Normalising sweets
Sugar and sweets have been highly demonised in our culture today, to the point that parents avoid sugary foods at all costs. We worry that our kids eat too much sugar, while kids just want more of it all the time. What I worried about is eliminating sweets only to see M at the next birthday party binging on all the candy and cake.
Sugar was first refined in Northern India sometime after the first AD. There are records that ancient Greeks and Romans considered sugar imported medicine, not as a food. From rarefied medicine in the east, sugar spread with the Arab expansion and the crusaders to conquer the west hemisphere. It got cheaper, more refined, and slowly started to be considered a public menace.
Sugar consumption has risen tremendously over the last 100 years and as bad news as this might be, I still believe that sugar, like salt, have a place in our diet and is good for us in small amounts (I will talk about salt and processed foods another time).
ABC Kids Listen has a great podcast for kids called Imagine This. It is a science podcast for the young and curious. We listened to every episode multiple times while driving M to daycare and back, and we even learnt a thing or two from it ourselves. They have one episode called: Why does my mouth like sugar but my body doesn't?. Its summary says:
We know sugar tastes great, but is it any good for us? It tastes delicious, so why can’t we have sugar all the time? In this episode, Dr Nij lets dietitian Jane Freeman inside for a closer look at how our bodies digest sugar.
Restricting sugar and sweets doesn't work. Whether we like it or not, M is going to come into contact with all foods sooner or later, including ones we prefer she did not eat. Instead of treating candy like it is kryptonite or trying to pretend that refined sugar does not exist, I prefer to help M develop a healthy relationship with sugar and sweets. If we avoid sugary sweets at all costs, it will just make M more likely to go overboard when she finally gets her hands on some. Instead, we teach M that sweets are occasional pleasures to enjoy in controlled doses.
Melbourne Child Development has a great article on how to help your children develop healthy relationships with sweets and sugary foods. Here's another article on how to approach sweets with our children. But if I have to summarise what we did over the past five years I would say:
We introduced veggies first before fruits or sweets.
We avoid/limit fruit juices and sugary drinks, especially before a meal — or M wouldn't eat her dinner.
We offer small helpings of sweets on a regular basis, usually at afternoon tea time or after a meal.
We have desserts after most dinners, which for example sometimes means fruit with yoghurt and honey, and sometimes one small chocolate cube.
On birthday parties, we give M almost free rein — because we all need some time away from the regular rules 🍫
Here are this week’s recipe suggestions for you to try:
One sheet pan honey mustard salmon with green beans — quick and hassle free
Andalusian gazpacho — since it is warming up in Australia, and it is pretty much summer in Israel. Super quick and refreshing for hot days
Honey and lemon marinated strawberries with basil and yoghurt — one of my favourite gluten free and fresh desserts
A punnet of strawberries quartered, or any other seasonal fruit you have on hand
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp runny honey
A handful of basil leaves
Greek yoghurt, to serve
How to?
In a bowl, whisk lime juice, honey, and basil.
Add strawberries to the bowl, cover and let the fruit marinate, up to one hour in room temperature.
Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Garnish with a couple more basil leaves.
A side note: you can replace yoghurt with crème fraîche, mascarpone, or whipped cream.
Our meal plan from last week can be found at: https://foodfamily.app/public/meal_plans/9c14dbcd-b6b9-4de2-b88b-0c310123ab95
Once again, please let us know if you make any of these recipes, how you found them, what you changed, or just drop us an email to say hi.
Thanks and see you next week,
Elle, Lachlan, M, Ginger, and Edward