Don’t Know Why You’re Not Losing Weight? Damon Gameau Might Know
Can’t seem to lose the extra pounds no matter what you do? Are you choosing low-calorie foods and exercising regularly, yet that number on the scale won’t budge? Not knowing why can be infuriating.
However, Damon Gameau might have the answer. In his documentary, That Sugar Film, an actor and director from Australia, Gameau put his health at risk for a two-month-long experiment in self-destructive eating to discover the bitter truth about sugar.
In the same style of Super Size Me, Gameau makes himself the guinea pig. He restricts his diet to mostly packaged foods: granola bars, nutritional drinks, breakfast cereals, fruit snacks, flavored yogurts, etc. By consuming what is often advertised as “healthy,” Damon documented how much sugar is actually found in these products and the effects high amounts of sugar can have on a body.
For his study, Damon consumed the equivalent of 40 teaspoons of sugar a day for 60 days. In two months, he gained 19 pounds, increased his waist measurement by 4 inches, and added 7% overall body fat. He became moody and lethargic, and it appeared that the sugar was affecting his brain as much as his body.
One of the more intriguing scenes happened when Gameau learned that he gained those 19 pounds even though his caloric intake each day was roughly the same as his pre-experiment diet (2300 calories). The main difference was the source of the calories—healthy fats for sugar-laden products.
In addition, Gameau learned that foods such as spaghetti sauce, fruit juice, and smoothies are shockingly high in added sugars. The scene of him using a calculator at a Jamba Juice to calculate the number of teaspoons of sugar in his smoothie was quite shocking. (see below clip).
Some, however, feel that the movie lacked hard evidence. Gameau had his team of experts, but some of the ideas presented were passed off as common sense instead of scientific data. This movie is seven years old (2014). Still, unfortunately, no information could be located on any follow-up studies that Gameau and his team conducted.
Clearly, not everyone is a fan of Gameau’s work, and some experts disagree with the film. But, at least for Gameau, it was clear that the excess sugar intake did wreak havoc on his body.
Would a sugar-restricting diet work for everyone? That is yet to be determined, as more studies need to be conducted. But if you’ve been trying to lose weight and can’t seem to, you may want to give That Sugar Film a watch.
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