Hi Damon,

I recently watched That Sugar Film in Sydney, it was lovely meeting you and I absolutely enjoyed the movie.

I have to say, it was shocking to know how we are surrounded by hidden sugar these days, and I didn’t even realise this fact till I watched your movie (I really thought I was a healthy eater).

After watching the movie I found that many things that didn’t make sense in my past, make a lot of sense to me now, especially when I relate  your movie to my own experience.

A bit of back ground on myself: I don’t have a sweet tooth (like not at all) and I have never been overweight in my life. Because I never had cravings for sweets,  it’s hard for me to understand why people are crazy about sweet things. When I read your book, on page161, where you said about raising your little girl, you wrote “our goal is to protect her from refined sugar for as long as we can…The hope is that the refined stuff will then taste too strong for her in the years to come”. That just perfectly explained why I don’t have a sweet tooth.

My family was poor when I was a little girl, they couldn’t afford any “fancy” stuff, I didn’t have a chance to taste soft drinks, flavored milk, chocolate etc simply because my parents couldn’t afford it. I remember at age 15, I tried KFC with coke for the first time in my life, and I threw up. The chips were just too oily, and that coke was just way too sweet for me. So when it came to the time that my parents and myself could afford whatever kind of sweets we wanted, also the time that sweets are so much more accessible, my body had already decided they weren’t for me.

It happens to me often that I want to vomit after having dessert (I know this is really strange and I can’t really explain why), three or four spoons of ice cream will last me a while (a few months). They are simply too strong for me. Besides that, my mum has also developed a few healthy rules that you have also mentioned in your movie/book:

1. My mum taught me to eat green leaves every day, she often says a meal without green leaves is not a complete meal.
2. A fruit a day (an apple a day, sends doctor away).
3. No refined snacks. My all time snacks were tomatoes and cucumbers from my Grandma’s garden.
4. Always purchase fresh vegetables and meat from local farmers and butchers.
5. Keep meals simple and enjoy the original natural flavour from each ingredient.

I guess it explains another fact on why I always lost weight (5kgs), and lost weight quickly, when I spent my summer holidays with my parents for a month each year.

After watching your movie, I called my mum to tell her how much I appreciate her. When I was young, I didn’t understand why I am never allowed to have these “fancy” things that other kids are having all the time, but because I didn’t have these things, I have become the person I am today: no sweet tooth and healthy. My mum did me a huge favor. My friends always say I am so lucky that I don’t have a sweet tooth. I don’t think so. It’s not because I was born lucky, but because of the “influence of a good woman”! All the best to you, Zoe, and your little girl.

Healthy regards,

Rae Wang