Sugar-proofing is as simple as following these 10 steps:
- Spot the hidden SUGAR - Look for the carbohydrate count on the label, subtract dietary fiber and divide the sum by 4, this exposes the number of teaspoons of sugar you are consuming.
- Understand how to read labels.
- Get your children involved. Teach them how to "see" the sugar by reading the label on that box of cereal, do the "sugar spoon math" and grab the sugar bowl and a teaspoon. Gross them out by spooning out the 15-20 teaspoons of sugar out of the sugar bowl into their cereal bowl, then have them assist you preparing a sugar free breakfast.
- Act immediately.
- Remove all of the foods and drinks that metabolize into blood sugar - Products with labels are easy to spot, simply follow the rule on spotting hidden sugar. Other foods such as unlabeled breads, bulk grains and high sugar fruits and veggies require the parent to learn the "good" from the "bad" these are things I teach along with spotting sugar and replacing high sugar foods with low sugar replacements. Blood sugar metabolizes from three sources:
>> Refined added sugars from all sources including high fructose corn syrup, granular sugar refined fructose etc....
>> Natural fructose found in every fruit, however some are much lower than others.
>> Starch from grains, hard beans and starchy veggies including most root veggies and hard squash.
- Prepare your family meals
- Replace the foods that metabolize into sugar with foods that don't
- Organize a Sugar-Proof gang
- Offer your help in teaching others what you've learned
- Forget everything you've been taught
- Kasha - Billed as the food of the Gods, barley or buckwheat kasha may as well have a skull and crossbones on the box. One cup of cooked kasha metabolizes into the equivalent amount of blood sugar as 32 teaspoons of table sugar.
- Raisins - Those little raisins in your cereal box, your granola bag or your trail mix are a huge source of hidden sugar. Eating one cup of raisins metabolizes into the blood sugar equivalent of 26 teaspoons of table sugar.
- Bran Cereals - Watch TV in the morning and you see lots of commercials for "healthy" cereals. All cereals metabolize into glucose. Two cups of Cracklin Oat Bran for example metabolizes into the equivalent amount of blood sugar as 20 teaspoons of table sugar.
- Brown Rice - 1 cup = 16 teaspoons of sugar.
- Whole Wheat Pasta - Despite all the whole grain hype, 1 cup = 13 teaspoons of sugar.
- Millet - Called the 6th most important grain in the world, 1 cup of metabolizes into 13 teaspoons of sugar.
- Whole Grain Bread - 2 slices metabolize into the blood sugar equivalent of 8 teaspoons of table sugar.
- Fruit Smoothies - All the rage over the past couple of years, smoothie bars are popping up everywhere. Health conscious patrons flock in to get their daily 5 fruit servings. But your average 8 oz fruit smoothie metabolizes into the equivalent amount of blood sugar of 8 teaspoons of table sugar.
- Energy Bars - Many energy bars are simply candy bars in a "healthy" wrapper. Take Nature Valley crunchy granola bars for example. Moms are putting these "healthy" snacks in kids lunch boxes by the millions, most not realizing they are giving their kids 8 teaspoons of sugar per bar!
- Fruit Yogurt - Pitched as the wonder food for dieters, most yogurt is pure sugar! 4 oz of Dannon fruit on the bottom yogurt metabolizes into almost 5 teaspoons of sugar.
By: Doug Varrieur
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>> Website: http://www.fattoskinny.com
More tips:
- Read every label - until you know the information like the back of your hand. Once you start looking at how much sugar is there, you will be astounded. For instance, it is not unusual to find sugar grams at double digits per serving in "healthy" whole grain cereals, snacks and drinks. An 8-ounce glass of apple juice has 25 grams of sugar! Is it any surprise our kids are fat and getting fatter all the time? Once you start reading food labels and avoiding sugar, picking the right products soon becomes second nature. Be sure to include your children in the learning process.
- Teaching your child that eating a bowl of bran flakes with raisins is the same as eating 15 teaspoons of sugar right from the sugar bowl creates what I call the Gross Factor. Kids always react with the same disgust when they visualize eating 15 teaspoons of table sugar from the sugar bowl.
- The way to start Sugar-Proofing is to remove all the foods and beverages from your home - not only those that contain processed sugar but also those that metabolize into blood sugar. The simple way to recognize those is to look for carbohydrates. All foods containing carbohydrates change, gram for gram, into glucose (blood sugar) in the body. Too much glucose and you get fat, or worse, you get fat and develop type 2 diabetes.
So how do you get rid of all those sugary, carbohydrate-loaded foods already in your kitchen? Take back what you can, donate to food banks, throw open stuff away and clear the playing field. It's time to start Sugar-Proofing!
- Cooking will become a part of your life so learn to enjoy it. Kids today have learned to microwave quick meals full of sugar. Micro mac and cheese, hot pockets and pizza are leading the way to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Preparing your family meals gives YOU full control over what foods your children eat in your home. It also allows you to prepare snack trays with the leftovers giving your children easy access to quick healthy snacks. By replacing all those sugar-laden foods with healthy alternatives you're well on your way to Sugar-Proofing.
It's very important to have replacement foods at hand for all the kids' favorites. Creating new taste buds and eating habits is easy when you have the right products. Learn what products to buy and where to get them, and then stock up! You can buy or make sugar-free replacements for everything including pasta, cakes, cookies, cereals, sweets and side dishes if you know where to look and how to read labels. But what about outside the home? How do you keep your child on track when they're out of sight? Simple! Organize a Sugar-Proof gang. Get the parents of your child's friends together and join forces. With all the parents on board, peer pressure to eat the proper foods becomes a good thing.
- Eating habits during events such as birthdays, church outings, sleepovers and many others can all be improved if you step up to help Sugar-Proof your kids. You'll know the recipes that replace the high sugar foods. You'll know how to read labels, buy the proper foods and serve low-sugar snacks. Instead of letting your child walk into a lion's den, take control. Become part of the event by offering suggestions, recipes, covered dishes and snacks. You will not only insure your child has a good time with healthy foods to eat - you will also be teaching others the dangers of hidden sugar.
- Finally, forget everything you've been taught. Our children's health is in the worst shape in history. Never before have we as a nation seen the high levels of obesity and associated diseases that we do today. This upcoming generation of children, our children, are projected to live a shorter life span than their parents.
Don't let this statistic affect your family, forget what you've learned and reeducate yourself and your family, Sugar-Proof your children today.
Doug is not a doctor or nutritionist. He's an inquisitive entrepreneur with a big heart for people who are overweight just as he was for many years. He developed Fat To Skinny on his own, independent of those other low-carb diets, out of his drive to win his own battle with diabetes. Using these principles, Doug at age 46 lost more than 100 pounds, went from a size 48 to 32 waist and reversed his type 2 diabetes. He has kept the fat off and stayed fit for almost eight years since then. Doug's regular guy appeal allows him to present information in a simple, easy-to-understand way in Fat to Skinny that makes sense to everyone struggling to lose pounds. In a world of confusing and often conflicting diet messages, he believes simplicity is the key to his ability to reach people and save lives. Doug has developed a complete lifestyle change which replaces all the foods that contain hidden sugar with comparable foods that don't contain this ingredient linked to creating fat in our bodies.
