The Truth About Fizzy Coke...

I saw this video a week ago and was horrified. Is this really what we want to feed our children on a regular basis? 

A Russian scientist boils down one 1 500ml bottle of fizzy coke and this was the result...

Not only is it packed full of sugar (or artificial sweeteners in the case of zero or light drinks) it also contains phosphoric acid. Something useful to clean coins and blocked drain pipes...maybe not so great for a sensitive child's digestive system. 

What do you think?

Food Types

What should we be feeding our children?

Here are a few essential food types to be included in children’s diets for overall health and well being…

Complex Carbohydrates: Help nourish the nervous system, strengthen the brain, stabilise blood sugar levels and provide long lasting energy. Essential for studying school children.

Examples are…wholegrain brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, rye, barley and wholegrain oats.

Fats and Oils: Good quality fats and oils are essential for overall health, helping to keep joints supple, provide insulation and protection around vital organs as well as improving brain function. Good quality fats and oils provide nourishment and warmth to the body especially during winter months and colder climates.

Examples are…omega oils found in oily fish, as well as nuts and seeds.

Vitamins: Found in fresh fruit and vegetables. Green vegetables that have been lightly cooked for 3-4 minutes retaining the rich green colour have large amounts of chlorophyll and vitamins essential for overall health and healthy liver function. Light, freshly cooked vegetables help to bring balance to the body when consumed alongside cooked proteins especially during the spring and summer months and warmer climates.

Examples are…broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, spring greens, and green beans.

Minerals: One of the food groups with the highest amount of minerals is sea vegetables. Widely consumed for centuries in Asia where some of the lowest osteoporosis levels in the world are found. Minerals are essential for bone growth and creating good quality blood. This helps to strengthen and nourish the body, especially during winter months and colder climates.

Examples are…sea vegetables such as Wakame, Dulse, Kombu and sea salt.

Protein: The building blocks of the body. Essential for growing children to help build body mass, strong muscles. This provides nourishment, helping to feel fuller and satisfied for longer, helping to reduce some food cravings.

Examples are…eggs, fish, vegetable proteins such as tofu and beans.

Natural Sugars: Sweet foods needn’t be sugary sweets or deserts. Naturally sweet vegetables can help relax the body and nourish the spleen and pancreas. Root and round vegetables strengthen and ground the body providing ´roots´ which are often much needed in hectic modern lifestyles.

Examples are…sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin.

 

Homemade Lemonade!

Due to a Lemonade flash mob with Good Vibrations Barcelona I found myself in the kitchen full of lemons, lemon juice, lemon zest making up batches of homemade lemonade mmmm!

 

Very easy to make and wonderfully refreshing drink for the summer, especially for picnics, BBQ's and children's parties. Simply take a 1.5l bottle of water and empty the water into a saucepan or container to use later on. Add the juice of 5-6 lemons and the zest of half a lemon, water and agave syrup to taste (roughly 1/2 a cup), place the lid on the bottle and shake well. Before serving, use a strainer to remove the lemon zest. Can be enjoyed as it is, chilled or with some added mint leaves for an added extra.

 

Enjoy and do let me know how your kids respond to this recipe, especially in comparison to Lemonade with sugar. Notice what is different with their behaviour...

(For more health details on sugar see the post on this blog´A spoonful of sugar...´)

100% Fruit Juice

Fruit juices are great for making home made ice lollies and children will love this refreshing treat in the summer. Choose 100% pure fruit juice if you can, without any added sweeteners or sugar (see previous post on this blog ´A spoonful of sugar...´ for more information about the side effects of sugar). Fruit juice is also prefered to squash as quite often squash is full of refined sugars and artificial sweetners.

 

You can use orange juice, peach juice, apple juice, apple and blackcurrant juice...the list is endless. Simply pour the juice into ice lolly moulds and freeze!

 

YUM!

Video: The Real Bears

Fizzy Drinks: Great video for both kids and parents

Fizzy Drinks

Fizzy Drinks are very popular with children and teenagers, however with so many different types widely available on the market it can be easy to forget the serious health concerns related to fizzy drinks.

So what is actually in fizzy drinks?
Leading brands (especially Cola drinks) often contain the following...


SUGAR

• Not only can refined sugars increase hyperactivity in children it can also bring extreme highs and lows of emotions, behaviour and blood sugar levels. This can affect children's concentration in school and can lead to the development of diseases such as diabetes.
• Sugar can affect the gums and teeth of growing children.
• Excess sugar can produce acidic blood in the body which leads the body to search for minerals from the bones in order to balance the blood to keep the body functioning normally.
• See a previous post on this blog 'A Spoonful Of Sugar' for more details about the side effects of consuming refined sugar.

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

• Do not be fooled by the 'zero' sugar label of products on the market - always read the label as artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame (E951) and Sorbitol (E420) are just as harmful.
• They are artificially produced and difficult for the body to deal with.
• They have been linked with MS, muscle spasms, weight gain, cancer risk, lowered immune system etc.

PHOSPHORIC ACID

• Phosphoric acid is a corrosive chemical and it is widely used in Cola drinks.
• Excess consumption of fizzy drinks containing this can lead to pains, digestive problems, blurred vision, difficulties in swallowing and breathing, increased risks of cancer etc.
• Ever wondered why people sometimes use Cola drinks to unblock drain pipes? Is this really the best quality drink we can give our children when there bodies and digestive systems are growing into maturity?
• This also effects teeth and bones just like excess sugar can, affecting the enamel on teeth and creating an acidic blood where the body needs to find minerals from the bones in order to be able to continue functioning normally.

You will probably be pleased to know that there are plenty of healthy, delicious Cola (and other popular flavoured fizzy drinks) alternatives from health food shops and some large supermarkets which are naturally sweetened with agave syrup or corn syrup, without artificial sweeteners or added refined sugars and most importantly no phosphoric acid.

Sweet Potato and Apple Cake

This is my adapted version of a recipe from a large Health Food store. It is very easy to make this rich, moist and delicious cake...and there is no added sugar, gluten, wheat, or dairy.

Get children involved - they will love making this!

Check out the recipe section of this blog for the recipe. YUM!

What More sweet Treats?!

I tend to use carob more than chocolate for children's recipes as quite often with the sugar and caffeine found in chocolate they can become very hyper. I am not saying that chocolate should be banned completely - just be aware of the effects. Try it for yourself and see! 

Why make life more stressful for yourself this Christmas? And why not give them an alternative which is healthier for them in the long run?

For these carob chunks all you need is 1-2 large bars of carob (naturally sweetened with no added sugar), some chopped nuts and dried fruit such as raisins, rice syrup, orange rind and cinnamon.

• Break the carob bar/s into chunks and place in a glass dish. Place this dish in a saucepan with simmering hot water and continue to simmer until the carob has completely melted.
• Caramelise the nuts in a pan with the syrup, cinnamon and orange rind (1 minute in the pan is plenty) set aside to cool and harden.
• Lightly grease a dish with a small amount of olive oil, pour in the carob and then start placing the caramelised nuts and dried fruit on top. Gently press ensuring that they are all pressed into the carob.
• Leave to cool (cools best in the fridge) and then remove from the dish and cut into chunks.
• If you have difficulty removing the carob from the dish you can use grease proof paper before hand or turn the dish upside down (with a plate underneath to catch the carob) and gently pour a little hot water onto the base of the dish - this will melt a little of the carob helping it to slide out easily.

Children with supervision can help chopping the nuts with a child safe knife and gently pressing the nuts into the carob.

Perfect Christmas treat for all the family. Even the fussy ones!

A spoonful of sugar...

Refined sugar has become one of the most widely used substances in the modern day diet. It is added to virtually everything from the usual cakes, chocolates, sweets, fizzy drinks as well as being hidden in many other products such as bread, baked beans, sauces, crisps etc - yes even savoury foods contain sugar!

Have a little read of labels when you are next in the supermarket -

more than half of breakfast cereals contain between 25%-70% sugar (especially children's brands!) Don't be fooled by the added vitamins and minerals that make the cereal seem healthy!

(There are plenty of good sugar free, natural cereals available)

So what is wrong with sugar anyway? As with anything, we all have free will, however being aware of the affects that each food gives us we can then choose what is best for us in in the moment as well as long term. Once we know and notice how a particular food can harm our health, most tend to opt for a healthier alternative.

If you find you or your children are craving the sugary stuff, try increasing the natural sweetness within main meals. Use more root and round veg roasted in the oven, mashed, in creamy soups, nourishing stews - sweet potatoes, pumpkin and carrot are perfect for this. Avoiding excessive consumption of salty foods such as meat, cheese, crisps and added raw salt will help to reduce this sugar craving too.

A few points about refined sugar...

• The extreme refinement and concentration of sugar is difficult for the body to cope with.
• It is known as empty calories with no nutritional value.
• Excessive consumption can give a roller coaster feeling which can also affect emotions, giving a quick sugar rush (when kids become hyper) with a big low afterwards (when children become tired and cranky) and this doesn't just affect children!
• Sugar consumption creates acidic blood. Regulars to this blog will know that we need a slightly alkaline pH level of the blood to function properly, if the blood is too acidic the body rebalances itself by using minerals from the bones to balance the blood - not good if you want healthy bones!
• It is harmful to teeth, which can lead to rotting, the need for fillings and other problems.
• After consuming 100g the body's pulse and blood pressure increases just after 15minutes.
• Sugar can become addictive.
• It tires the Liver, Spleen and Pancreas that all help to keep blood sugar levels stable within the body.
• Excessive consumption can produce diabetes and obesity.
• It can reduce the body's natural defence's and feed bacteria.
• With the extreme energy highs and lows that come with sugar, this can increase the chances of depression, anxiety, and concentration levels - not good for school children!

...and the list goes on.

With so many artificial sweeteners (which are just as harmful), syrups, honey, raw cane sugar, fructose etc things can get a little confusing when looking for an alternative.

So what do I recommend as an alternative? Sweet and simple, syrups made from whole grains...corn and barley malt, rice syrup etc 100% natural and delicious and because they derive from whole grains they will not give the same extreme highs and lows as sugar can.

Try it out, see the difference when you and your family consume sugar vs rice syrup.


Disclaimer: If you haven't done so already check out my disclaimer on the Welcome page.



Getting into the spirit

Whether you are one of those people who is relishing in all the festivities or one of those who trying to ignore everything until the 24th December, without a doubt Christmas day is approaching fast!

I found myself wrapping a few presents last night (one of my favourite things!) and was thinking about Christmas food alternatives for this blog. Its a day usually filled with many sweet treats often containing lots of refined sugar, which we all know tends to leave the kids hyper, parents exhausted and a quite a lot of chaos in the family home (more information about refined sugar will be posted shortly).

Here I want to offer some alternatives, easy to make treats that children will love helping with the preparation. This gives the family some bonding time, fun in the kitchen and best of all, some yummy goodies to eat in the end!

Recipes coming soon...

Yum Yum Yum

Add some fun in the kitchen and get your children involved!

Why not melt a few spoons of carob spread with a little water and your children can dip strawberries or other fruit into the delicious sauce. Carob spread (naturally sweetened versions available) can be found in health food shops and is great if you find your children become hyper with regular chocolate, as unlike chocolate it does not contain any stimulants.

YUM!