Why Kids Should Have Limited Sugar

Excess sugar is a very serious problem for people of all ages. Kids, in particular, are affected more adversely than adults due to their premature immune systems and body organs. Aside from adding more simple carbohydrates to the system, kids usually do not have enough fiber to counteract this increase in sugar.

Since kids are fond of eating sweets, they are prone to heart disease and diabetes if the parents do not do anything about it as soon as possible. Kids who lessen their intake of sweets, on the other hand, benefit from it in the following ways.

More Energy

The food which children prefer such as candy, chocolate, cereals, and the like all contain artificial and processed sugar. This is unlike natural sugar which is found in fruits and other food. Artificial sugar has no advantages over natural one. In fact, it is harder to process in the body and really takes its toll on our digestive system. Even if the child were to gain a lot of energy from the sugar, it is almost always totally consumed during the digestion process.

On the other hand, when they take in natural sugar, the digestive system has lesser work. This gives the children more energy reserves. They can use this to be more attentive at school, perform their chores or simply play with their toys and friends.

Normal Blood Sugar

Your blood sugar levels are optimal when they are monotone. This means that there should be no spike or drop. Whenever a child takes in food with high sugar, a spike occurs due to the introduction of artificial sugar. When this happens, the body wastes resources in trying to normalize this. This will cause them to be sluggish during the day. If their blood sugar levels are balanced all throughout, the child remains alert all day which is a big help especially if he has already started school.

Dental Problems

One of the most visible effects of sugar in kids is tooth decay. As soon as you reduce your child’s sugar intake, you protect him from troubling dental problems such as cavities and the like.

Now comes the hard part. How do we accomplish this with our kids? Parents can start out by talking to their kids calmly about the effects of too much sugar in their bodies. It would help if visual aids were employed. Showing them what happens to decay teeth could change their mind.

If they are persistent, you may need to slowly alter your grocery list. Try starting with the juice. Kids love juice and won’t know the difference between powdered juice and freshly squeezed juice. Just be careful enough to dispose of the pulp so that they are fooled. If the child is open enough to it, let him pick the fruit that is to be made into juice.

The next step is to reduce the number of candies he eats. You can usually replace candies with slightly less sugary items like raisins or cookies.

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