What is this sweetener that many unknowingly crave in their modern diet? The sweet component known as sugar has become a necessity in today's society. An ingredient that almost everyone loves. Some might even argue that sugar consumption equates to the same effects as an addiction on the brain. Studies now suggest links to many diseases and how sugar has become a staple ingredient in our diet over the last century. The documentary The Secrets of Sugar, directed by Neil Docherty and narrated by Gillian Findlay, reveals to its audience the harsh reality of the correlations and direct links to the hard-hitting truth that sugar influences our body's natural functions. The film is aimed at an audience oriented towards the ordinary individual. It's for anyone who goes out and shops and isn't completely aware of how many grams per serving of sugar is being dumped into their body. It is aimed at consumers who do not know how to correctly read a nutrition label. It is aimed at people who have become diabetic, etc. and who wonder what the underlying cause of their illness may be. It is aimed at the common man who did not know that the sugar industry has been playing games with its consumers for decades and can now make an informed choice. Our society has primarily focused on the amount of fat in our products and neglected sugar consumption, becoming an epidemic in North America. This documentary goes on to express the impact of how the sugar industry prevents awareness of the suggestive health side effects of sugar consumption and the need for social change for people. The Secrets of Sugar is an excellent, thought-provoking documentary as it examines the evidence supporting the repercussions of consuming high-sugar eating habits, while also encouraging the need for social change within the food industry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayCurrently, “great” and “thought-provoking” documentaries can be distinguished by highlighting a topic that illuminates the viewer's consciousness where he didn't know it before. took up residence. This should open up the viewer's ability to interpret the effect that social institutions have on macro levels down to a level relevant to the individual. “Thinking” documentaries give voiceless subjects a voice to be heard by many and ignite the spark of curiosity and/or the need to create change for the general betterment of humanity. Both types of documentaries require heavily cited sources to be used in the film in order to raise awareness about social change. The quality and credibility of these sources will help establish a basis for the film's audience to agree with the film's claims. In addition to providing credible evidence for the argument, this will only increase the quality and value of the content being discussed. Today, many people in the film could advocate for social change, like Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist who specializes in childhood obesity as a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, or the nutritionist British John Yudkin, both of whom conducted research. the links between society's eating habits and sugar consumption are becoming a pandemic. While medical illnesses due to dietcontinues to increase and become a larger problem within society, it is crucial to educate as many individuals as possible about the importance of consuming too much sugar in their diet. Until then, many people are so ignorant of the marketing and advertising strategy that all companies impose on them to increase ill-informed buying impulses, that without this interference they might not even have considered buying this product. The food industry has and will continue to hold society in its grip. They are the ones who have kept the truth from consumers so they can make their own informed decisions about what products to purchase that will benefit their own health. All humans should know how excess sugar affects their bodies, how long the food industry has been hiding this knowledge from them, and that they are the ones who can bring about social change that will benefit the overall health of current and future generations. future. , Docherty takes the opportunity to set a calm tone for the film, regardless of the heavy subject matter covered, by implementing precise cinematic and musical editing skills. During filming, Docherty focused on making the interactions between camera and interviewee accessible. Throughout the interviews, the lighting remains bright and the subject remains focused. When more emphasis is needed, the frame changes to accompany the ongoing discussion. For example, when Findlay sees the attached materials from The Sugar Industry by Cristin Couzens, the setting is studious in nature, with a wooden table and bookshelves as a backdrop (The Secrets of Sugar). This setting gives the audience a subtle cue that the topic discussed in this scene is serious and non-trivial. Docherty also uses the musical score throughout the film to inadvertently create a distressing mood for his audience. For example, when Findlay begins to leak information about the 1999 meeting in Minneapolis between food industry executives, the music sets the tone to the audience that what follows will not be beneficial to society (The Secrets of Sugar ). Docherty used different cinematic methods to communicate an approach towards the audience. In doing so, Docherty established himself as a credible director who his audience could trust to successfully convey information, no matter how serious the subject. Sugar has been a major part of the human diet for many years and has only been in recent years. Decades during which new evidence about the dangers of sugar, its consequences on our health and the problems associated with its consumption has spread. The film features an average family of four, known as the Breedons, who, like many parents, shop for groceries for their family, keeping in mind budget as well as the convenience of quickly prepared meals. This family, like many others, is so unaware of the excessive amounts of sugar in many common grocery items: “A lot of what they eat is processed. They assume it's nutritious, but they've never paid much attention to what's in the foods they buy; they have no idea how much sugar is in them." sugar). The film depicts a comparable situation for the public shopping on commonly purchased products, and with registered dietitian, Jaclyn Pritchard reviews the shocking amount of sugar revealed in the Breedons' weekly diet. Director Docherty uses this family as an example to show how the average person blatantly ignores the amounts ofsugar hidden in processed foods. Former food industry executive Bruce Bradley further comments: “Sugar is one of the essential base ingredients used in 99% of processed foods that exist” (The Secrets of Sugar). This film shows how many people are unaware of the amount of sugar they consume and the damage it causes to the health of their own bodies. Blood tests were performed and analyzed on the Breedon family by Dr. Daniel Flanders, who then said after the results arrived: "His [Jonathan Breedon's] results suggest he is pre-diabetic." That its levels are high and that if we do not quickly change its lifestyle, diabetes will arrive” (The Secrets of Sugar). The film uses evidence from the Breedons' usual diet, along with their blood tests, to give the harsh reality that, just like most of the population, they are headed down a bad path of health problems. Perhaps this example prompts the public to take an internal look at realizing what they are actually consuming and are just as shocked and sickened, just like the Breedons were when they discovered it. That all the added sugar hidden in their diet can lead to illness or potentially early death. Docherty draws on several expert sources in their field to give their professional opinion on the matter, the most prominent being Dr. Robert Lustig. . Lustig has become a well-known advocate for scientific research into the links between sugar and our health: "What's worse, sugar and fat?" Sugar a thousand times” (The secrets of sugar). Using Lustig's knowledge from his research at UCSF, the film brings credibility to their argument that audiences can trust: "And consuming fructose has been shown to change the way your brain recognizes energy, all in a negative way. Basically, you think you're starving even though your fat cells are sending a signal that they're full. You also get an increased reward signal. Maintains appetite, continues with more fructose, more carbohydrates, generating more insulin resistance. You see that you are generating a vicious cycle of consumption and disease: hypertension, inflammation, hepatic insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, muscular insulin resistance, obesity, continued consumption. It sounds like metabolic syndrome to me” (“Sugar: The Bitter Truth”). The film features the work of the late John Yudkin, who was a potential leading source who wanted to reveal the truth about sugar to the public: "In our first experiments with nineteen young men, the high-sugar diet produced a increased blood. triglycerides in each of them after two weeks… they gained about five kilos, the level of insulin in the blood increased and there was an increase in platelet viscosity.” The film hosted a number of other doctors or nutritionists who continually conduct their own research and mostly come to similar conclusions that excessive amounts of sugar are slowly killing the human body. The scientific studies mentioned in the film relate to the importance the audience places on the well-being of their own lives. The film wants to establish with the audience how there has long been a correlation between the consumption of refined sugar and our health. The film continues to stay balanced by presenting an opposing point of view by bringing in a representative from companies such as PepsiCo, General Mills, and Kraft. to help perhaps bring another perspective on the issue. Findlay interviewed Products' Phyllis Tanaka..