Nutrition News

Nutrition News: Halloween is Sweet!
By Dr. Craig Bentham

Every year kids get ready for the tradition of dressing up and going “trick or treating”. Unfortunately, in today’s world, tricks are out and treats are in. On average, every Halloween, children consume 5 pounds of candy over a one week period... promoting their sugar addictions! With the growing concern of diabetes and obesity in children today, it raises a concern for parents who want to support the fun of Halloween, but not the surge of sugar. It is not that I am suggesting preventing your child from enjoying the festivities; however, I am writing this article to encourage parents to monitor their children’s sugar intake.

Adults consume approximately 150 pounds of sugar per year; however, kids consume over 180 pounds per year! Since the cascade sugar effect has already been linked to obesity and diabetes, is it any wonder why 2/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 are obese (please refer to the article “What Should our Children be Eating”). What used to be called “adult onset diabetes” has now been named “juvenile onset diabetes” because of the growing number of children developing this deadly disease. The statistics speak for themselves; unfortunately our children’s sugar habits have been developed from long ago and may be hard to break. There are some recommendations for kicking your child’s sugar habits.

Stopping the Sugar In 3 Steps

1. If you are going to give sweets this Halloween, make sure it’s after a meal rich in protein. At breakfast, skip the sugary cereals and try oats or granola. When making lunches, start substituting whole grain bread for white bread. Instead of regular sodas and concentrated juices, try diluting with water or sparkling water. This will begin to stabilize the glucose-insulin roller coaster.
   
   
2. After the reduction of starchy simple sugars, and once the glucose-insulin blood rhythm stabilizes, the child’s cravings for sugars will start to dissipate. This is the time to introduce more high fiber foods like green vegetables and healthy sources of protein. Also, leave out the sweets, chips and candy bars during lunch and skip dessert after dinner.
   
   
3. The final step in helping kick the sugar habit is with the help of chromium supplementation. According to the Journal of Nutrition and Biochemistry, 1999, chromium picolinate has been shown to naturally lower insulin levels. Since insulin is an effective fat storage hormone, lowering insulin can help fight obesity and diabetes in children.

In the spirit of Halloween, I have directed this article toward children; however this information is equally applicable to adults. Remember that if you or your children are still having sugar cravings or a sugar rebound, it may be that you are deficient in certain nutrients. The following is a chart outlining some common nutrient deficiencies and the foods they may be found in.

All of the above nutrients have been linked to sugar cravings and making sure your diet has a balance of these nutrients may make the difference in your child and your family kicking the sugar habit. The best way to determine which nutrients your body may be deficient in is to evaluate which of the above foods are substantially lacking from your family’s diet.

The process of weaning our children off sugar should be tackled as early as possible. While most children are able to overcome their physical addictions, later in life we have a harder time overcoming our emotional addictions to sugar. Although many parents have allowed their children to eat 5 pieces of candy per day until it is all gone, a much better approach is to limit the number of days that your children have to consume their treats. In this way, you are able to minimize the unhealthy effects of the insulin-glucose roller coaster. Use Halloween as a holiday to remind our children that some candy is okay, but overindulgence is not. We wish you a very safe and happy Halloween!