I posted this on Goodreads but decided to use it as the basis for a post as well because it is so fundamental to my green journey. Although I was already on the this path before I saw the movie (another great Bubble recommendation!), I thought that it would be interesting and add more substance to the movie’s messages to read the book – so when I saw it going for a good price at the The Book Depository…

That Sugar Book is an enjoyable read but not as effective in getting the counter-sugar message across as the movie – I would give the movie 5 stars for both entertainment and narrative…Possibly because it is in written form, and equally possibly because the author is a movie-maker not an author by trade and thus more experienced getting his messages across graphically, the messages are more subject to critical analysis in the book…

It is not quite clear in the book whether the message is counter-sugar or more against processed food with a high and possibly concealed sugar content. The author’s light approach is effective in the movie but does not translate as well across to a print medium and he comes across in a number of sections as more flippant than serious. He doesn’t help ‘the science’ of his case by sprinkling sugar over common food – trying too hard to make his point – instead of sticking to his stated programme of only eating apparently healthy food. Even in the recipes, he uses bananas but with a caution about their high fructose (bad sugars!!!) levels – I thought this was quite inconsistent: fructose is either bad and should be avoided or it just needs to be mitigated – just because it comes delivered in a fresh banana doesn’t make any any less bad – does it?

For me, possibly because I am already sold on the main message, the best part of the book is the last section which is also recipes. The narrative sections, I can take or leave…I think that the author needs to be clearer in his conclusions as to whether sugar is bad (we need some sugars to live), whether apparently healthy foods with concealed high sugar ratings are bad, and/or whether processed food in general is bad.

I lean towards these in reverse sequence of weighting i.e. processed food is bad, then foods with high levels of concealed sugars, and then finally some sugars being bad. This is based on my own experience as recently as yesterday when the apparently healthy muffins that I made for my granddaughters – even with the sugar halved – still set off a massive sugar craving that was aggravated by having commercial crumbed chicken – with a very sweet (and not stated on the label!) crumb mix – for dinner…it didn’t take long before the munchies had me climbing the wall…I only managed to quell them with a pineapple and coconut smoothie and three (big) glasses of water…

If I wasn’t sure before, this definitely convinced me that there is something to this sugar rush/craving/addiction thing: if I still had stocks of chips and chocolate bars in the house they would have taking a hammering last night!!

If you buy this book, buy it for the recipes…if you’re more into the message, get the movie…