The truth about sugar.

Fiona Philips presents the first program in a series about nutrition which focuses on sugar. 4 volunteers participate in a restriction diet to cut their daily sugar intake to the World Health Organisation recommendation of 6 teaspoons, with guidance from Professor of Nutrition and Oral Health, Paula Moynihan. Dr Marty Jopson explains types and sources of sugar in daily life, and demonstrates its extraction from sugar cane. He performs an experiment to show the energy content of sugar, and the weight gain if said energy is not used. At Newcastle University, the volunteers are assessed and Professor Michael Trenell explains potential health risks. Philips explores the sugar content of ‘sweet treats.’ Dr Ciara McCabe at Reading University explains the cognitive ‘reward system’ using an MRI scanner to identify the activity within the striatum of the brain when sugar is consumed. Dr Jopson returns to explain the similarity between seemingly ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ sugars. Philips undertakes interviews with the public to guess the sugar content of popular food and drinks, particularly in innocuous ‘savoury’ foods. Philips talks to Alice Cadman at Leatherhead Food Research in Surrey, where food trials form market research for companies; some sugar content is preferable. Professor Moynihan returns to explain the ‘traffic light’ system of nutrition labelling. Philips asks Barbara Gallani why there is not a uniform labelling system, and thinks manufacturers should take more responsibility. Philips and volunteers meet Christine Bailey to learn how to make their own low-sugar versions of manufactured foods. Philips explores the ‘dangers’ of fizzy drinks. Dr Jopson explains the risks of fruit juice versus fruit itself by showing how drinking calories is easier than eating. Philips meets with Dr Jason Gill at London Olympic Park to complete an experiment with two netball teams. Post-game, one side drinks a sugary drink, the other sugar-free, and both visit a buffet. The sugary team consumes more food and more calories altogether, used as evidence of the ‘danger’ which ‘empty calories’ in sugar represent. Philips returns to Leatherhead to discover that adding 10g of artificial sweetener to 50 litres of water creates the same sweetness of adding 5.4 kilos to the same amount, indicating it could be the way forward. After 6 weeks of their diets, the volunteers are measured again and give feedback, all benefitting from reducing their sugar intake.