"Sugar" is pretty much a swear word in our home, to actually eat it is akin to invoking the dark forces of the universe to reside within... Ok, so it's not quite THAT drastic, but you get the picture.Our family has not always held this view, nor were we always as healthy or vibrant ~ Between us we were dealing with Psoriasis, Eczema, Weight Gain, Asthma, Congestion, Candida, Lethargy, Brain Fog, Behavioural Issues and a basic lack of passion for life...
Then, as a team we QUIT SUGAR & within 3 months we had collectively lost over 30 kilo's returning to our optimum weight & our health problems had improved 99%.
Most of all we felt like we had our lives back ~ we were living with our vital life force again!
Now this sugar free life intention is all very well and wonderful when you are in complete control of the shopping & cooking but can get more than a little complicated when it comes to living in the real world of social events, work lunches, birthday parties & preschool ~ Which brings me to my latest "Sugar Challenge"...
We adore the preschool our son attends, we love the environment, the rhythm & developmental principles of the centre and we appreciate the caring & dedicated staff ~ BUT ~ Sugar awareness is just not on their agenda & sometimes this is a bitter pill for me to swallow and often has me on the "anti sugar warpath" when between my "reminders" they "forget" how important an issue this is for our family.
Originally we loved their policy of the children's meals being cooked on premises by a qualified chef: "who takes all children's dietary needs into careful consideration" however we are discovering it is not always this simple!
I often find myself feeling exasperated with the fact that if your child has : Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Lactose, Peanut or Egg Intolerance's / Allergies this is taken very seriously and not "forgotten" but when it comes to sweet poison ~ it is not viewed as detrimental ENOUGH to warrant consistent vigilance.
I often find myself frustrated and even angry about the seemingly complete lack of consciousness regarding the effects this stuff has on little bodies... Our son in particular will be thrown into a long difficult fortnight of asthma attacks that involve sleepless nights, coughing fits and massive mucous build up leading to painful ear infections. NOT fun i tell you and it feels just as serious to us as a dairy or gluten intolerance feels to others.
How do we know it's sugar? through our own trials and errors with a parenting pattern that looks like this: Asthma attacks - going off sugar - getting better - no asthma - allowing sugar - sugar overload - asthma attacks - going off sugar - getting better - no asthma - sugar overload - asthma attacks... Need i say more?!
Now when I mention this to the preschool Chef and Centre Director they pretend to get it, they tell me: "we barely add any sugar in our recipes and we don't give them many sugary treats so it should be fine" Then I look on their menu ingredients and I see:
Milk, Cheese, Custard, Ice cream, Fruit Yogurt = overload of "Lactose" sugar right there in the so called "calcium requirements"
"Jam, Sorbet, Fruit = Fructose sugar in the "fruit requirements"
Crackers, Bread, White Rice, Pasta, Potato = High Carbs = sugar when broken down into the blood stream as glucose in the "complex carbohydrates and wholegrain requirements"
Now i won't even go into the "occassional treats like Piklets, Cake's, Slices, Biscuts etc or the "added" sugar used to preserve in the store brought products or that the chef contribution in her recipes. See where I'm going with this ~ How quickly the balance on the sugar scales can so easily tip over into "way too much"!
Their confusion is almost palpable when i start saying things like "please don't give him milk, custard or cheese, no he is not dairy intolerant, yes he can have pure yogurt, butter & cream because they have extremely low traces of lactose sugar..." blah blah blah. sometimes i feel like i need to write them a nutritional essay (maybe i should just show them this blog lol), provide them with a shopping list and a personally constructed recipe book (yes i do have one & i am only half joking about giving it to them)
Sometimes i just feel like throwing my hands in the air and saying sharp& self righteous things like "Please will you make the time and resources available for your chef to be adequately educated in feeding our precious children something other than tasty crap!"
But then i tap into my humility and remind myself of the real truth ~ I was once just as ignorant to the harmful side effects of even small amounts of sugar until very recently. It was only through illness, wise direction from unexpected sources, research and experimentation (falling on & off the waggon) that i have discovered anything resembling sugar education ~ With this awareness of my own journey, I take a deep breath, put a smile on my face and with compassion I very calmly, kindly remind our otherwise wonderful preschool staff of our sugar free preferences...
And i must say - even though they look confused themselves, look at me like I am an alien from another planet and just plain don't want the extra dietary hassle ~ they always do the best they can to accommodate us when they are gently informed of our reasons :)
With that said ~ Sometimes even we can't resist an Easter egg, Christmas pudding or a great Birthday cake occasionally - but "OCCASIONALLY" is the operative word... I would never make a successful fanatic, I am human and prone to weakness from time to time i must admit :)
Here are some interesting facts on why we try our best to live sugar free:
http://nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/
I would love to hear your food journey's when faced with the big bad "real world" and how you navigate your brick walls...
Eat Well Be Well :)
