Continuation on A Sweet Note....

How many sodas do you drink in a day?
How many does your child drink in a day?
How many teaspoons of sugar are in the juice your child had for breakfast?
In the energy drink after the game?
In the lollipop treat after the dental visit?

Maybe you have already started to eliminate the sugar in the house and jumped on the no sugar bandwagon and started using such products as nutra-sweet and splenda. We have learned more about these items in previous newsletters and there will be more in the future, but what I will say here is that you might want to reconsider those attempts of replacing sugar with these above named sugar substitutes.

As sweet as it is, sugar can be a very dangerous substance. One that we as parents are all guilty of taking too lightly. Sugar might give us that immediate high, that sudden burst of energy that we think we would not have gotten else where, but it is an unhealthy high. After the sugar causes its immediate nervous energy in our blood stream it throws our bodies into a state of crisis, our bodies begin to waste energy instead of burning energy in a useful form. The wastes cause drainage on our systems, which in return causes sleepiness, fatigue, anger, and weeping. That’s why your child after a double scoop of ice cream at 7pm finds himself outside running all over hyper and active and not wanting to get ready for bed and then throwing a tantrum at 7:15 about the ball rolling too far down the street, then another fit to try and stay out longer and finally another about getting to bed, but once in bed at 8pm finds himself passed out by 8:04pm. Is this just a child being a child or did the sugar he had before going out have anything to do with the meltdowns and the sudden passing out?

What I look for and do.

When I first learned about sugar I went crazy. I walked out to the garage got the dumpster and sat it in the middle of my kitchen. Opened the refrigerator and my pantry cabinets. I then proceeded to pick up each item and read the ingredients. At first I was only looking for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). I did not think that there would be that much of this bad product in my home.

To my surprise, I was wrong! Very wrong.

HFCS was in everything. The salad dressing, the mustard, the ketchup, apple sauce, peanut butter and of course the jelly. I even found it in the deli meat. The freezer, well you guessed right, the ice cream, the juice, and the frozen bread products. The pantry was not much better. I discovered HFCS in cereals (some that I thought were healthy), pancake syrups, sauces, canned goods and easy bake packages. My dumpster was bulging at the seams and my kitchen was 80% empty!

Now, I am not suggesting that you do as I did here. But what I am suggesting is for you to get familiar with the products in you kitchen and then don’t re-purchase anything that has granulated sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar, powdered sugar, or HFCS in it again.

I found that the best products in the bread, pasta, cereal and grain section do not have any sugars, not even honey or molasses. I now only buy organic raw peanut butter, jellies made with natural fruit juices to sweeten, yogurts that are plain or have evaporated cane juice or maple syrup, and unsweetened natural organic apple sauce.

Some of my favorite products are:

· Organic Agave Syrup (made from the agave cactus plant, a sweetener for yogurt, granola, oat meal, tea, coffee, on toast, etc.)
· Organic Molasses, unsulphered (great on oats, toast, marinades and dressings/sauces, and baking with it, etc.)
· Local organic raw unfiltered Honey (local is important with honey, it will help reduce allergies and boost your immune system)
· Organic Maple syrup (top pancakes or waffles, yogurt or cottage cheese, makes yummy sauces and much more.)
· Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (use in place of granulated sugar)
· Stevia (great in teas and even some baking)
· Bionature organic Fruit Spreads (great on toast or for PB&J’s)
· Crofters organic Fruit Spreads
· Vegenaise (in place of mayo)
· R.W.Knudsen Juices plain or mixed with pure sugarless seltzer water to create a healthy option to soda other wise known in our home as soda juice.

To review more health alternitives to processed sugar and sugar substitutes, please visit A Sweet Note.

Read Part One