Sugar obsession

I am mad this morning, steaming mad!  As I was falling asleep last night I could hear my son coughing trying to get some new gunk out of his throat.  Up until now I could count on 1 hand how many times my twin 6 year olds were sick.  Why don’t my kids get sick?  Simple, it is how we eat.  Until now.  : (

Kindergarten has been a whole new world to our family, not only because of the usual kindergarten things, but because of food.  Sugar is everywhere!  My kids have consumed more sugar from birthday parties, friends, teachers, etc. in 8 months than they have had in their entire 6 years combined.   Even I am to blame.  Sure their lunches are filled with spinach, carrots, meat, peppers etc. but their yogurt has sugar in it.  They used to eat the plain yogurt at home, but when I pack that, it comes home unopened.  The organic strawberry yogurt with sugar gets eaten though.

Ok why the big deal about sugar?

•  Ask yourself does it contribute to type 2 diabetes?
•  Sugar does not cause cancer, but cancer can only thrive in an acid environment.  What is the fastest way to turn your body acidic?  Sugar.
• Our immune systems are responsible for keeping our body healthy.  Sugar weakens the bodies immune system response.
•  Refined, white sugar depletes minerals in your body.

Here’s 25 reasons why to limit sugar in your diet.  I have partnered with Body Ecology because I believe so deeply about what she is doing and offering.  I have lived it!  My son (who suffered from digestive health issues as a child)  is thriving because of her information and wisdom.

Why does refined sugar do all of this?  Any sugars even in fruit will make a change in our bodies.  Our bodies do need some sugar to work yes.  However refined sugar has no minerals bound to it, it has been stripped of everything.  Our bodies must have minerals bound with a substance in order to process it.  With white sugar the body will literally take minerals out of your body in order to process the sugar!   Without minerals, bones loss, brain function slows etc.

Do I love ice cream?  Yes!  Chocolate?  Yes!  But I strike a balance.  You can too.  Start a food journal.  Put down the pop.  Cut our artificial dyes – this will eliminate TONS of sugar from your diet.   Read labels, there is probably high fructose corn syrup in your bread, crackers etc.  Peanut butter.  The list goes on and on.  When you sit down and think about it, your family may be consuming sugar at every meal, at every snack, with every bite.  This is not a balance!

Sugar takes time to take its toll on the body.  That is why it is so easy to pretend nothing is happening. 

My life would be so much easier if I just didn’t care what my family ate or if I didn’t care what your kids eat!  The driving force behind this blog is that I care about your kids, especially what they eat.  I cannot turn off the voices in my head that say, go out there, be brave and say something.   Too many well-meaning parents are too busy to even think about food and how it effects their kids.  Or they don’t want to.   One mom recently said to me, “Summer you are going to live to be 400, but I want to eat my M & M’s.”

I have lost track of the number of people who have gotten mad at me, rolled their eyes, handed me articles that sugar isn’t really that bad or become offended by me simply because I bring healthy food to feed my kids when I go places.

When did eating healthy become something uncool?  Something stuck-up?   Are we so addicted to sugar we have blinders on?

Parents, we are responsible for setting our child’s eating habits.   We are solely responsible.  Kids do not set their eating habits.  Kids may have preferences to food, but they do not set the habits.  Parents go to the store, purchase the food, stock the shelves and cook the food.  Parents, you can make a change!  : )  There are people making changes already.

I have been in discussions on playgrounds where parents say they don’t want their kids eating all the sugar.  One mom at a birthday party apologized that the hosting party place served pop.  “Your kids probably don’t drink it (pop), do they?  Mine don’t either.  My daughter is actually upset.  She wants water.”

Eating habits are very hard to break, that is why people have such an emotional attachment to eating and are so defiant about what they eat.  Somehow we all know it is personal, it is a choice.    Deep down we all know that healthy food = a healthy body.

What habits are you setting for your children?  Are you conscious about the food they eat?  What is in your cart?  Do you eat veggies or just ask your kids to?

Just before I was about the hit the publish button for this post I checked my e-mail and ran across a fabulous post.  Your Brain is What You Eat!  This blog is from the National Institute for the clinical Application of Behavior Medicine.   Happy reading~