That Sugar Book

When actor and filmmaker Damon Gameau met a girl he was keen to impress he decided to get healthy by dramatically reducing his sugar intake. In no time he was slimmer, calmer, fitter and happier. He was also very curious: why did the elimination of sugar have such beneficial effects on his health and wellbeing? He decided to experiment and film the results. He would eat 40 teaspoons of sugar a day for 60 days. Crucially, he would only consume perceived 'healthy' foods like muesli bars, breakfast cereals, low-fat yoghurts, juices and smoothies.

The results were staggering. Although his caloric intake was the same as his regular diet, he put on nearly 9 kilograms in 60 days. Within a couple of weeks, he had the beginnings of fatty liver disease. Doctors who monitored his health throughout warned him that he was on the road to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. His journey took him not just down a path to ill health, but to outback Australia and to the backblocks of the USA. He interviewed food manufacturers, health experts and large-scale consumers of the white stuff. He discovered that 80 per cent of products on our supermarket shelves contain sugar, and that 5.5 million Australians have fatty liver disease directly linked to their sugar consumption.

That Sugar Book follows Damon on his journey and blows the lid on how the food industries make and sell our food, and how they are complicit in, and indeed determined to, maintain the status quo on the world's alarming and health-destroying sugar consumption. It also contains sensible advice on kicking the habit, foods to avoid, how to shop, how to read labels and how to cook sugar-free food, with the help of over thirty delicious, nurturing and easily prepared recipes.

Fun, feisty and fired up, this book is set to change the eating habits of a generation.