Do you know how much sugar you are eating every day? Every week?  And why should you care?  I will share a true story with you – which I wouldn’t have believed but I saw it happen with my own eyes!  I was hosting a craft workshop in my home and one of the participants had brought along her 10 month old baby.  The baby was crying like something not normal, and the woman asked if she could make a bottle for her baby in my kitchen.  So I said, “Sure, no problem.” I showed her where everything was in the kitchen.  She took the bottle, and put in it two scoops of baby formula and two scoops of SUGAR!  She shook it up with the water and gave it to her baby!  I would never have believed that a mother could do that – but I saw it with my own eyes!  I’m pretty sure that baby was hooked on sugar, with sugar-highs and sugar-lows and all the mood swings that go with it.

Some of us grew up with sugar laden foods being freely available and some of us with less, everyone has their own experiences and relationship with sugar.  Most people think of sugar as a normal food, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Parents all over the world are concerned about how much sugar their kids are getting – setting guidelines for their kids at home and at school.  But here in Israel I see that most parents have no clue about how bad sugar is, and if only they knew, they wouldn’t be handing it out so freely.

Looking back, historically, sugar used to be very expensive, a luxury, that only nobility and the very wealthy could afford.  This group of people were the first to suffer from diabetes and tooth decay.  Regular, hard working people couldn’t afford sugar – and diabetes was uncommon for them.  Having a bigger figure used to be a sign of wealth.   Towards the end of the 1800’s sugar became much more affordable, and throughout the 1900’s the rate of sugar consumption continued to increase.  During this entire time powerful sugar lobbies did everything they could to hide the damaging information showing how dangerous sugar is to the human body.

Scientists now believe that sugar is responsible for (or the main contributor for) a host of physiological conditions, including diabetes type 2, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, kidney failure and Alzheimer’s disease.  All the so-called lifestyle diseases.  These are diseases that are unheard of in populations that don’t consume sugar.  Research has shown that sugar is addictive and is more addictive than cocaine.  Diabetes is something that anyone can get – it doesn’t have to run in your family for you to get it, although some people are more prone.

A person needs to do everything they can to take care of the incredible and complex body that Hashem has given them – so I personally am not interested in damaging it with sugar rich foods.  So how do we know how much sugar we are consuming? The most obvious foods that people think sugar is in is candy, sugar in your coffee, cakes, cookies and ice cream.  However, there is hidden sugar in many packaged foods such as salad dressings, crackers, breakfast cereals, pasta sauce, yogurts, soup powders, gefilte fish, ready-made dips etc. 

I saw a new product in my supermarket last week – a bottled sauce that could be made up in 5 different ways.  All you have to do is add in real ingredients to make it into the sauce of your choosing.  I read the ingredient list – it had 4 different types of sugars, salt and flavourings!  If I want to add sugar and salt to my food I can do that without the fancy packaging!  It was just an easy way for them to make money from cheap ingredients.  Be aware of ‘food’ products that are really just money making cons.

Anyone who wants to improve their sugar intake can do any of the following actions:

• Keep a sugar-journal – every day write down any foods that you eat that contain sugar, this will help you discover where your sugar intake is coming from.
• Read ingredient labels, and know what all the different names for sugar are.
• When making your own cakes and cookies, cut down on the sugar quantity by a half or a third, it will still be sweet.
• Eat fruit, as opposed to candy and cookies, for a sweet treat.
• Try to make your own home-made foods so you know you are not getting added hidden sugars e.g. you can make your own ice-pops from freshly squeezed fruit juice, or from fruit smoothies.
• Give out cheap toys, stationary or stickers instead of candy, for prizes and rewards.
• Cut down on the amount of sugar in your tea/coffee gradually, so you get used to the taste.
• Find alternative sugar-free recipes for favorite dishes.
• Get used to drinking water as your main drink, reduce the amount of soft drinks and sweetened juice drinks that you drink.

Do you know how much sugar you are eating every day? Every week?  And why should you care?  I will share a true story with you – which I wouldn’t have believed but I saw it happen with my own eyes!  I was hosting a craft workshop in my home and one of the participants had brought along her 10 month old baby.  The baby was crying like something not normal, and the woman asked if she could make a bottle for her baby in my kitchen.  So I said, “Sure, no problem.” I showed her where everything was in the kitchen.  She took the bottle, and put in it two scoops of baby formula and two scoops of SUGAR!  She shook it up with the water and gave it to her baby!  I would never have believed that a mother could do that – but I saw it with my own eyes!  I’m pretty sure that baby was hooked on sugar, with sugar-highs and sugar-lows and all the mood swings that go with it.

Some of us grew up with sugar laden foods being freely available and some of us with less, everyone has their own experiences and relationship with sugar.  Most people think of sugar as a normal food, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Parents all over the world are concerned about how much sugar their kids are getting – setting guidelines for their kids at home and at school.  But here in Israel I see that most parents have no clue about how bad sugar is, and if only they knew, they wouldn’t be handing it out so freely.

Looking back, historically, sugar used to be very expensive, a luxury, that only nobility and the very wealthy could afford.  This group of people were the first to suffer from diabetes and tooth decay.  Regular, hard working people couldn’t afford sugar – and diabetes was uncommon for them.  Having a bigger figure used to be a sign of wealth.   Towards the end of the 1800’s sugar became much more affordable, and throughout the 1900’s the rate of sugar consumption continued to increase.  During this entire time powerful sugar lobbies did everything they could to hide the damaging information showing how dangerous sugar is to the human body.

Scientists now believe that sugar is responsible for (or the main contributor for) a host of physiological conditions, including diabetes type 2, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, kidney failure and Alzheimer’s disease.  All the so-called lifestyle diseases.  These are diseases that are unheard of in populations that don’t consume sugar.  Research has shown that sugar is addictive and is more addictive than cocaine.  Diabetes is something that anyone can get – it doesn’t have to run in your family for you to get it, although some people are more prone.

A person needs to do everything they can to take care of the incredible and complex body that Hashem has given them – so I personally am not interested in damaging it with sugar rich foods.  So how do we know how much sugar we are consuming? The most obvious foods that people think sugar is in is candy, sugar in your coffee, cakes, cookies and ice cream.  However, there is hidden sugar in many packaged foods such as salad dressings, crackers, breakfast cereals, pasta sauce, yogurts, soup powders, gefilte fish, ready-made dips etc. 

I saw a new product in my supermarket last week – a bottled sauce that could be made up in 5 different ways.  All you have to do is add in real ingredients to make it into the sauce of your choosing.  I read the ingredient list – it had 4 different types of sugars, salt and flavourings!  If I want to add sugar and salt to my food I can do that without the fancy packaging!  It was just an easy way for them to make money from cheap ingredients.  Be aware of ‘food’ products that are really just money making cons.

Anyone who wants to improve their sugar intake can do any of the following actions:

• Keep a sugar-journal – every day write down any foods that you eat that contain sugar, this will help you discover where your sugar intake is coming from.
• Read ingredient labels, and know what all the different names for sugar are.
• When making your own cakes and cookies, cut down on the sugar quantity by a half or a third, it will still be sweet.
• Eat fruit, as opposed to candy and cookies, for a sweet treat.
• Try to make your own home-made foods so you know you are not getting added hidden sugars e.g. you can make your own ice-pops from freshly squeezed fruit juice, or from fruit smoothies.
• Give out cheap toys, stationary or stickers instead of candy, for prizes and rewards.
• Cut down on the amount of sugar in your tea/coffee gradually, so you get used to the taste.
• Find alternative sugar-free recipes for favorite dishes.
• Get used to drinking water as your main drink, reduce the amount of soft drinks and sweetened juice drinks that you drink.