Monday 8 September 2014

Sofa Spotlight - Sweet Poison, David Gillespie

What's it about?

This is one about sugar, and why it might not be good for us. The theory in this book is that it is a diet high in sugar that is responsible for making people fat, rather than a diet that is high in fat. Although I'm not convinced by everything in this book, Gillespie has done his research and his theory is worth taking into consideration. He splits the book into two parts. The first is about why sugar is so bad for you, and the second is what you can do about it. As well as discussing the research into sugar, Gillespie also looks into how sugar substitutes came into being.

What was good?

Gillespie provides another viewpoint on weight loss diets that focus on low fat intake. Not only is there evidence for sugar being responsible for obesity on the rise, but he also looks at the research that was used to promote low fat diets. Although I'm not sure about a couple of his ideas, it was worth reading because I had no idea how much sugar is in food and how much I eat without knowing it. It has put me off sugar, and also sugar substitutes. Just not worth the problems that they cause.

What was bad?

Even though Gillespie did a good job in making the science/biology parts of this book easy to understand, there were some parts that were technical information heavy. Having said that, I think those parts were needed, and it was worth working through them.

Who is for?

I read this because I discovered, thanks to EG, that I was consuming over a pound of a sugar a week by what I was drinking. This is the book that I chose to try and work out what I had done to myself, and why there was so much sugar in the stuff I was buying. If you have a similar interest then this book is for you, but I think it would be good to read even if you don't have that interest. It can't hurt to think about what you're eating, or in my case, drinking.


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