Nutritional advice needed. We eat way too much sugar.

[Only me]

Lately I've started to realize that my family eats way too much sugar. I didn't realize how bad it was until I actually started writing down how many grams of sugar my ds has eaten today so far. He's really gotten into some bad habits and I need to change things drastically. Luckily all my kids don't have weight problems are in relatively good health but I'm worried that is going to change if we don't change our diet.

 

I know that I need to stop buying some of the food so we won't have those choices at home. Another problem is that my dad always wants to send a treat home with the kids every week. My dad is wonderful but he usually sends something home like chocolate milk or worse yet something like those new A & W drinks (65 grams of sugar in one bottle!).

 

I've tried to sit down with my kids and tell them that it has to stop but of course it is going to be hard work and we need new, healthy choices. I told them that we don't need to limit sugar entirely but cut way back. For instance so far today this is what my ds (10) has eaten. Breakfast: cereal, yogurt and milk. (the cereal had 10 grams of sugar and the yogurt had 12). Because my dh is out of town we decided to just have appetizers for lunch (I know another bad choice). We had chicken nugget type things, mozarella sticks and pepperoni and cheese bites. We also each had 1/2 banana and grapes. While ds was waiting for lunch to be ready he ate another yogurt. I also didn't realize that he had grabbed a snack sized jello too. To drink he had 1/3 of a bottle of orange pop. Of course way too much sugar.

 

When I wrote everything down and showed my kids the total sugar that ds has already eaten today they were all shocked. With some hesitation they all agreed that we need to eat better but we don't know where to begin.

 

I already have a rule that they have to have 2 servings of white milk per day. This usually means that they will have something else to drink for lunch and for a pm snack. I don't let them have pop every day but they choose something else to drink like koolaid, ice tea or juice. They like the pre-sweetened tea and I was shocked when I saw the sugar total on that too. I think that for the most part breakfast and dinner aren't too much of a problem. I worry most about lunch, snacks and beverages. I try to lead by example drink milk for breakfast and snack and at other times drink water 99% of the time. The kids really don't like drinking water. Do I start being a mean mom and force them to or is there something else healthy to drink.

 

Please help. I'm a little overwhelmed by this. I know this is horrible but think we need to take this gradually. Any suggestions!

[Zelda]

IMO, it isn't mean to make them drink water. Its mean to look the other way at the expense of their health. They will thank you later.

 

My mom was pretty strict with our diets by the standards of the 1970s. Very little juice. No other soft drinks. No sugary cereals etc. I wasn't a fan of that at the time. As it turns out, I have a fairly serious health condition that could have been a lot worse without her restrictions early in my development.

 

And thanks for the heads-up. I'm going to track our sugar intake next week. I bet I'm going to be horrified.

[Mekanamom]

Ah, we have the Grandpa & treats issue too. My FIL lives right next door, so it can become a problem at times.

 

Dh and I have realized that Grandpa needs to be able to express his love with treats... it's good for his soul, lol. So we have pretty much eliminated sugar in our home, and let Grandpa give the kids the treats.

 

Still, there are times when we need to tell him it's time to cut back on the sugar again... one treat instead of three, etc.

 

As for eliminating sugar in your home... doing just what you're doing, looking at labels, counting the grams is the best way to do it. Finding substitutions is so individual, it's hard to know what to suggest. How do you feel about artificial sweeteners?

 

After a while the less-sugary things start to taste better, and after quite a bit of time the very sugary things start to taste too sweet.

 

ETA: that should read that we have pretty much eliminated excess refined sugar in our home. We still have an abundance of fresh fruit & berries, etc. Also, we do have some things very high in sugar, but of the more natural kind (like 100% maple syrup)... and we try to use them sparingly. High fiber tends to slow down the absorbtion of carbohydrates, so I do try to look for high fiber foods. And... we do use artificial sweeteners here, probably more than we should.

[In The Great White North]

The easiest way for them to start eating less sugar is for you to cook more from scratch. Once you start reading ingredients, you'll find sugar (or some variant of corn syrup) in just about everything. Did you check those chicken nuggets?

 

While you're looking at sugar, check all the simple carbs, since they react fairly similarly in your body.

 

Here's some things I've discovered the dc will eat (fairly) happily:

 

sweet tea (homemade with mint and Stevia)

vegie sticks w/ dip (yes, I'm sure there's some sugar in the dip but not nearly as much as ready made "snack food")

leftovers for snacks (instead of "snack food" which is usually almost entirely simple carbs)

Whole grains - (I can mix in whole wheat and oat flour in just about anything. They rebel at straight whole wheat but half goes over OK. Even the "$400 chocolate chip cookie recipe" has oat flour in it.)

"Real" food for breakfast instead of pre-made cereals (as in eggs, pancakes (whole wheat), etc)

Whole milk has a lower sugar to protein ratio than low fat

 

Yes, they do complain that they can't just pick up a package of something to take with them for a snack, but, hey, life's rough, don't be so lazy. They don't get much sympathy on that score.

 

It'll be cheaper too. (Actually, their snack food consumption goes way down when they have to pay for it themselves. Ds was a lifeguard this summer at a pool with a snack bar. He hardly ever bought anything, because it was his hard-earned money he was spending instead of mine)

 

Stevia can be added to a lot of things that have "hidden" sugar to make them taste more like "the real thing."

[Only me]

Any recipes for healthy snacks, bread (I don't have bread maker though), pancakes, muffins, etc.

[Kris]

First -- I haven't read the responses, so I apologize upfront for any repetition, but this is what we do -- and these are just MHOs, of course, so feel free to disregard any of it. :D

 

"Moderation" is a word that's thrown around a lot lately -- and yes, I have the new high fructose corn syrup ad campaign in mind. The problem with "moderation" is that that stuff is in EVERYTHING! Those smiling actors don't mention that -- and neither does the person that's standing there looking foolish for believing the rumors. The fact that it "has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey" might make for a good sound bite, but they forget to mention that those are empty calories with no nutritional value. *That* is the problem with HFCS *and* sugar. You have to work pretty hard to work all of that off if it constitutes a high percentage of your daily calorie intake -- and then eat even more to fill your nutritional needs.

 

Pretty much anything that comes in a box or can has added sugar or salt because it's been processed to the point where it's tasteless without it. Shop the perimeter of the store. If you come home from a shopping trip and 90% of what you buy has to go in the fridge or in the freezer, you're ahead of the game right there. Read labels and buy canned or frozen fruits and vegetables that contain -- fruits and vegetables!

 

Pretty much everything in the produce section contains "sugar," including the veggies -- but they don't have the *added* sugar. They also contain fiber, minerals and other nutrients. If you get your kids used to eating fresh food, I think you can cut that sugar consumption by more than half.

 

Carbs *are* sugar. Once starch hits your mouth, it begins the transformation -- and this is from basic biology class 35 years ago. So if you're counting "sugar" consumption, you have to add the carbs, too. That number will scare you. :D And I'll throw in here that there are no "vital nutrients" in grains, whole or otherwise, that can't be obtained from other sources. Carbs are an energy source -- so if you're active, you need carbs for that.

 

Fat is not the enemy. Fat is fuel -- and it's filling and satisfying. Whole milk, yogurt (homemade or "natural"), cheese, eggs, etc., are what I consider to be good, healthy snacks that are filling, but not fattening. It's much easier to practice "moderation" if the food you eat satisfies you. I either make my own yogurt or buy plain, natural yogurt and add fresh or frozen fruit and use Splenda as a sweetner. It's cheaper and I think it tastes better.

 

Cereal around here is the occasional treat -- I *might* buy one box a month, but right now I can't remember the last time I bought any. Ounce for ounce, considering the actual nutritional value in that box, it is one of the most expensive things you can buy. And since it's almost totally carbohydrate, it is almost *all* metabolized as "sugar" and only temporarily satisfying. Oatmeal, for instance (and not the convenient little packages) is a much better alternative.

 

We drink whole milk, water, sometimes tea and coffee. Sodas on occasion -- about once a week when we make our trip to town.

 

If you have more scraps in your compost than boxes and cans in your trash; if you have pots and pans to wash -- this is good and you're winning! :lol: And your kids are definitely old enough to learn how to fix these things for themselves. It really doesn't take much longer, if at all, to cook meals than to nuke 'em.

 

As far as Grandpa and his weekly treat? If you're "on it" at home the rest of the week, Grandpa's treats will be a blip on the radar, rather than another problem. Your kids can still be healthy, and Grandpa can be happy. :)

[Mom to Aly]

While I do agree that things you make are certainly better than what you buy, especially with all the high fructose syrup running around these days, I don't know that all the foods you buy are bad. Yogurt is so healthy--I don't mean gogurt and those, although they still have a good amount of protein. The one thing my doctor told me you should get your kids used to not having is sweetened drinks, including juice--just empty calories. Water is the best thing to get them used to--try it with lemon, or even a slice or orange.

 

Another thing they say is amazing to do, one of the healthiest things you can do for your body--give up whole or 2% milk and go for 1% or skim. Here are the shocking numbers: Whole milk, 46% of the calories are from fat; 2%, 35% are from fat; 1%, 20% are from fat, and skim, 0% are from fat. And, from what my doctor told me, if they are getting the calcium from other dairy products, like yogurt, they don't need as much milk. Another amazing source, and wonderful snack, is cottage cheese, which my dd and I both love.

 

While my dd and I are both in love with junk, we also love healthy food. We now snack on fresh veggies, cottage cheese is a fave, I love plain yogurt, she doesn't like it as much, but with things, like beans or rice at dinner, or Mexican or Indian food, it is great. Cheese, sliced or cubed, is great, another easy snack is peanut butter and crackers--easy because you can set out the crackers and they won't mind putting on the pb, whereas a sandwich you have to make (saves you some time if you have a bunch of kids, and this way they usually won't want jelly, but I buy the simply fruit jelly, which is fine).

 

You'd be surprised, once you try, how easy it is to cut out refined sugars, or to cut down on them gradually (you don't have to go cold turkey). There are so many options! BTW, there are fruits that are better than others. Grapes are not great, just a few have a lot of sugar, strawberries and blueberries are wonderful. Apples are good, etc. I'm sure you know. And balance it out--Yogurt with sweetener is better than soda, etc. Oh, and look at cereal carefully--my daughter wanted what looked like a healthy cereal, I think it was one of the new Special K's, but when I looked at it, I was SHOCKED at the ingredients and sugar content! We usually just do plain old Cheerios, ultra healthy, low on sugar, and easy to get used to. Once they do, they'll love it (I think). And great for a dry snack.

 

Good luck, and take it easy. Remember, it doesn't have to happen overnight ;).

[emeraldjoy]

Good for you, what a hard thing to face and then actually take action against. You've inspired me!!!

Honey is a good alternative. It can be substituted for sugar in most recpies. Keep in mind it is sweeter than regular sugar so you use less; you can find ratios on the internet.

I recently started making our own granola bars with no refined sugar in them.

Always do plain oatmeal, cream of wheat, cereals etc; not the flavored and sweetened kind. Even if you do sweeten it chances are it will be alot less than the other. Same goes for Yougurt.

Fruit is always a good fix for a sugar craving.

Choclate isn't all that bad in moderation, as is true for most things. A bag of chocolate chips hanging around that you pair with walnuts or something is a very reasonable snack; in my opinion.

Switch to natural peanut butter. I think sugar is second on the list in most brands like jiffy, etc. Just look at the labels and find one that is 100%. In the beginning it tastes wierd, but eventually you will know no different.

Ketchup is full of sugar too. I think some barbq sauces would be better

Thanks for the thread. I too will be watching it for pointers and ideas.

Again, I commend you.

e

[5wolfcubs]

Check out http://www.mypyramid.gov/ There is a kids link on the left side.

 

I agree with the poster who said let Grandpa buy the treats. You buy food. Grandpa buys treats.

 

At Costco I saw a book called something like "Eat This, Not That: For Kids" -- it had two page spreads with photographs comparing foods. It looked very interesting & I almost bought it...maybe I will next time.

 

My kids drink only water. I do buy milk for cereal and making things like pancakes & smoothies (with protein powder & fruit & cottage cheese). I also buy orange juice for making smoothies.

 

Here is my standard smoothie recipe...varied by what I actually have on hand.

 

2 cups oj or milk

2 scoops whey protein powder

1/4 cup cottage cheese

2 T flax seed

1/4 cup nuts (walnuts, almond, pecans)

1 banana

5 frozen strawberries

6 ice cubes

 

I add 2 or 3 ingredients at time and run through the blender. This serves the 7 of us... I make this on Saturdays & Sundays for a snack when dh is home. I'll put out a big plate of fresh veggies for everyone to snack on while they're waiting for me to make the smoothie.

 

I made Oatmeal Rounds this morning:

 

1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1 cup water, 1/4 cup whole milk)

1 egg

1 T oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

 

Combine oats & milk, let sit for about 5 minutes. Add egg & oil, mix. Add dry ingredients, mix. Cook as you do regular pancakes. Serve w/ real maple syrup breakfast. Or spread w/ peanut butter or jelly for a snack later.

This morning I added 1 scoop protein powder & 2 T flax seed and then added another 1/4 cup of water.

 

Something I've been doing for myself is putting magnets (little round black ones) in row as I fill my water glass. When I get to 5, I know I've met my "10 cups a day" quota. I was thinking of doing something similar for our whole family but w/ fruits & veggies. Put a magnet on your plate (drawn on paper) when you eat a serving (note: a single carrot stick is not a serving if you are 10 years old!!). I had thought about rewarding them with a treat for eating 5 servings but that seemed counter productive...

 

You could do something w/ magnets or check box squares for water -- say, drink 5 cups of water/day to start. Water really is the best drink, I believe. Once they've drank 5 cups, then they can have juice. Milk could be a separate category. If you'd like to eliminate sweetened tea & koolaid, you could allow 1 serving of either one (not both) per day until they are gone, after they've drank their water. Buy no more.

 

That got really long...I guess I'm putting off going grocery shopping this afternoon! :) As the sole shopper of food for my family, I am wholly responsible for my kids diets. There is always room for improvement at our house!!

[Alenee]

I sympathize with you. Once we found out my middle dd needed to have most if not all sugar cut out, we "ran out" of all of it. Rather than trying to substiute (like soy milk instead of cow's milk, or no-sugar cookies instead of regular), we just began having more "real" food. I make a lot from scratch but I can be honest in saying that it isn't as time consuming as some fear.

 

Check those labels! For instance, I make homemade chili and found out that one brand of black beans had sugar in the water. I found a brand (cheaper even) w/o sugar. I also make my own spaghetti sauce and can about 10 jars at once by buying the large (very large) cans of tomato sauce S & W brand from Costco. I stew it up with all the herbs and spices. Every brand of sauce I found had sugar in it so this has been my way of doing it ever since and the family likes it much better.

 

Here's my recipe for pancakes, and we use real maple syrup (yep it's WAY more expensive but better!). After we went through de-toxing, the kids tried Mrs. Butterworth's syrup and hated it.

 

Sugar-free Pancakes

2 c flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 c butter, melted

2 1/4 c milk

 

Mix together and cook on hot skillet.

 

It's also that time for harvest. If you have a canner (or can purchase one) go get yourself some peaches and apples. Can your peaches in water, rather than syrup and make homemade applesauce w/o sweetener. Kids can add honey and cinnamon to taste. Try having more produce on hand for snacks. And water and milk or 100% juices only! Those dyes aren't any better than that sugar.

[Peela]

I agree with the others than makign kids drink water is not cruel. Its love- just tough love. I go through times when I fill up a litre container for them of water in the morning and make them drink it over the day. Drinking water is simply a habit, and so is drinking sweet stuff- which habit would you rather they develop?

We have a rule of one glass of juice a day- 100% juice. The rest is water. I think even a glass of juice is excessive sugar- because it is a lot of sugar, its the equivalent of maybe 3 pieces of fruit downed in a few seconds.

 

I find my teenagers are tougher to "control" in many ways as to sugar intake. I foudn my son's pockets filled with lolly papers the other day. They want to go to the shops to buy an icecream and they are of an age I dont feel to restrict them overly- as homeschoolers, they need some independence and freedom, too. Too much restriction can lead to an extreme desire to obtain the forbidden sweet. So I just try and feed them well, and also discuss nutrition with them. Eating sufficient protein is important to balance sugar cravings. I once wrote down my kids protein intake over a week and realised it wasnt near enough, so I make a conscious effort to give them protein snacks and plenty of protein in meals.

Realise sugar is extremely addictive. It is hard to stop it, and kids will crave it. I know I do- the more sugar I eat, the more I crave. Eating sugar in a meal, like a home made rice pudding with brown rice, eggs, whole milk and raisins, with some sugar added, is a lot better for you than an ice cream or lolly.

When I realise we are eating too much sugar, I try and make sure we are eating 3 good meals a day including a cooked breakfast, and have healthy snacks on hand. I dont always succeed.

[Anne Rittenhouse]

How about flavored seltzer water? It doesn't have any sugar and has the fizz of soda pop. Most kids like it, some even like the unflavored variety.

[gandpsmommy]

I didn't have time to read through all of the other replies, but I wanted to respond because we struggle with this, too. I know from experience that one can get used to drinking water and actually prefer it, but the first step is pretty difficult. I grew up being allowed to drink pop, juice, koolaid, etc. all the time, and I had a major sweet tooth. When I was in my late teens I realized how unhealthy it was. I completely gave up pop. Now I can't stand the thought of drinking it; it just seems way too sugary and syrupy. I also started drinking unsweetened iced tea because dh drank it that way. At first it seemed bitter, but now I can't stand sweet tea. My kids are the same way. They can only drink very small quantities of fruit juice, pop, and other sweetened drinks because they are used to drinking mainly water and unsweetened tea. I say go cold turkey on this one. Eliminate all pop and other sweetened beverages from your home. After you are all used to drinking mostly water (or milk, if that is your preference), then you can probably allow yourselves to have pop and sweet drinks once in a while, as a treat, without getting back into a habit of it.

 

The drink part is easy for us, but I really find the food part to be a constant challenge. I have found that it is much easier to say "no" once at the store to sugary snacks than to say "no" ten times a day when they are asking to eat sugary snacks that we have brought home. The yogurt is a hard one for us because my dc don't drink milk, so I see it as a good source of calcium and it does have great benefits for the digestive system because of the good bacteria. My ds does tend to go overboard with it, wanting to eat 2 or 3 at a time. Have you tried getting plain yogurt and just sweetening it a little with honey or fruit? We tried it once and my dc really liked it with honey.

 

I've found that we just had to stop buying so many sugary snacks and try to make fruit, vegetables, cheese, yogurt, and nuts/seeds the main snack foods, or we tend to go overboard. We often go in cycles. We'll eat really well for awhile, and then we'll start to slide back into buying too many sugary foods. Then we have to start all over again. I have noticed a very positive difference in all of our attitudes, behavior,, and energy levels when we are eating low-sugar diets, though. Good luck!

[Haiku]

We are vegan so we don't drink cow's milk. We do keep almond milk in the house. The kids drink some warm chocolate almond milk with their breakfast. Other than that, they drink water. Very occasionally I will buy juice, but that's maybe once per quarter. I don't keep any other beverage options in the house (except for a variety of leaf teas, which the kids don't like), so they have no other options. We have always done it this way, so my kids don't protest. It will be harder with kids who are used to drinking sugary drinks. If you have soda in the house, they will drink it. Don't have it in the house.

 

Basically, you will need to shift to more whole foods. Cereal is a weekend treat for my kids. During the week they eat oatmeal, barley meal, toast, smoothies, homemade muffins (I always cut the amount of sugar in half), etc., for breakfast. We don't buy packaged snacks. "Snacks," to my kids, are fruits and vegetables, roasted chickpeas, homemade rice pudding (again, with the amount of sugar drastically reduced), hummus, guacamole, etc. What many people consider "snacks," such as granola bars or chips, are considered "treats" in our house and rarely purchased. If they eat too much yogurt or jello, don't buy it. Spend that money instead on whole grain chips and a box of Fantastic hummus mix or a bag of avocados and let the kids make their own hummus/guacamole. Getting over a sweet tooth can be hard, but it really doesn't take that long, and then you'll be surprised by how unappealing the sugary stuff seems.

 

As far as the grandpa thing, you could either ask your dad not to give the kids sugary snacks or you could not worry too much about it, since kids and grandparents have special relationships and part of that may involve junk food. If the A&W drink has 65 g of sugar, tell your child he or she may have 3 oz of it, not the entire bottle.

 

The kids really don't like drinking water. Do I start being a mean mom and force them to or is there something else healthy to drink.

 

 

No, you definitely don't have to force your kids to drink water. They'll drink it themselves when they get thirsty enough. ;) One thing you could try is keeping a bottle of seltzer water and some frozen fruit available. The kids could then have a fruit spritzer.

 

Tara

[Haiku]

I was just making lunch for my kiddos and I thought of two more things for you.

 

1) I can get my kids to enjoy eating just about anything as long as it's presented appealingly. A bowl of chickpeas or some celery doesn't seem that appealing unless you put little bits on a plate, maybe with some apple slices, raisins, red pepper strips, frozen grapes, carrots, etc. and call it a "cold-plate special." A dollop of dip in the middle of the plate doesn't hurt, either. My kids are currently having "cold-plate special" (the composition of which changes depending on what we have available) for lunch, but most frequently I serve it as a snack. My younger kids also enjoy picking finger foods out of ice cube trays.

 

2) Hillbilly Housewife has some really great, inexpensive, easy-to-make recipes. I have gotten a lot of good ideas there. Don't let the name turn you off ... I am in no way a hillbilly housewife, but I do enjoy the site. I liked it better when it was run by Miss Maggie (it's now run by Susanne), but it's still a good site.

 

HTH!

 

Tara

[Rosie_0801]

I wouldn't worry about the sugary stuff Grandpa sends home. Grandpas are meant to do stuff like that. :) I would stop buying sugary drinks to have at home. If they won't drink water, buy apple juice and start watering it down. Over time their taste-buds will get used to it. Gestational diabetes cured me of my cordial (no it's not an alcoholic drink over here!) habit and I can now drink water. Of course it's really boring to drink only water so I will have apple juice diluted with water, 50/50. Have a look at the recipes you cook too. We managed to reduce the sugar content of our very nice apple crumble to almost half before it became too unpleasant to eat. Eat porridge instead of bought cereals. So much cheaper! We often have ours with tinned berries and ground almonds. You'll probably find cutting out all the junk will save you a bit of money, so use some of it to buy more interesting food. Make cheese a treat instead of chocolate. Buy from a proper deli instead of the supermarket. A shop keeper in a proper deli should be able to tell you where the cheese was from and some of the details of creation. Things often taste nicer when they come with a story. Take up gardening too, if possible. Eating tomatoes and peas out of the garden is a fun thing to do :)

Go cold turkey on things like soda, reduce gradually when sugar is an ingredient in a recipe; it takes time for your tastebuds to adjust. If you do it gradually, the kids won't even notice.

:)

Rosie

[Katrina]

You've gotten a lot of good advice...the only sugestion I might add is since you've enlisted you're kids help, together decide one bad habit to get rid of and one good habit to start. Hopefully it will make your kids feel more empowered and more likely to stick with it when you aren't standing over them. Just an idea.

 

Good luck!