--- title: Fed Up With Obesity: Katie Couric's Documentary Targets Sugar description: Couric targets sugar and the companies responsible for the sweet foods and drinks that have contributed to the obesity epidemic – and wants schools and children to take action canonical: https://time.com/92545/7-not-so-sweet-lessons-about-sugar/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-09T10:00:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:44:00.623Z article:section: Health og:title: 7 Lessons About Sugar From Katie Couric’s New Documentary Fed Up og:description: Couric targets sugar and the companies responsible for the sweet foods and drinks that have contributed to the obesity epidemic – and wants schools and children to take action og:url: https://time.com/92545/7-not-so-sweet-lessons-about-sugar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Lessons About Sugar From Katie Couric’s New Documentary Fed Up twitter:description: Couric targets sugar and the companies responsible for the sweet foods and drinks that have contributed to the obesity epidemic – and wants schools and children to take action twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 7 Not-So-Sweet Lessons About Sugar > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=743e3090-537b-464d-b9de-146b342741e5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 9, 2014 10:00 AM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 9, 2014 10:00 AM UTC Think you know how to live a healthy life?[_Fed Up_](http://fedupmovie.com/#/page/home), a comprehensive, 98-minute investigation into how sugar became so prevalent in everything we eat and drink, might make you think again. Co-produced by Katie Couric and Laurie David, producer of _An Inconvenient Truth_, the film explores how not just food manufacturers, but law makers and physicians have allowed sugar to infiltrate almost everything we put in our bodies. The film, which will be released in theaters in select cities on May 9, will also be sent to schools around the country, along with a viewing guide for teachers and students. Here are seven lessons Couric and her team hope people will remember after seeing the documentary. _1\. Why there is a difference between eating an orange and drinking orange juice when it comes to the amount of sugar your body sees_ Eating sugar-containing foods along with fiber can slow down the body’s sponging up of the sweet stuff; overwhelming the body with sugar makes it turn more of it into fat. _2\. The war on fat only made us fatter_ When food makers took out fat in foods like cookies and snacks, they added in sugar. _3\. Yogurt contains as much sugar as some candy_ Food makers know that we tend to buy sweeter things, and they’re adding sugar in almost everything, including presumably healthy foods like yogurt. _4\. Sugar is sugar is sugar_ High fructose corn syrup, raw sugar, cane sugar – the body treats them all the same, turning most of it into fat. High fructose corn syrup and sugar, says Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatrics at University of California San Francisco, are “both equally bad.” _5\. Starches are sugars in disguise_ White bread, white rice, potatoes and cereals turn into sugar in your body. “You can eat a bowl of corn flakes with no added sugar, or you can eat a bowl or sugar with no added corn flakes; they might taste different but below the neck, they’re metabolically the same,” says. Dr. David Ludwig, a professor at Harvard Medical School. _6\. Follow the money_ Soda and food manufacturers often fund studies on nutrition, as well as pay doctors, so not all scientific-sounding studies or experts may be objective. _7\. The fox is guarding the henhouse_ The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for overseeing and subsidizing the agricultural industry – which supplies the nation with corn, meat and poultry – and with issuing nutritional guidelines that are used in schools and government food programs. Conflict, anyone? The film comes with a challenge – to give up sugar for 10 days to see how ubiquitous it is in your lives. In schools, the filmmakers hope students and parents will convince principals and school boards to provide healthier, sugar-free meals in cafeterias. 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