Food for kids

I was reading this blog post from "I Quit Sugar" and I absolutely 100% agree with how this father packs his son's school lunches.

My favorite quote from the post:

"Don’t tailor lunchboxes to a “kids palate.” I pack Tashi’s lunchbox as If I’m packing my own lunchbox. In my experience kids will always go for the sweet or sugary option, so if you include those foods then you will begin to change their palate and preferences. It’s a hard road back from there."

It's normal for preschoolers and young children to have inconsistent likes & dislikes of foods. In addition, they may not be prepared to try new foods until they have seen it 20-30 times. Present new foods with foods they like and don't give up!

I get a great sense of what kids get for school snacks because I teach at a German School every Saturday morning. I see a small portion of children that consistently have non-processed, whole foods for snacks. The great majority of students bring candies, chocolates, fruit-gummies, granola bars etc. for snack. These are loaded in sugars and nutrient poor... Diets high in processed foods and low in nutritious wholesome foods in children can negatively impact them in the future (related to chronic diseases).

Today, for St. Patrick's day at German School I served my students a fresh fruit salad (topped with some whipping cream). It fit into the theme because it was rainbow-colored and I was happy to be giving them a healthy snack instead of cupcakes, cookies or candies. :)


Source:
I Quit Sugar Blog Post: See more at: https://iquitsugar.com/scott-gooding-healthy-eating-for-kids/utm_source=iqs%20edm%2013%2F03%2F15&utm_medium=email&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=scott%20gooding%20healthy%20kids&inf_contact_key=56aab3b62d127c48b8a6d63d300692bd7c5804c4a12beb4b6c1123156626376f#sthash.v7EnGYQR.dpuf

Image from: http://pixabay.com/

Sugar Sweetened Beverages

Homemade smoothies are
delicious and nutritious!

Drinking for Beauty...
Glow from the inside out by avoiding sugary drinks

Introduction:

Sugary drinks are drinks with lots of added sugar. The sugar is not added by you, it is part of the drink you buy. This makes it tricky to know just how much sugar you are drinking.
Sugary drinks like pop are high in energy but low in nutrients:
Extra energy from sugars = body stores as fat
No nutrients = poor growth
Sugar in drinks also gives you cavities. This means longer dentist visits... Sugar may also slow down your learning and memory.

Pop vs. Milk or Water:

Coca-Cola Nutrition label
Avoid any added sugars!! 

Healthy Drinks:

• water
• water infused with fruits etc. (eg. lemon water)
• milk (raw is best in my opinion...)
• homemade smoothies!
• teas
• fermented drinks like kombucha

In moderation: 100% juices, bought flavored waters or milks

Best to avoid: Pops, fruit punch, powdered drink mixes, cocktails

Tips:

Craving fizzy drinks? Try 100% fruit juice with seltzer.
Looking for something warm? Heat up a mug of milk, then melt a teaspoon of honey in it. Delicious!
Water too boring? Add sliced strawberries to your water. Shake. Enjoy the flavoured water!

References:

Bea, J.W., Jacobs, L., Waits, J., Hartz, V., Martinex, S.H., Standfast, R.D., Farrell, V.A., Bawden, M., Whitmer, E., Misner, S. (2015). Need for Specific Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Lessons for Fouth- and Fifth-Graders. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 47, 36-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2.01.08.004

Briefel, R.R., Wilson, A., Cabili, C., Dodd, A.H. (2012). Reducing Calories and Added Sugars by Improving Children’s Beverage Choices. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 269-275. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2012.10.016

Kendig, M.D. (2014). Cognitive and behavioural effects of sugar consumption in rodents. A review. Appetite, 80, 41-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.04.028

Steyn, N.P., Temple, N.J. (2014). Dietary Sugar: Public Health Perspective. Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 2, 125-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386454-3.01243-4

Wyckoff, E. (2014). Super-Simple, Kid-Friendly Smoothies. Rachel Ray. Retrieved from http://www.rachaelray.com/2014/05/super-simple-kid-friendly-smoothies

Zheng, M., Rangan, A., Olsen, N.J., Andersen, L.B., Wedderkopp, N., Kristensen, P., Grontved, A., Ried-Larsen, M., Lempert, S.M., Allman-Farinelli, M., Heitmann, B.L. (2014). Substituting sugar-sweetened beverages with water or milk is inversely associated with body fatness development from childhood to adolescence. Nutrition, 31, 38-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.04.017

Sugar like Cocaine?!

Sometimes, people use gross comparisons to get their point across. It infuriates me when I notice how WRONG their comparison is, even if their point is correct. It's like spreading a rumor that has just enough truth to it so it spreads.

Ok, confusing thought without context. This is what I mean...
Regarding sugar, and making the point that sugar is essentially bad for you:

"...Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition says, ".white refined sugar-is not a food. It is a pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact than cocaine, which it resembles in many ways. Its true name is sucrose and its chemical formula is C12H22O11. It has 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to offer." ...The chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar's formula again is C12H22O11. For all practical purposes, the difference is that sugar is missing the "N", or nitrogen atom."


This is written in a very convincing manner. And I'm sure many people would believe that sugar is just one nitrogen atom away from cocaine.

But, although sugar is terrible for your health (for many reasons) it's NOT similar to cocaine. Yes, they are both organic molecules (containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen) and they are both addictive... but that's it.

This is cocaine:

And this is sucrose (the most common type of sugar):

As you can see, there's no similarity in structure (thus neither in function). But this quote is used as evidence on a well-intentioned popular blog post and on an online article. 

List of structural differences: 

• no benzene ring in sucrose (a very characteristically stable structural component)
• no nitrogen in sucrose (a completely different element with its own functional structure)
• 2 six membered carbon rings in cocaine vs. 1 ring of six and 1 ring of 5 in sucrose
• 2 ester groups in cocaine, none in sucrose
• 1 ether group in sucrose, none in cocaine
• numerous alcohol groups (-OH) in sucrose, none in cocaine
• different amount of carbons and hydrogens

Careful what you believe, especially on the internet.

Sources:

http://rense.com/general45/sguar.htm

http://wellnessmama.com/15/harmful-effects-of-sugars/

Organic Chemistry 261 and 263 classes at University of Alberta

Image credit to Wikipedia.

-Jessica

P.S. Fun example of structure differences:

CO vs. CO2

One kills you silently, whereas the other is a harmless by-product of breathing.

(carbon monoxide vs. carbon dioxide)