‘That Sugar Film’ reveals what’s hiding in some ‘health’ foods

Taking a page out of the Morgan Spurlock filmmaker-as-lab-rat playbook, Damon Gameau’s revealing “That Sugar Film” documents one man’s not-so-sweet discovery about the insidious nature of sugar in so-called “healthier” processed foods.

Rather than opting for the more obvious junk-food choices, Gameau, an Australian actor, placed himself on a two-month diet restricting his intake to breakfast cereals, low-fat yogurt, juices, smoothies and energy bars, where scary amounts of fructose and sucrose like to hide out.

Aside from packing on 19 pounds over the period, he didn’t gain much by leaving candy, cake and soda out of the equation.

Even though his total daily calorie intake remained about the same as what he consumed during his normal regimen, those 20 teaspoons of hidden sugar he ingests each day begin to take their toll on his physical and mental well-being.

Given the number of food-related documentaries that have preceded it, many of Gameau’s findings won’t come as earth-shattering revelations, but he takes a resourceful approach to presenting the material, coating all the inconvenient truths in kid-friendly, brightly colored graphics and zippy animations.

Gameau, like a certain beloved British nanny, recognizes the value in a spoonful of you-know-what helping the medicine go down.

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‘That Sugar Film’

No MPAA rating

Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Playing: At Laemmle’s NoHo 7, North Hollywood. Also on video on demand