I know this is a strong question. I was recently talking about this with a colleague of mine, Samantha Taylor, who is a Sugar Addiction Specialist. I wanted to talk to Samantha because I have people ask me about sugar ALL THE TIME. In fact, you may remember the video I did about Sugar Shockers a few months ago. People can get pretty worked up about this, even angry and defensive. But there are certain truths about sugar, rooted in science and research, and they are well worth sharing – even if it’s hard to hear.

According to Samantha, recent research is finding that sugar does acts like a poison in our bodies. Samantha says, “Sugar really can poison children’s bodies, in excess, not just the occasional treat here and there. And many studies show that in this society, most children eat way too much sugar in the form of cereal, fruit drinks (juice has as much sugar as soda!), soda, candy, chocolate, cookies, ice cream, processed foods and any other sugar-filled food they consume.”

Samantha pointed out, “The definition of a poison is a substance that to destroys life, impairs health or harmful.” The result of this excess sugar in children is showing up in obesity; children getting sick more often including the ‘common cold’ that is not so common in children that don’t eat sugar; childhood diabetes, ADD/ADHD, poor teeth and gums and the volume of broken bones in children who indulge in excess sugar compared to those who don’t eat as much sugar.

Of course all mothers love their children and would do anything for them. But, many don’t realize what kind of damage is done to a child’s body by the excess of this addictive white substance especially since it’s so socially acceptable. Samantha, as well as many other health professionals, believes that excess sugar in children is a huge cause of many of the problems listed above that we are seeing in our society today.

Children can get just as addicted to sugar as adults can and you can see it in their behavior. They tend to be much more hyperactive, moodier (even depressive), don’t listen to instruction as well, have a harder time settling down and beg for sugar. It has also shown up as ADD or ADHD -type symptoms, attributed to not being able to concentrate as well. Many mothers have noticed when they actually removed excess sugar from their child’s diet they saw the child’s ADD-like symptoms diminish greatly or even totally disappear.

Samantha shared with me a story of one mother she helped get off sugar who had 3 boys that were ‘very hyper’. Hey, they were ‘just being boys’! However, when their mom removed sugar from their diet she was shocked at how much more attentive they were, easier to discipline, they didn’t fight her as much and she didn’t have to tell them things three times before getting results. This mom said it made parenting so much easier and enjoyable!

A major physiological concern regarding children’s sugar consumption, especially under the age of 12, is that their livers are not fully developed. Excess sugar can wreak havoc on a child’s liver which is another contributor to why some young kids are starting to develop fatty liver disease at a young age. Additionally, because sugar has absolutely no nutrients, the body has to extract minerals from itself to even metabolize (process) it – which means the body is slowly becoming malnourished.

Samantha encourages parents to really pay attention to their kid’s sugar consumption. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

1) Get away from the habit of letting your children have sugar everyday as a treat. It really should only be a couple-times-a-month thing, if that. Shoot for no more than once a week. Bear in mind, the sugar in the processed foods really adds up. Be sure to note this as well.

2) Watch their behavior. Most mothers are surprised when they actually start to watch for this and they see their children acting out, begging and crying out for their sugar ‘fix’. The sad thing is many times they are dealing with withdrawal symptoms from the previous times they have had sugar and their body is just trying to balance it out. Just like you want “just one more….” when it comes to sugary snacks/treats, so do they. It is an addictive cycle.

3) With cereal, get the kind that doesn’t have sugar and if necessary, add the sugar yourself. This is because you will use way less sugar then is actually in the sugary cereal and most of it you add ends up in the milk anyway.

4) Get children used to having fruit, even at a young age – instead of sugar. A child raised on sugar will want it much more often than a child that is not raised on sugar. To make it more fun for them at first, you can even use some whipped cream as a ‘special dipping sauce’. A small amount of real whipped cream has minimal sugar.

5) Reduce the amount of sugary snacks you keep in the house. If it’s not there they can’t eat it and neither can you. If your children see you eating it, then they will probably want it, too. If you have a sugar addiction yourself, start to explore the options of getting rid of that addiction for yourself and your entire family.

6) I know lots of children love baking and it can be a great bonding experience but Samantha says that ‘emotional bonding’ connected to sugar is one thing that really contributed to her major chocolate chip cookie addiction as an adult! That habit she didn’t break until 30 years later! Quality kitchen time can be spent cooking as well as baking. These experiences are all great opportunities for conversations about healthy and mindful eating and food prep too! Take advantage of these teachable moments.

I hope this helped shed some light on the reality of sugar addiction and inspired you to think about your families relationship with sugar. Tomorrow I’m going to post a sugar addiction quiz. You will probably be very surprised! You (and your family) may or may not be addicted to sugar, it will definitely help you understand more about your relationship with sugar once you go through this quiz.

Comments

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments

• «Previous Post
• Next Post »

---