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

On A Sweet Note. Is it possible?

Real quick. While preparing this, a story popped in my head. Not that long ago we had my brother-in-law and his youngest daughter over for dinner. We had cooked a yummy dinner and were enjoying it when my niece walked into the kitchen and noticed a plastic bag sitting on the counter. She picked it up and read what it said, ”Organic Raw Evaporated Cane Juice.” She looked over at her dad and asked him what this stuff was. He said, “I guess that’s suppose to be healthy sugar, if there is anything of the sort.” Sugar in its natural state is healthy. It is a complete food, one we want to eat. It is only through processing that sugar becomes unhealthy. I guess the next logical question here, as a parent especially would have to be, what does refined sugar do to the body? How does it harm the body? A little hyperactiveness followed by my child getting tons of exercise and then passing out with a good nights sleep, is not that bad a thing. Right? You know the answer I am sure.


According to Tim O’Shea author of Sugar The Sweet Thief of Life and his expansive research refined sugar does a whole list of negatory things to the human body. To our children’s bodies.

· Suppresses the immune system
· Causes hyperactivity
· Kidney damage
· Mineral deficiencies, especially calcium, magnesium, chromium and copper
· Makes the blood acidic
· Tooth decay
· Advances aging
· Digestive disorders
· Arthritis
· Asthma
· Candida albicans
· Decreased blood flow to the heart
· Cause osteoporosis
· Causes food allergies
· Causes eczema
· Atherosclerosis
· Free radical formation
· Loss of enzyme function
· Increases liver and kidney size
· Brittle tendons · Migraines · Blood clots
· Depression

Can all of this really be possible? Can sugar really cause our children’s bodies to suffer from such things? The answer to both these questions is, Yes! Studies have been done. The research is out there. The scarier thing about sugar and the above list of health consequences is that all of those consequences have consequences.

If the average adult person consumes about 150 pounds of sugar a year and that adds up to about 20% of the calories of the average American diet, making 20% of what we as Americans eat have NO nutritional value whatsoever, then how much sugar do we really need to consume?

FACT: A DOUBLE BIG GULP (1/2 GALLON) OF SODA EQUALS 48 TSP. OF SUGAR

This actually is not a hard answer. We need not consume any white sugar (refined that is) absolutely NO high fructose corn syrup. In a normal bloodstream, which is about 5 liters, only about 2 teaspoons of glucose should be circulating at any one time. What does this look like in the soda world? Well, one 12-ounce soda is about 10 teaspoons of sugar. May not look like a lot of sugar but it raises the glucose in the bloodstream by 5x for four hours. That’s one soda!

Read Part Two

More on Excitotoxins

Yesterday, I was sent an informative email regarding this very topic and I would like to share a piece of it with you.

"...you will discover, within 6 months after Aspartame came out on the market in 1984 there was a 10 % increase of brain tumors and 30% increase in diabetes. Medical research showed the increase in brain tumors was not related to better detection methods and there was a definite increase in sheer numbers of new patients. This has been the case ever since Aspartame came out on the market in 1983. Aspartame mainly is toxic to nerve cells and has the potential to cause fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue, and depression., retardation, seizures and MS. Aspartic acid (an ingredient of Aspartame) also causes holes in the brain in mice as does MSG. It also effects neurotransmitter resulting in mental disorders as well. Aspartame are listed as a cytotoxin and has a direct effect on brain function. Unfortunately the FDA has taken a position of rubber stamping this product as safe, no matter what evidence is presented as to the danger of this product. Consumer education is the only way to stop the production of this toxic substance. Write your congressperson and ask them to start an investigation into the poisoning of the American people with Aspartame."

(adapted from Why are Dr. Blake and Dr. Louie so upset? -C. Burrett Cox)

Please take the time to view the link to this insightful video on this dangerous drug!
Documentary on Aspartame

Read more on this.

Read Part One