Hey beautiful, I am PUMPED to write this article for you all about going sugar free with kids, easily and without as massive a struggle.
In this article, I’ll teach you how to:
- make going sugar free with kids less shocking (so they don’t resist it as massively)
- understand the craving so you can prevent it naturally, and
- give you some recipes so you know how to keep it at bay
First, it’s important to know that sugar is super-addictive, which is where the struggle can come from when you try to go sugar free with kids:
It’s also important to know it’s not your angel that’s asking for sugar, but their gut bacteria, brain and mood.
There was a study that really highlighted this to me: they placed a bowl of sugar in rats cages, and a bowl of traditional rat food. They added an electrical device to the animal, and every time it went for the sugar, they gave them a shock.
Gradually, they increased the shock they gave the rat. When it went to its own food, they didn’t shock, when it went for sugar, they did.
What was outstanding and really highlights to me why kids can be SO insistent on JUST wanting sugar, was that no matter how big the shock was, the rat kept going back for sugar. Even though his other food was right there, and even though they never got shocked when they ate their ‘real’ food.
It’s also really important to understand the cycle of what happens when you ingest sugar:
Keep in mind as a kid, you’re just piecing together cause and effect, but you’re living SO enjoyably (or crankily) in the moment, for the moment, that you don’t yet build up things like self-control or a logical, remembered reason why not to eat something, like we have as adults (or try to have <3 )
So. Sugar pops into the body. The brain gets a SPIKE of mental energy and focus. The mood gets improved. Maybe hyperness happens, which is SO fun for the kid!
Bad gut bacteria are also having a ball; they’re being fed directly, and pretty soon they’ll be able to out-grow the good bacteria in the gut; eventually digestion will become wonky and gas and bloating may become issues, but again. That’s probably funny when you’re a kid (depending on the child), and they don’t tend to see things in: I ate sugar, now I’m gassy logic.
After a little while, faster if they’re running around all over the place burning up the sugar, their bodies will crave more sugar. Their gut bacteria (the bad guys, at least) are saying: FEEEEEED ME!! KEEP ME ALIVE!!!
And their brain is saying, “It’s GOOFY/MISBEHAVING timeeeeee!!!” because they’ve lost their stream of energy that went straight to the brain.
It’s the same as an adult who experiences an afternoon crash.
As a kid, you haven’t insulted this cycle for long enough to burn out like that, and you don’t have the self-control to NOT do the things adults would prevent themselves from doing (meltdowns, temper tantrums, kicking, hitting, etc).
But the mechanism is the same. And when you understand that’s how they’re feeling, even for a split second, it can give you understanding as to why they’re being SO aggressive as to NEEDING more sugar NOW!
Their bodies are smart, and their bodies have learned that sugar is the fastest way to get energy again, which feels good.
So. All those pieces of information and understanding in place, now it’s your time to do something about it, and break the cycle.
It depends on you and your family, your personal health desires and so on as to your next steps, but:
Here are a few tips for going sugar free with kids (or lowering cravings) easily:
1. Start the day with some kind of whole grain, lentil or bean. I’m not talking whole grain bread, which is more rapidly absorbed in the body because it usually has white flour in it, I’m talking whole grains, like quinoa, brown rice and the like.
It’s important to note that even if your whole grain bread doesn’t have white flour anywhere on the ingredients list, even just the process of grinding and making bread over eating the whole grain makes it hit your blood stream faster (slower than sugar, but like sugar).
Why does this make going sugar free with kids easier?
You’re giving them slow-digesting carbs, which give off little streams of sugar consistently throughout the day instead of one big dose all at once. That keeps their mood balanced and their energy levels stable, and it means they don’t get a crash where their bodies are yelling for sugar NOW!
In addition, here are some other benefits to breakfasts like these:
1. You’re home-making them which is always healthier than store-bought
2. You’re in control of how much sugar and what kind is added to them, and
3. You’re cutting out the risk of preservatives, flavours, colouring and other additives that can cause behavioral issues (and how crappy to start the day with them!)
Here are a few great breakfast options that will prevent intense cravings later in the day, making going sugar free with kids EASY! Try them out:
- Quinoa porridge (I always liked brown sugar maple so this one with almond milk looks awesome)
- a rolled oat granola that’s home-made with limited and natural sweeteners, or
- red lentil patties that taste a bit like hashbrowns (use regular paprika for hashbrown taste, smoked paprika if you know your kids will like it)
Blood sugar levels are set up in large part at the beginning of the day, with breakfast, which means if you do it right, less cravings throughout the rest of the day. And if they start their day on mega-sweets and no complex carbs, they’re up and all over craving sweets like CRAZY.
That’s part of why a great breakfast is SO important!
How to make going sugar free with kids EASY:
Now, as far as kids go, what’s important to note is that while you yourself may be totally gung-ho and want to change everything all at once, that can be quite a shock to the child, and they may just become more aggressive with wanting back their candy and sweets if you try to change everything at once.
So starting by making, let’s say, your own granola with their help (when they’re included they *tend* to be more willing to at least try, if not love their next meal) can be super-helpful. If the recipe calls for let’s say 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, start with that.
And then slowly by slowly, batch by batch, lower the sweetener by a tbsp. or so each time, so that you’re gently adjusting their taste buds.
Next up would be making your own sweets, and giving up store-bought completely.
What if your partner/spouse LOVES their sweets and won’t give them up when you’re going sugar free with kids?
Sometimes I hear Mama’s say their spouses won’t do x and that’s why they can’t.
In this case, see if you can get your partner to hide their sweets – if they feel they NEED them – in a bedroom closet or way up high, and to be mindful of not eating them in front of your little, or at a time when your little one will smell it. (Side-note: how can kids smell chocolate from SO far away?!)
Use recipes for cookies (ohmygosh! These look amazing) with cleaner ingredients; wholesome gluten-free flour blends if you can, and date paste, coconut sugar or pure maple syrup or bananas as the main sweeteners. Again, slowly lowering the amount of sweetener in them.
What you can expect when YOU go sugar free with kids:
It’s amazing when you do this, how eventually your taste buds will shift enough EVEN if you were a MASSIVE sugar-craver before, that you’ll start finding store-bought sweets WAY too sweet, and you’ll suddenly not find yourself not eating a full box anymore. If that’s ever happened 😉
Snacking often and making recipes that have a mix of whole grains, beans or lentils continues to give little bits of broken down sugar at a time, which is your brain’s favourite way to get fuelled.
If you can make it through breakfast one day with one of those foods and no sweets before, be happy and proud of the change.
This kind of switch is TRULY about progress, not perfection.
Maybe the next day you can home-make healthier granola bars and then make it through breakfast and granola bar before having sweets, and so on.
They WILL want sweets. There MAY be lots of crying and frustration. That IS normal. It WILL be a shift.
But the strategies above can really help to diminish them. And if you keep strong, keep trying, keep moving, and decide ahead of time when you’re okay to give them sweets throughout the first few days of this shift (so that they don’t get the idea if they just ask forever eventually Mum/Dad will cave), it can make the transition a lot smoother.
If you loved this and tips like it, I’d love you to join me in my Facebook group The Glow Doers.
And lastly, sometimes while this shift is happening, and beyond if it’s really enjoyable for all involved, get their help in meal planning or choosing the meal for that night, or being involved in it. Beyond the physical craving for sugar, sometimes it feels good to buckle down on what we feel we NEED, if we’re not feeling like we’re in very much control as is.
It’s pretty easy for kids to feel this way, so including them with foods in ways that works for the family can be helpful if it’s in part a control stand-off that’s popping up as a sugar craving.
Sending love! <3
Nathalie
Holistic Nutritionist
End note: this was written in response to a question from an awesome Mama who said her little one was demanding sweets ALL the time and that it was getting out of control. So I’m talking more about eliminating those extreme sugar cravings and cooking and baking with healthier options, more than completely eliminating sugar all together.
