I had started writing an article on diets, and why they don’t work, with the intent of talking about how meals should be a way of life rather than a fad diet, when I ran across this documentary, and it basically covered a good amount of what I was going to write about. So while I don’t normally do movie/documentary reviews, I felt this one was important enough to share. (It turns out there is a book version of this information as well.)
I was actually quite impressed with the information and how it was presented, and even more excited when I realized that I can just buy Hungry for Change and offer it as gifts for all my friends who are always struggling on diets. Perhaps if they hear it from someone other than me, it might help them understand why they’re struggling.
Hungry for Change covers quite a bit of ground, but what I really like about it is that it discusses sugar and it’s addictive properties, in a manner I never dared before, and that was comparing the addiction of high fructose corn syrup to cocaine. It might seem like a far stretch, but it’s not, and they did a very good job in this film of explaining the comparison.
I also enjoyed the explanation of why diet soda results in weight gain, along with the myriad of other health problems to which it can contribute. But more importantly, the theme throughout this documentary of the long term effects on your entire body from your food choices. They basically took the subject of dieting, and turned it into a discussion of nutrition, and the importance of nutrition.
While they covered several independent studies, and how the FDA works, I felt that it could have offered a little more information, as it wasn’t quite enough for a full understanding if you’re not already familiar. Though I suppose that subject alone could take up another two hours.
While the documentary did cover children and sugar, it also implied that our food/sugar addiction starts because of some difficult event in life. While I don’t doubt that contributes, I don’t think that’s the sole reason, as I have known plenty of individuals that always had a happy life, but still fell into the sugar addiction. What I do wish the documentary had included, is information on the long term affects and effects on children when they are fed large amounts of sugar, and are essentially introduced to such an addiction at a young age, which ultimately sets them up for failure as adults.
But other than those details, the information provided was very good, including the importance of maintaining a healthy mental state about yourself and your life.
They’re not selling you anything, just offering information on nutrition. A very well done documentary, and if you’ve ever dieted and failed, this one is certainly worth two hours of your life.
There is also a book covering the same information as the documentary. I have not read the book, so I do not know if it goes into greater depth than the film.
Nature's Complement is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. If you purchase products on Amazon through any of our affiliate links, we get a small percentage of the transaction, at no extra cost to you. We spend a lot of time writing the articles on this site, and all this information is provided free of charge. When you use our affiliate links, you support the writing you enjoy without necessarily buying our products. (However we would appreciate if you would do that too!) Thank you for helping to support our work, however you choose to do so.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information and/or products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
