So, last night Sarah was on 60 Minutes…
The crew came and filmed her in Byron Bay a while back. She hasn’t actually seen the segment because she’s on holiday.
I thought I’d share the segment, in case you missed it last night, and because sooooo many people have been asking across the blog, facebook, twitter etc. (And so that Sarah can catch up on it when she’s back on line!)
She was worried she was going to come across as a”Pollyanna tosser” (her words). I may be completely biased, but I think that couldn’t be further from the truth… Sarah spoke eloquently – “sugar is a hidden, insideous and seductive danger” – the famous green shorts made the final cut, and she even surfed (in a wetsuit from Tallow Gallery for those who have been asking) on national tv!
Jo x
Yay! Go Sarah! Off to watch it now…
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it was good, but didn’t touch enough on hidden sugar, and fruit juice, yoghurt and other things that we are told are healthy. Sarah looked fantastic, happy and was very confident. I hope more people question dietitians and their everything in moderation stance. Thanks
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June 15th, 2012 at 11:48 am
Amy Gibbs was thinking she was doing the right think but still feeding her kids sugar…flavoured yogurt, white bread.
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July 24th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Yeah I felt bad because she thought she was doing the right thing! But tomato sauce packed with sugar, there was so good soy milk in the fridge (sugar in there too!), white bread, sugar filled fruit pops for the kids and processed meats. Its awesome she is on the right track but I think she has missed the whole food hidden sugar message too. I guess it is hard sometimes to make everything yourself when you have kids – I don’t have kids and can’t imagine how hard it must be – but she is not going to change her life with the processed stuff. I hope Amy buys the book and goes really well!
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I agree Becca but a good start. I did find it amusing that the family was drowning their dinner in tomato sauce in the last shot.
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June 11th, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I noticed that too Jen …
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June 11th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
And barbecue sauce as well, I saw that in the fridge. Much higher in sugar than tomato sauce, higher still than chocolate topping as Sarah mentioned once.
I think that they missed the point a little, in that just giving up Coke and ice-cream won’t necessarily result in a sugarfree diet. Even if you believe the woman’s guideline of ten teaspoons a day, you could easily triple that with everyday foods people don’t think of as sugary – like the aforementioned sauces, or yoghurt. And meanwhile be thinking you had done the right thing “giving up” sugar. Sigh. This is why I hate these current affairs shows.
Sarah was great though, she spoke well and not at all Pollyanna-ish. I really love seeing chicks on tv surfing and cycling instead of *just* sitting there looking cute! Seemed to “be your message” perfectly, no preaching, love it.
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Great segment Sarah! And did you see the family who now eat ‘healthier’ with their white bread and lashings of tomato sauce!? Hilarious! (Love your work Sarah, love your blog, even took your Guide To Byron around Byron when me and fam toured last month – thanks for the all great tips!) X
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I agree totally, Becca. And while I congratulate Aimee who had been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and had lost 26 kg over 12 months (excellent work) and was no longer ‘eating sugar’ I was somewhat baffled because she was dispensing food high in hidden sugars like the yogurts in the satchels, or just about any yogurt for that matter and realise that they generally have around 3 teaspoons of sugar (approx 12gms) in a 100gm serve!
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And the tomato sauce made me laugh too
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The segment was very interesting and it makes me want to look further into the no sugar lifestyle. I really liked the mother and was so happy to see her changing her life for the better. Sarah was very eloquent and I enjoyed seeing her talk about how great she now feels. Thanks for the video~sarah
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‘Sugar is natural’ says Sarah Wilson.
I wish there was a clarification on this. Refined, white sugar is NOT natural. It’s a highly processed product that is toxic to our bodies. But the naturally occurring sugar in fruits and vegetables that work in tandem with the vitamins, mineral and micronutrients in those fruits and vegetables have benefits that science is yet to discover, and we are yet to understand. Don’t discount that. Yes, removed refined sugar from your diet, but don’t remove natural, whole fruits and vegetables.
A flawed story.
A dripping greasy cheeseburger is just as dangerous as a can of soft drink, if the meat comes from an unhealthy cow that was raised in a feed lot and the cheese is a processed chemical paste. But in a perfect world, if the meat is pasture fed & finished, the cheese is unrefined and unpasterusied, the bread is organic and sourdough, then yes, the greasy cheeseburger is a good option.
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August 14th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Totally agree Thomas – typical 60 Minutes sensationalistic journalism!! If you want to ‘eat’ sugar in its natural state it is hard work and takes a lot of chewing and spitting out for a tiny bit of sweet tasting juice!!! No one could get addicted or put on weight eating it that way !!
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So glad to see the Sugar message finally getting more airtime. Shame Sarah didn’t get to spread her message more because she definitely had something to say and I don’t think she got to say it enough! I felt 60 minutes played it too safe, not really committing to the evidence and found the segment poorly structured.
None of this has anything to do with Sarah though. She was once again excellent and love her work!!!
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June 11th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Yeah, I agree with you. The trouble is that you aren’t going to see any tv show/radio station/magazine going all up against sugar because guess what pays the bills? Advertising for sugar. So what they do is make sure to show two opposing opinions, when in reality the science behind how addictive and damaging more than 20 grams of sugar per day is not 50/50 (more like 99/1, against sugar).
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My husband and I saw this segment last night on 60 minutes. Needless to say after it we went to the fridge and pantry and started looking for anything that had sugar. Its quite surprising to see how many things have the hidden sugar. I think I’ll be buying your ebook and cookbook this week.
Oh and Sarah you looked great and did not come across at all Pollyanna like.
Thank you for giving us a kick start into a sugar-free diet.
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I thought Sarah looked and sounded fantastic on 60 minutes – but the segment really needed to be 60 minutes long to get to the nitty gritty of the issue.
I’m not sure why David Gillespie did not feature when his book Sweet Poison has been at the forefront of the anti-processed sugar movement in Australia, and Sarah has referenced his work many times (maybe he is feeling a little beaten down!)
All in all, the piece was very lightweight and needed more of the science to deliver the message properly (and yes I too noticed the tomato sauce, yoghurt sachets etc ) BUT what we have to remember is that a show like 60 minutes reaches the mainstream masses.
There would be people watching who may never heard of Sweet Poison or Sarah Wilson before and if it gets a real conversation going about the dangers of sugar, that can only be a good thing.
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June 11th, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Yes Robyn – it should have been longer but that’s 60 minutes – not an in depth story in site.
I suspect David Gillespie didn’t feature because the Channel 7 “Sunday” program had him talking to Peter Fitzsimons awhile ago on the same subject. Not sure when it aired but you can view it on their website.
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OK, Jo perhaps you can answer this question. Sarah is a strong advocate AGAINST wearing helmets – why then is she wearing one in this film clip??
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Oh & she says she’s only been surfing for 1 yr since living in Byron!!! Bullshit..what about the surfing in Bondi & Bali she’s blogged about BEFORE 2011. Man oh man, she’s full of it and I’ve only watched 5 mins. Don’t think I’ll bother with the rest. zzzzzzzzz
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Great and interesting programme. Has encouraged me to start thinking about doing this seriously.
One question thats niggling me and has been for some time…..Sarah whats your take on Botox and Fillers etc….how poisonous and toxic are they. Cos it seems every TV presenter and celebrity in the UK and it appears Austrailia as well seems to have had it done. I mean “hello, noone can frown anymore” thats how I can tell whos had to done or not.
Just saying….
Welcome to London Sarah….sorry the weather is sooooo bad.
Lauren
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The proof’s in the (sugar-free) pudding, people: just look at how both Robert Lustig and Sarah Wilson are glowing with health, while that Jennie Brand Miller looks like crap. Actually, her skin has the lacklustre look of many a sugar addict.
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June 12th, 2012 at 9:05 am
hahaha, you might be onto something there Amy S!
maybe i’m biased, but for all her sugar i didn’t find Ms Miller very sweet at all.
i found her comments about him (Lustig) being out on a limb with his views rather churlish!
I must say I thought the show was very disappointing in terms of covering the issue intelligently and broadly.
Sarah looks fantastic and came across brilliantly – I agree with the others – she should have got more airtime and David Gillespie was a huge absence in my view. Even if they couldn’t cover more facts and figures on the show, they should have at least brought attention to David’s work to bring awareness and help people understand more about the argument.
I feel 60 minutes have done a half-arsed job here. Couldn’t they have avoided the shots with the white bread and bbq & tomato sauces etc … not to pretend it wasn’t happening but to show that swapping sugars for good fats wasn’t as simplistic as it may have come across with Dr. Lustig. For us readers of IQS, we understand what he is talking about, but for those who haven’t, it may be easily misinterpreted. Ie. yes have the meat at the dinner table, but leave off the sauces, and yes eat the cheesey cheeseburger over the soft drink, but maybe mention that it wouldn’t have sugary tomato sauce on it, and yes pasture fed beef etc, for it to be the healthier option, etc etc. Basically what Im saying is that to me it looks like the program makers didn’t fully understand the content of the subject of their own show, if they were prepared to let those details go un-addressed … isn’t there a responsibility that comes with what they put out there? … sigh!
anyway, i suppose it’s too easy to criticize, can you imagine how crap the program would have been without sarah though, at least it brought awareness to her work and hopefully more people will tune into it and learn from what she has shared with us. And hopefully more programs will be made on the subject with a little more informative detail, guess its a start and better than darkness on the matter.
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Just watched, great job Sarah! I agree with some of the other commenters in that the section was not long enough and didn’t really go into the proper details of quitting sugar. As for the family that was featured, well first of all I think she deserves a well done for quitting sugar even though some of the stuff she was eating still had hidden sugars in there but baby steps I guess.
Shame that they just barely covered the issue though.
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I loved the program, great work Sarah!
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Interesting article debasing the science Dr Jennie Brand-Miller (from the video) uses to make her claims and arguing against the inaccuracy of the ‘Australia Paradox’ – worth a read http://www.theage.com.au/business/economist-v-nutritionists-big-sugar-and-lowgi-brigade-lose-20120307-1uj6u.html
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Hi Sarah, I watched sixty minutes last night, and soo agree with your comments… sugar is evil, and its insidious and hidden…. I watch what I eat, obviously being gluten intolerant you have to, but sugar? My daughter has been telling me for years that sugar is evil, and she is a uni student and studies physical movement, biology and is planning to be a nutritionist and work in sports medicine…
I will look even closer to the labels now, for that hidden thing… sugar!
I have started a gluten free living blog… a few weeks ago, and have written a short comment on your story on my blog. Just to warn my people… not that I have a lot of people who are following me, but my plan it to build it up with healthy living ideas and thoughts from lots of people…
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Oh my gosh, you’re Australian!?? I officially like you 10x more now. Seriously I could listen to you Aussies’ accents forever. I didn’t know why I didn’t realize you were Australian before now.
By the way I just wanted to say that I was very impressed with the way you handled yourself on this segment. Compared to Lustig, I thought you were a lot more believable and real in the way you approached the no-sugar lifestyle. Before I went sugar-free, I was always turned off by the nazi sugar-free gurus because they seemed too radical and not “real life” so in essence hard to relate to but you showed that it was a lifestyle CHANGE, not a lifestyle RUINer. Good job Sarah, that’s tough to do so nice work.
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I liked the segment. As soon as it came on I turned to my boyfriend saying “this is what that blog I read by Sarah Wilson is all about..” and then suddenly there she was!
I agree with the comments above that it was a bit lightweight by 60 Mins… but I think if it got too heavy handed it may have turned people off. This was just enough information to get people doing their own research. I also noticed the tomato sauce bottle on the ‘sugar free’ family’s table! Still… if people are eating chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, coke, lollies etc etc AND tomato sauce then I guess it’s still better than nothing to cut a good chunk of those things off the grocery list.
Despite learning nothing new from the segment it was nonetheless a good reminder that there is far too much sugar consumption in our household too. Motivated by the show we have already taken some steps to be more mindful of it. If it worked for us then hopefully others were affected similarly, good work!
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June 13th, 2012 at 7:47 am
“but I think if it got too heavy handed it may have turned people off” … that’s a good point Julie, and a good way of looking at it … I guess we have to go into these things gently gently … I’m pretty sure that overall the show will bring good benefits, and hopefully people will delve deeper to learn more … I like your positivity!
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June 13th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Baby steps right?!
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[...] Source [...]
Jo, tell Sarah Pollyanna is awesome. There’s nothing tosser-ish with the ‘glad game’! Lisa
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Sarah, you were great! And dang! If only I looked as good in shorts like that!
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Are you kidding? Sarah was great – no i dont know her. If sugar makes you that beautiful (that’s a non creepy comment) then so be it.
Awesome!
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Sarah was great… but to be honest i found the report a little bit underwhelming they didn’t really go that far into what quitting sugar entails and how hidden it is… like did anyone notice the chick who “gave up sugar” at the end smothering her steak in liquid sugar ( otherwise known as heinz tomato sauce)!
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Thanks for your inspiration!!! I recently created my http://fitnessfoodandstyle.blogspot.com.au and also want to show that sugar doesn’t really need to be a part of your life FULL-TIME. I’ll eventually get there but for now am practising a clean eating path, regular exercise and really wanting to inspire and motivate other people out there that it can be done. Even with 4 kids under the age of 6!
I’ll be starting my 6 week transformation challenge 18/6 and will include a 2 week sugar free challenge. Please come and visit me. Would love to hear from you. XxDani
You can also “like” my http://www.Facebook.com./FitnessFoodAndStyle.com page
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Congratulations Sarah!! Today is day 2 of Week 1 of quitting sugar (just by having your Ebook) and I already feel a difference, however, in order to lose weight by this method do you ever count calories? I fear my calorie intake has increased since starting to cut sugar as I am allowing myself to have more nuts when I feel a sugar need. I know quality of calories matters versus quantity but since this whole idea is new to me (the fact that fat does actually NOT make you fat) I just want to be sure I will have results both physically as well as mentally by this process, although i am also trying to patient with myself like you said and trying to see how I feel. Thank you! Keep up with all your wonderful and truly inspiring work.
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[...] – I’m thinking of quitting sugar. [...]
It’s all the hidden sugars in things like bread, jams, cereals,store bought yogurts,lunch meats, hot dogs, pasta sauces etc. As well as the food fed to some animals. And the woman named Jenny Grant Miller doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that sugar is in so many foods, to the point one no longer eats sugar in moderation.
Here in the states the beverage industry has run ads showing a parent holding a jug of soda drink at a picnic and saying HFCS (corn sugars) in moderation is fine. Moderation? How many picnics have one liter of soda for everyone? What about the sugars in the pork and beans, hot dogs, buns, chips, cookies,cakes and other foods being eaten at the picnic?
There is NO moderation anymore, thanks to the food industry, because corn sugars are a cheap.
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[...] ago, i stumbled across Sarah Wilson’s YouTube video of her “60 minutes” interview. i can’t even remember how i got there, the rabbit hole had a few twists in it that day. [...]