"It's no coincidence that four of the six letters in health are "heal". --Ed Northstrum
I was talking
to a man the other day about getting his diabetes under control after he got “the
talk” from his doctor. He told me what
he used to eat: a banana and a honeybun
for breakfast, sweet tea all day, and, well, you get the picture. He
said, “I think I am addicted to sugar.” Then there was the young mother I just met who has been recruited for a new Growing Healthy Kids initiative to educate mothers. She told me her 2 year old daughter eats candy for breakfast. After we spent 3 hours together talking about diabetes and what our kids eat, she decided to make some changes now.
Americans
ARE addicted to sugar. Sugar ranks up at
the top in terms of food addictions, right up there with foods loaded with fats
and salt. It’s one thing to have a “sweet
tooth” and to have dessert after every dinner. It’s another thing to drink
5 or 6 glasses of sweet tea a day, hide cookies in your bedroom or ALWAYS have
seconds (or thirds) of cake.
Most people eat
too much sugar. It is hidden in processed
foods. In fact, food companies pay
scientists lots of money to find ways to make food addictive so we will
overeat.
How much sugar is too much? Here are the
guidelines for the daily maximum sugar intake (source: American Heart
Association):
Kids
(preschool and early elementary) 12.5
grams
Tweens and
teens 21-33
grams
Women 25
grams
Men 37
grams
Use these
guidelines when buying food in boxes, cans, or packages. Look at how many grams of sugar are in a serving,
look at the serving size, then determine how many serving your kids eat. DID YOU KNOW...Most
serving sizes are by design INTENTIONALLY SMALLER than what people really eat. By
incorporating this tip into your food shopping, you will raise your awareness
of how much sugar is in what you are eating.
One of the most addictive sugars is HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP; this is
the most important sugar to eliminate from your kids’ foods. The fact is that eating too much sugar is
linked to problems such as obesity, diabetes, hyperactivity disorder, and lack of focus. Buy foods with less sugar, not more. When you start replacing high sugar foods
with fabulous fiber foods, you start shifting to better health.
In
gratitude,
Nancy
Heinrich
Founder,
Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.
PS - If you have a question you would like me to answer on "Pop Up Health", the fun weekly radio show I do with Chef Michael Glatz, send an email to growinghealthykidsnow@gmail.com. Listen on iheartradio.com on Tuesdays and Sundays 3-4 pm (eastern); search for WAXE 107.9 FM/1370 AM.
