to determine its findings.

Sugar was exonerated and the
rest of the world followed suit.

Jack Tatem, president
of the Sugar Association's

presenting to his board
and he says,

"Look, there is no
conclusive evidence

"linking sugar
to these chronic diseases.

"And this is the lifeblood
of our organisation,

"it's the lifeblood
of our product.

"If anyone ever links sugar to
these diseases, we're dead.

"So our job,
what we have to do...

"..is make sure that
there's no consensus."

You know.

This manipulation
of evidence

and deliberate muddying
of the waters

is all sounding very familiar.

OK, how's about taking a nap?

Hey, I got a better idea.
Let's take a Winston break.

That's it! Winston is...

And, evidently,
it's still going on today.

If you create a list
of the things

that the tobacco industry did
to stall or to fight off

public health actions
that would curtail smoking,

the food companies are doing
every single one.

Paying scientists to do studies
that favour industry positions,

paying money to professional
organisations,

like heart-related and
cancer-related organisations,

putting out deceptive statements
in the press,

characterising science that
doesn't work out for industry

as 'junk science'.

There's a very long list
of these things.

The tobacco industry
did them all

and the food industry
is doing them all.

Many of the reviews,

the final review,

is that there is no evidence

that sugar is associated
with metabolic disease

of any kind,

are funded by
the sugar industry.

Given everything
I have learnt so far

it was hard to believe

there are still scientists
defending sugar and fructose.

I was curious
to meet one of them.

I haven't eaten sugar
for nearly three years

and part of this film is
that I'm, for 60 days,

eating a very
high-fructose sugar diet.

I thought maybe I'll put on
a little bit of weight,

I put on six kilos in Australia,
which is 15 pounds.

Right.

All hidden sugars -
granola bars, low-fat yoghurt.

What's happening?

Well, what I'd say is that
that's a very powerful anecdote

and I think, you know, it's...

I think that can be true
for a lot of people.

But I would say that you had to
be careful any time you do

a high amount of anything.

I think if I was to put you,
again, on a white bread diet,

you know, or to put you on
a, you know, potato chip diet

or French fry diet,
you might have a similar effect.

I think the issue is
that all of these calories

really need to be regarded
as discretionary.

I found John's
position on calories

so similar to the line that
the food industry takes

that I felt compelled
to question

the source of his
research funding.

Have you ever received any kind
of funding from Coca-Cola?

You know, I think this is
a really important question,

and it's very important for me
that I be transparent.

So we have received
investigator-initiated,

unrestricted funding
from Coca-Cola.

What that means is they had
no say over our questions

we were asking,
how we conducted the research,

our analysis, our interpretation
and our data plan.

It's a red flag...

For me to hear you even
say that is, like, "Whoa, OK."

Because this is a company
with 650 beverage products...

You're right, you're right.

..that rely on fructose
and sugar, so...

So what I would say
is you're right.

I mean, we realised this
going in

and, I mean,
some may view this

as sort of shaking hands
with the devil, I guess.

I mean, even though
that's the case, you know,

we're confident enough in what
we're doing and our protocols

and we're laying
everything bare,

that we could afford
to engage with them.

I think that we should not
take money

from the industry directly.

I think it's just morally wrong
to do that,

and, you know, money's tough,

so it's a big dilemma
for researcher, as well.

But we don't want to taint
the answer,

we want to know the truth.

Just one week later,

I saw an ad for a symposium
on fructose

and sweetened beverages.

It was sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Their keynote speaker
was Dr John Sievenpiper.

He spoke about calories
and there being no link between

fructose and cardiometabolic
diseases in the studies.

Coke madly tweeted about it

and then the host
asked the audience...

To maybe
put together

a YouTube video to, you know,

bring some balance back
to those messages

that are out there
for the public.

I found this video
on YouTube,

but I'm not sure it's quite
what they had in mind.

As the US leg
of my experiment

neared its conclusion,

what really struck me

is that despite all the effects
sugar is having on us,

in many ways we've just
adapted to its saturation.

And I'm just noticing how
incredible the human body

and the human mind is

because even though I'm having
40 teaspoons of sugar a day,

I've adjusted now
to this new reality.

My body just accepts
that this is what I eat,

and my brain deals with
the moods up and down,

I just get on with life
and it's fine, I can function.

But, uh...I'm not nearly
as efficient as I was,

my fuse is a lot shorter,
I'm exhausted.

And I think that's how a lot
of people live their lives.

People are up and down all day,
but it's just their reality,

so they accept it

and they've never experienced
anything different.

And I have

and I'm really excited
to get back to that point.

If you've always
lived this way,

you have no idea
what life can be like.

It's not part of your
frame of reference.

Now,
a lot of people will say,

"Well, I eat sugar all the time
and, you know,

"I'm perfectly fine."

Well, what they don't understand
is that

they eat sugar all the time

and they're fuzzy and their
mind is cloudy all the time.

Sugar has now
become so deeply ingrained

into the fabric of our society

that some people can't
imagine life without it.

What say we took away
added sugar,

well, then what
are people gonna do

to get that same feeling in
their life that sugar gave them,

in terms of their values
and preferences?

But we forget that
we didn't always live like this.

Society has changed.

200 years ago there was not
a society in the world

when they had a festival that
was basing what they ate

and what they drank on sugar.

Today, it has
become synonymous

with any celebration.

But, more profoundly,

it is one of the simplest ways
we communicate love.

I think the reason
that sugar has become

so ingrained is that it
actually evokes love.

Our brains respond to
the chemical effect

the same way
we respond to love.

If we're feeling upset,
what do we do?

We have some sugar,
"Oh, I feel better."

If there's not enough sweetness
in our life, not enough love,

"Oh, I'll just have
some chocolate."

With sugar having
such complex associations

with our hearts,
minds and bodies,

I wonder if it is having
far greater ramifications

for the culture
than we've considered.

Rudolf Steiner said that sugar
essentially causes materialism.

And that development
of the sugar metabolism

and the sugar drug culture

developed
a materialistic culture.

We live in a time of instant
gratification,

nobody wants to wait
for anything.

What's sugar? Quick energy,
it's straight to the brain.

Eat that pie!
Eat that pie! Eat that pie.'

Eat that pie! Eat that pie.'
Eat that pie!

Eat that pie!
Eat that pie! Eat that pie.'

Eat that pie! Eat that pie.'
Eat that pie!

Hi, darling.

Oh, look at this.

Hello, little dude. How are you
going in there, dudie?

Massive.

How big's mine, too?
Look at that.

- Oh, my God.

Alright, let's do it.

After 60 days

and 2,360 teaspoons of sugar,

it was time for the last meal.

I thought it would be fitting

to cram all the remaining
40 teaspoons

into items that could be found
in a child's school lunch box.

Closed!

Yeah!

Be gone.

One week later, after having
all my blood tests done,

I assembled the team
to hear the final verdict

on what sugar had done
to my body.

The obvious place to start
is the liver.

A key marker for
determining liver health

is a hormone called ALT.

In the first month alone
mine jumped

from 20 below the safety line
to 20 above the safety line.

So it took you from, say,

the best 20% of the men
to the worst 10%.

- In one month.
- In one month.

Fatty liver is the first step
towards insulin resistance,

so once you're on an insulin
resistance pathway

then you're on a pathway
towards type-2 diabetes

and then, ultimately,
insulin-dependent

type-2 diabetes.

Today in Australia,

nine people had a limb
amputated to that disease.

My triglyceride levels,
which is the fat in the blood,

went from a healthy 0.08 to 1.5.

So you'd hit the risk point...

Gee-whiz.

In two months of healthy eating.

Of healthy eating.

High triglycerides
can also indicate a switch

from healthy cholesterol

to the damaging small,
dense LDL cholesterol.

Small, dense LDL
lines you up for heart disease

because they're the ones
that are embedding

in the arterial walls,
forming plaques -

and that's the bit
you don't want.

You can have all the LDL
you like, but don't have those.

In terms of weight,
I gained 8.5kg overall

and added 7%
to my total body fat.

But, more ominously,

increased my waist
measurement by 10cm.

This is the dangerous
visceral fat.

I showed a slight change
in the bum expansion test,

a variance in the rear
flesh wings test

and had great success
in the highly scientific

'belly slap, make
a fat wave' wobble test.

I was quite, as you know,
you know,

quite alarmed that
you were able to do that

in such a short amount of time,
again,

eating heart-approved,
healthy foods

that everyone's
going along thinking, you know,

it's totally fine to be doing.

And we're worried
about the future

of this obesity epidemic
in Australia,

whether it's going to lead to
an epidemic

of liver disease
in the long term.

But perhaps the most
enlightening of my results

was the calorie count.

As I'd discovered,
my calorie intake

was virtually the same
as my pre-experiment diet.

The big difference was
the source of the calories.

I'd pretty much done
a direct swap

of healthy fats
for sugar-laden products.

I was looking at
the total calories, as well,

and very often it would
come out as less

than what he had eaten
previously.

The way that calories have been
measured in the past

needs to be re-looked at.

This calorie counting and
this intense fixation with...

And it's our fault,
as much as...

I take responsibility

because it's a message we've
been spewing out for the last 30

or 40 years, but we really have
to try and turn things around.

And Damon is living evidence,
living proof,

it is not the calories,
it's the source of the calories.

It's where they're coming from.

I'm surprised how quickly

things went downhill for you,
I honestly am.

To put on so much
weight in just 60 days,

without really changing
the number of calories

you were eating, without,
you know, eating rubbish,

to have such a big effect -
10cm on the waist,

8.5 kilos on the body,

full-blown fatty liver disease
developed,

well on your way to cirrhosis,

well on your way to insulin
resistance - that's a disaster.

Hm.

You know, I obviously,
through my research,

have convinced myself that
sugar is almost assuredly

the problem,
the fundamental problem.

You get rid of sugar

and everything else becomes
relatively harmless.

We would like
to do the definitive study,

but even if we find out
next month it gets funded,

it's still gonna be
five more years

before I will have results.

What possible risk
to public health is there

in people lowering
their sugar consumption?

This is our problem

and we should all work together
to solve it

instead of pointing fingers

and not being productive
about that.

And I would love to see the food
industry come to the table

with scientists and healthcare
providers and do what's right.

The first week of giving
up sugar wasn't a lot of fun.

Frankly, it didn't feel
that different

from giving up cigarettes.

I had headaches, I was moody

and my sleep patterns
were terrible.

And I just tossed
and turned all night

and then woke up very early,

and as soon as I was awake
I kind of was craving sugar.

I feel like I need a hit.

Um...it's the first real sign...

..that this is gonna be
a bit tricky.

But I knew from previous
experience

that I wouldn't feel
like this forever

and that ultimately it would
all be worth it.

Because food
and sugar has

a very strong emotional
component,

then we have to heal
ourselves emotionally

and we have to go through what
could be a disturbing experience

or an uncomfortable or even
awkward experience

coming off of it.

But once you get through it,

which is about
two to four weeks,

suddenly the desire for sugar
disappears altogether.

One month
after finishing the experiment,

a miracle occurred.

Our daughter was born.

This is her mobile,
this is her teething giraffe

and this is her lunch.

- Hiya.
- Are you tired, bubby?

But then some other
remarkable things happened.

After just two months
of cutting out sugar...

..my vitality had returned,
my skin was brighter

and, thankfully,
my moods had evened out.

I've had hundreds
and hundreds of people

go off sugar just for the reason
of clearing up their mind,

and typically,
the result I get is, "Wow!

"I had no idea!"

In terms of my weight,

all I did is return to
my pre-experiment diet.

I swapped cereal
and low-fat yoghurt

for bacon, eggs
and avocado without toast.

I snacked on nuts and cheese
instead of muesli bars,

and ate fish or meat
with the fat left on

and lots of green vegetables
for dinners.

I lost 6kg
with minimal exercise.

Once you remove that hormone
disrupter, fructose,

from your diet,

your appetite control works
again and your weight drops.

Because I replaced sugar
with healthy fats,

I felt full again
and didn't have to eat as much.

Consequently, I spent the same
amount on shopping

as I had during the experiment.

Whenever you walk into
a supermarket,

make an immediate right turn
or left turn

for the produce aisle and avoid
everything in the middle.

Everything in the middle is
a huge amount of calories

with very little nutrients.

And what we wanna do
is reverse that.

But the biggest
surprise

was that all of my
blood tests had

returned to normal,

so no more heart disease risks
and no more fatty liver.

I think the most
important message is that

this is not you get
a fatty liver and that's it,

it will stay fatty,

it actually can be reversed
very easily

by taking away the fructose
from your diet,

taking away all those drinks.

I mean, water is a good drink.

Yeah.

In truth, it did take a while
for my palate

to readjust to my lady's
unsweetened cooking.

Things tasted bland
for the first few weeks,

but then I rediscovered the full
flavours of fresh produce.

Mmm.

For just five days,
I want you to discontinue,

or take out of your diet,
for five days,

these foods
that I'm gonna show you,

and I promise you that
you will feel 100% better.

Will you please try this for me,
just as an experiment?

'Cause I'm here trying to help
you help yourself a little bit.

In the USA,

it was recently recommended
for men to have

no more than nine teaspoons
of sugar a day

and women no more than six.

Australia currently doesn't have
an equivalent recommendation.

I love chocolate.

I eat a little piece
of chocolate every day.

But I'm careful and I understand
the adverse effects

if I have too much of it.

But for me it's simpler
to cut out sugar altogether.

And that means avoiding
artificial sweeteners, too,

that keep the cravings alive.

If you continue to reinforce

it has to be sweet
in order for it to be good,

then you're never
really learning

how to do food...
good food.

I want my daughter to
grow up healthy and happy...

..and not waste any of her
precious time counting calories

or obsessing over weight.

By educating our children,

perhaps they can avoid
the mistakes

that our generation has made.

Do whatever you can
to turn fruit and vegetable

into the highlight of your meal.

Train your kids to love them.

That's what every
parent's got to figure out.

How do you get in all those
great nutrients?

How do you get those
superfoods into your child

and make it taste good
at the same time

without spiking
their blood sugar

so that they can sit down
and study and learn

and allow for the creation
of genius.

That's why we're having
the sugar experiment.

We had to learn that this is not
the right way to go

in order to help inspire us
to get to the next level.

I certainly don't think
that sugar is solely to blame

for all own current
health problems,

but given its prevalence
in our food supply,

lowering our consumption
is a great place to start.

Sugar's not evil,
but life is so much better...

..when you get rid of it.

This experiment has
proven to me that refined sugar

and excess fructose are causing
serious damage to the health

and wellbeing of millions
of people.

And as the debate heats up

and the food industry fight
tooth and nail

to shut the message down,

we'll be bombarded with
conflicting nutritional advice.

But for me, quite simply,
the proof is in the pudding.

About 10 teaspoons of it.

♪ Hey, everybody

♪ Let me introduce myself

♪ I spread my love on every
item on your supermarket shelf

♪ I taste so good,
make you feel so high

♪ That I bring you back for more

♪ Plus I place my goodies
at your kiddies' eye level

♪ When you're just about to
walk out the store

♪ Now, people will tell you
that I rot your teeth

♪ And make you fat
and give your body abuse

♪ But forget about that,
just take off your clothes

♪ And have a spa made
of chocolate mousse

♪ Sing it, ladies

♪ Oh, Mr Sugar, so sexy alright

♪ We can taste you in our food
in nearly every bite

♪ It feels so good
Can we have a little more?

♪ Of course you can, ladies
I got white, brown, raw sugar

♪ Sugar

♪ Sugar

♪ I'm not your friend
I come in gum

♪ Just eat me
when you're on the run

♪ Sugar
Sugar

♪ Sugar

♪ Treat to eat
I taste so sweet

♪ I get you when
you leave the teat

♪ And when you wake up
in the morning

♪ And you're feeling
kind of peckish

♪ This often where
you find me the most

♪ 'Cause I'm lurking
in your cereal

♪ I'm lurking in your yoghurt

♪ And sometimes I'm even found
in your toast

♪ But here's a little secret
I can share with you

♪ A secret you should put to use

♪ There's about six
cheeky teaspoons of me

♪ Hiding in a glass of juice

♪ Hey

♪ Some people think
that Mr Sugar hangs out

♪ Only with the bright-coloured
snacks

♪ But I've been spreading
my crystals all over your food

♪ And the company's been
hiding the facts

♪ I'm in cola,
granola and pasta sauce

♪ Mushy peas, mac and cheese

♪ And that radish from a horse

♪ Canned fruit and soup,
even soup in a satchel

♪ And Mr Sugar loves the term
'all natural'

♪ White bread, corn chips,
muffin mix, gravy

♪ Mayonnaise, satay,
food for the baby

♪ Baked beans for the teens
and an energy drink

♪ And I'm clearly gonna be
in any food that's pink

♪ I'm confessing I'm in dressing
and a hamburger bun

♪ Where that cheeky
corn syrup's

♪ Trying to steal all my fun

♪ Muesli bars, even some cigars

♪ And a whole range of
marmalade and honey, jam jars

♪ Oh, Mr Sugar, so ubiquitous

♪ Our addiction to you
is quite ridiculous

♪ We feel so sick
when you're not around

♪ That's why a spoonful of me
helps the medicine go down

♪ Sugar
Sugar

♪ Sugar

♪ Sugar

♪ Sugar
♪ Put me in your coffee

♪ Sugar
♪ I'm the only thing in toffee

♪ Sugar
♪ Pick you up when you're down

♪ Sugar
♪ You should try me in brown

♪ Sugar
♪ You couldn't quit me for quids

♪ Sugar
♪ I'm coming for your kids. ♪