Have you been wanting to reduce your family’s sugar intake? Or perhaps just your own?

Already tried but were unsuccessful?  I understand.  After all, we are talking about sugar.

Sugar…

Everyone knows what it is.

Everyone knows that it is bad for us, yet most of us consume it on a daily basis.

What most people don’t know:

1. How unhealthy it really is.  
2. The damage that it has on our bodies that causes metabolic and other diseases.
3. How much we are consuming on a daily basis, especially our children.

It is part of our diets early on and often becomes the focus of our cravings throughout life.

I’ll admit to my addiction to dark chocolate.  Although there are some benefits to dark chocolate, it is usually filled with sugar to dampen the bitter taste of cacao. 

Many people, perhaps yourself included, are given this sweet substance for the first time to celebrate their first birthday.  And so begins a lifelong consumption of it.  

It’s Just Empty Calories

If you ask Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Nestle, etc…then they’ll say sugar is just empty calories and not a big deal and in a balanced diet it can be enjoyed.

I disagree with that.

I believe that not all calories are created equal.  To consider sugar as just an empty calorie making it okay to eat as part of a balanced diet is just a lie.

Added sugar contains no essential nutrients.  It does not contain any protein, essential fats, vitamins or minerals. It is simply a burst of energy that results in a crash in energy shortly after.

Check out this girl whose parents proudly display her sugar high on Youtube.

An important point to remember is that kids are not little adults and that their bodies process it differently. Another good reason to reduce your family’s sugar intake. 

Fact: Liquid sugar is the largest source of added sugar in our diet.

I have previously written about this topic and if you want to find out more about the detrimental effects that sugar has on the body you can find it in the article 5 Tips to Reduce Your Kids Sugar Hangover.

Fact: 74% of grocery store products contain added sugar

Despite the sugar industry’s claim that it is not detrimental to one’s health (a parallel to the tobacco industry’s early claims that smoking is not at all harmful to one’s health), there is a backlash movement going on. Check out this New York Times article, How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat.

One of the leaders of this movement is Dr. Robert Lustig who “is an American pediatric endocrinologist. He is Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he specializes in neuroendocrinology and childhood obesity. He is also director of UCSF’s WATCH program (Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health), and president and co-founder of the non-profit Institute for Responsible Nutrition.[4][5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lustig

If you haven’t watched the documentary movie Sugar Coated on Netflix, I highly recommend you check it out.  I’m sure it will help motivate you to reduce your family’s sugar intake. 

Fact: Sugar blocks vitamin C absorption which is needed for good immune function

Things are changing

Dr. Ludwig attempts to educate people about the real effects that sugar has and how big corporations have led us to believe that it is something that we need.  

It must be working because there are some interesting things going on in the world of high-performance sports.

For a long time endurance athletes, were using gel packs to keep them going. Gatorade was seen as a sports drink and marketed to help you perform better.

Things are changing. 

The New Winners

The latest winner of the tour de France, Chris Froome, followed a low carb diet during training and during the race. 

He has not only won three Tour de France titles since changing his diet but also lost 20 pounds. These shifts have increased his power-weight ratio and led to wins. 

Sugar is a carbohydrate, so following a low carb diet means that there is no room for sugar. Froome swapped out carbohydrates for essential fat and protein such as salmon and eggs.

The L.A. Lakers dropped their sugar intake with the guidance of Dr. Cate Shanahan.  Kobe Bryant’s diet change proved to be an important part of the Laker’s success.

Here’s how Trevor Wong describes it:

“Part of that changed diet and those healthy eating tips come from Dr. Cate Shanahan, a team consultant who has her own practice in Napa Valley. Pasture-fed foods – pasture-grazed beef from a pasture-fed cow, eggs from a free-range chicken (not a cage chicken) – are just some of the main staples of Bryant’s diet. Sugars, specifically anything with corn syrup, should be avoided, and the intake of carbohydrates has been scaled down, consumed in moderation.”

Even though you may not be raising little NBA All-Stars or Tour de France winners, being able to reduce your family’s sugar intake will only bring greater benefits to your children’s development.

You might have heard that the brain needs glucose.  Once upon a time the world was flat.  Now we know better.  Likewise, the brain can survive and thrive even better on healthy fats.

You want the best for your kids and yourself.  So what can you do to reduce your family’s sugar intake?   

We’ve struggled with sugar in our household but on a daily basis, we strive to eat the least amount of processed sugar as possible and these 7 ways to reduce your family’s sugar intake has helped. 

Fact: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no more than 10% of your daily calories be sugar.

7 Ways to Reduce Your Family’s Sugar Intake

1. Become educated about all the different names that sugar is called on packages and listed as ingredients.  One way to reduce your family’s sugar intake is being able to identify all the different names that sugar goes by. 

 

2. Consume fresh whole fruits

We will buy our girls a $1.50 passion fruit instead of a chocolate bar with pleasure.  Fruits are real food and taste sweet.  Swapping out real fruit for processed sugars may cause World War III to break out in your house, but it will pass.   Consuming fruit instead of processed sugar will drastically help to reduce your family’s sugar intake. Fruit also contains fiber (which slows the release of fructose in the body), vitamins and antioxidants.  

3. Fill up on healthy fats and protein so your body is satisfied which reduces cravings and the roller coaster energy rises and crashes of sugar.

(Try out this Energizing Spinach and Onion Paleo Quiche)

4. Gradually start eliminating processed foods from your family’s cupboards. 

As I ran out of a favourite cereal, I wouldn’t buy it again.  Instead, I would look for a healthier one and continue to cut it out until my kids no longer requested it.  Stop drinking soda or fruit juices and begin introducing sparkling water flavoured with limes and lemons. If it isn’t in the house, no one will eat it.

5. Enjoy some natural sweeteners such as pure maple syrup, raw honey, coconut manna, dates to add a sweet taste to baked goods.  ‘Some’ is the key word here.  While natural sugar is preferable to processed sugar, you want to be aware of quantities.  These Simply Delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins or my Vegan Coconut Macaroons are made using only natural sugars.

6. Make a meal plan.  I know, meal planning doesn’t sound glamorous but it certainly can be useful and help keep yourself and your family on track to reduce your family’s sugar intake.  

Check out our article How to Eat Healthy Without Using Willpower for great tips and a free 5-day meal plan with recipes.

7. Join a family challenge where you eliminate sugar for 7 days

(Sign up for our Family Health Challenge 1.o:  7 Day Sugar-Free Party which will be starting October 1.  Details coming next week). 

You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to reduce your family’s sugar intake with the support of a community of people doing the same thing.

People don’t want to hear it but the bottom line is sugar is not a natural part of our diet.   

It is wrecking havoc on our health and our children’s health. 

Being educated and proactive will only bring greater health and happiness to you and your family.

Similar to abusive drugs, sugar affects the dopamine release from the reward centre of the brain.  We become addicted to this dopamine release that makes us feel good and energized for short periods of time. 

Fortunately, ridding sugar from your diet is much easier than breaking a heroin or nicotine addiction.  Take action today.  Sit down and make a plan of how you are going to eliminate processed sugar from your diet.

Reduce Your Family’s Sugar Intake with Support (It’s More Fun)

Need help? Like Challenges?

Benefit from a supportive community with Bree and Brad’s:

Whole Healthy Family Challenge 1.0: 7 Day Sugar-Free Party

Details coming next week so stay tuned for the party to get started!