Published In: The Valley Times - Oct. 15 2013
It’s time to reconsider our “National Addiction’ - sugar
By Lisa Rohde
For the VT
What Exactly Is It About Sugar? Why does “Sugar” make the cover of National Geographic Magazine? What exactly is it about sugar, this so called slow acting toxic substance. Sugar is also known as our “#1 National Addiction”
“Our sweet tooth may be killing us” according to Nancy Appleton, PhD. Time to wake up and embrace whole foods back into your hands in order to protect your health and avoid hidden sugars!
Do you experience a sugar roller coaster? You may crave something sweet, junk food, candy, or refined foods like bread or pasta. These short chain carbohydrate foods metabolize very quickly, so while they may give us a burst of energy, they leave us suddenly feeling tired and craving another round of sugar, or a refined carbohydrate fix, or perhaps a chemical form of energy such as caffein in coffee; yes flour, refined foods, and breads break down as sugar in our bodies.
Time too to look out for what is being fed to our children in schools? Is your child eating pizza, fried chic-n-nuggets, and corn dogs at school? Does your child wash it down with low fat chocolate milk at school lunch five days a week. One such carton of chocolate milk reads 26g sugar, this is approximately 5 tsp of sugar. What about vegetables and greens? These are the number one missing foods in the American diet. How often are they on your child's school plate? Furthermore, Halloween is around the corner and sets our children up for sugar frenzies through the rest of the Holiday season.
In fact when eaten in excess, sugar is processed and stored as triglycerides, unhealthy fat that is not easily accessed as fuel later, but rather stored away in the body as a “keep sake”. Sugar, in combination with all of the bad fats and fried foods consumed at large in schools and elsewhere, is setting our children up for future health failure.
Virtually every known disease be it heart disease, diabetes, or cancer is on the rise and likewise these illnesses are increasing in our children. The human body is always trying to maintain balance or equilibrium, and optimal health is found at a slightly alkaline pH around 7.45. When we eat too many sweet foods, sweetened beverages, candy, pastries, refined breads, pasta, and acidic meats especially pork... we create an acidic pH. When we become too acidic due to the foods we eat, or environmental toxins found in the air, water, food, and pharmaceuticals we consume, we become weaker and sick. We display our individual symptoms be it allergies, food or sugar sensitivities, fatigue, headaches, inflammation and pain, frequent colds or coughs... Specifically sugar, refined foods, excess meats and cheeses, alcohol and caffein, all create an acidic environment, so avoiding these or keeping them in moderation is necessary for optimal health. Not to mention what foods are being fed to the sick in hospitals?
Keep your cravings under check, make sure you are hydrated first, try protein next, then go for sweet vegetables like carrots, squash, and radishes to help you fulfill your sweet tooth. Try carob powder mixed with nut butter and use this as a dip for carrots or apples, yum. Cultured foods like sauerkraut and kimchi help to reduce sugar cravings too. Redefine treat as something nourishing for you.
Halloween is on the brink of the horizon and with it comes an abundance of unhealthy candies. With luck you may be able to find a dentist willing to buy back candy from your children. However, if no such alternative option exists in your area, you may consider setting up a barter system with your children. This way your children can enjoy all the fun with the other kids running the streets in costume, yet they can go home to good values and their favorite safer goodies. I personally love the barter system. I prepare a bundle of my boys favorite organic goodies: Nana’s No Gluten No Dairy, Lemon, Ginger, or Chocolate Cookies, quality raw low glycemic Chocolate, Non-hydrogenated Veggie Chips, black currants and other dried fruit (so long as it is not sugar coated), pumpkin and veggie muffins. Upon returning from trick or treating, I barter with my boys.
My goodies of course are bigger, organic and may cost more than the cheap and little sugar candies from the streets, so be sure to barter wise. You will want to be sure that they exchange every last piece of junk for your wisely chosen goodies. Don't be shy, insist on an entire handful of junk in exchange for the good raw chocolate or homemade pumpkin muffin because you put a lot of your time and care into it. In the end, my boys are delighted and they have next year to look forward to. Now, what to do with all of the unwanted candy junk?
As for holidays get togethers -- pot lucks, Thanks Giving, Christmas, New Years -- be sure to bring a desert you know is safe for you children to eat. Bring something that is sweetened minimally only with natural sweeteners such as molasses, maple syrup, honey or stevia that way you are covered.
Lisa Rohde Certified Holistic Health Coach CHC, AADP, is an expert in the field of preventative medicine, nutrition and life coaching, with a professional certificate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Rohde offers individual counseling, workshops, and group classes. Connect with Rogue Living Well on Facebook and to learn more visit RogueLivingWell.com.
It’s time to reconsider our “National Addiction’ - sugar
By Lisa Rohde
For the VT
What Exactly Is It About Sugar? Why does “Sugar” make the cover of National Geographic Magazine? What exactly is it about sugar, this so called slow acting toxic substance. Sugar is also known as our “#1 National Addiction”
“Our sweet tooth may be killing us” according to Nancy Appleton, PhD. Time to wake up and embrace whole foods back into your hands in order to protect your health and avoid hidden sugars!
Do you experience a sugar roller coaster? You may crave something sweet, junk food, candy, or refined foods like bread or pasta. These short chain carbohydrate foods metabolize very quickly, so while they may give us a burst of energy, they leave us suddenly feeling tired and craving another round of sugar, or a refined carbohydrate fix, or perhaps a chemical form of energy such as caffein in coffee; yes flour, refined foods, and breads break down as sugar in our bodies.
Time too to look out for what is being fed to our children in schools? Is your child eating pizza, fried chic-n-nuggets, and corn dogs at school? Does your child wash it down with low fat chocolate milk at school lunch five days a week. One such carton of chocolate milk reads 26g sugar, this is approximately 5 tsp of sugar. What about vegetables and greens? These are the number one missing foods in the American diet. How often are they on your child's school plate? Furthermore, Halloween is around the corner and sets our children up for sugar frenzies through the rest of the Holiday season.
In fact when eaten in excess, sugar is processed and stored as triglycerides, unhealthy fat that is not easily accessed as fuel later, but rather stored away in the body as a “keep sake”. Sugar, in combination with all of the bad fats and fried foods consumed at large in schools and elsewhere, is setting our children up for future health failure.
Virtually every known disease be it heart disease, diabetes, or cancer is on the rise and likewise these illnesses are increasing in our children. The human body is always trying to maintain balance or equilibrium, and optimal health is found at a slightly alkaline pH around 7.45. When we eat too many sweet foods, sweetened beverages, candy, pastries, refined breads, pasta, and acidic meats especially pork... we create an acidic pH. When we become too acidic due to the foods we eat, or environmental toxins found in the air, water, food, and pharmaceuticals we consume, we become weaker and sick. We display our individual symptoms be it allergies, food or sugar sensitivities, fatigue, headaches, inflammation and pain, frequent colds or coughs... Specifically sugar, refined foods, excess meats and cheeses, alcohol and caffein, all create an acidic environment, so avoiding these or keeping them in moderation is necessary for optimal health. Not to mention what foods are being fed to the sick in hospitals?
Keep your cravings under check, make sure you are hydrated first, try protein next, then go for sweet vegetables like carrots, squash, and radishes to help you fulfill your sweet tooth. Try carob powder mixed with nut butter and use this as a dip for carrots or apples, yum. Cultured foods like sauerkraut and kimchi help to reduce sugar cravings too. Redefine treat as something nourishing for you.
Halloween is on the brink of the horizon and with it comes an abundance of unhealthy candies. With luck you may be able to find a dentist willing to buy back candy from your children. However, if no such alternative option exists in your area, you may consider setting up a barter system with your children. This way your children can enjoy all the fun with the other kids running the streets in costume, yet they can go home to good values and their favorite safer goodies. I personally love the barter system. I prepare a bundle of my boys favorite organic goodies: Nana’s No Gluten No Dairy, Lemon, Ginger, or Chocolate Cookies, quality raw low glycemic Chocolate, Non-hydrogenated Veggie Chips, black currants and other dried fruit (so long as it is not sugar coated), pumpkin and veggie muffins. Upon returning from trick or treating, I barter with my boys.
My goodies of course are bigger, organic and may cost more than the cheap and little sugar candies from the streets, so be sure to barter wise. You will want to be sure that they exchange every last piece of junk for your wisely chosen goodies. Don't be shy, insist on an entire handful of junk in exchange for the good raw chocolate or homemade pumpkin muffin because you put a lot of your time and care into it. In the end, my boys are delighted and they have next year to look forward to. Now, what to do with all of the unwanted candy junk?
As for holidays get togethers -- pot lucks, Thanks Giving, Christmas, New Years -- be sure to bring a desert you know is safe for you children to eat. Bring something that is sweetened minimally only with natural sweeteners such as molasses, maple syrup, honey or stevia that way you are covered.
Lisa Rohde Certified Holistic Health Coach CHC, AADP, is an expert in the field of preventative medicine, nutrition and life coaching, with a professional certificate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Rohde offers individual counseling, workshops, and group classes. Connect with Rogue Living Well on Facebook and to learn more visit RogueLivingWell.com.