Sugar-Free Isn't Always Sugar-Free

I was perusing a book called Sugar-Free Toddlers by Susan Watson yesterday, and got really into reading it. Apparently sugar is bad for you....no one is surprised? Well, this is the part of the book that really got to me.

"The Tidewater Detention Homes (a juvenile detention facility) in Tidewater, Virginia found that by significantly reducing just the amount of sugar in adolescents' diets, the rate of antisocial behavior dropped 44 percent. They also found that there were 82 percent fewer assault incidents, 77 percent fewer theft incidents and 55 percent fewer incidents of refusal to obey requests!" (Watson, 9)

There were also interesting facts about diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay, but I had pretty much heard those before. One thing that I had not heard was that "The typical person living the the United States consumes an average of 125 pounds of refined sugar per year. In order to eat the equivalent of eight ounces of refined sugar, a person would need to consume thirty-two apples." I wanted to do the math, so here it is. 125 lbs. is 250 portions of 8 ounces each. So 250x32=8000. So one would have to eat 8000 apples in a year in order to eat the amount of refined sugar that an average person eats. But 8000 in a year isn't really tangible to me. 8000/365=21.9. Yes, a person would have to eat almost 22 apples a day to keep up with the average Joe on sugar intake. Watson's whole point behind telling us the sugar content in an apple versus the sugar content in refined sugar was to point out that our bodies are not built to process that kind of sugar.

I have always thought that I was pretty savvy when it came to eating sugar-free. My Mom did not allow refined sugar in our house, or to go coursing through our little bodies. So we opted for other sweetners. Honey, maple syrup, and SuCaNat, were all fair game. Watson says that honey and maple syrup are not low enough in sugar to include in the recipes for her book. SuCaNat is not mentioned...but it's somewhat like brown sugar (which is out) so who knows. And if you were contemplating using splenda, corn syrup, or nutrasweet, think again...those are artificial sweetners, and they are soooo off limits.

I think I'll be trying out some of the recipes in the book (They do look absolutely delicious...for little people AND big people), but I don't know if I'll ever go sugar-free the way Susan Watson proposes. But I do think I'll pay even more attention to the sugar content of my daughter's food. What is your approach and attitude toward refined sugar?

PS. If you're interested in the book, here's a link to it on Amazon.