Added Sugar – An Enemy To A Developing Child!
In our last newsletter we talked about ways Sugar could be harming your Mental Health and how a high-sugar diet impacts both physical and mental health. Sugar is definitely an enemy to a developing child, even more so for a child with special needs. A child won’t be able to benefit much from interventions and therapy if basic nutrition is still an issue. As we all know, nutrition has been a major concern for our children over the past few years – as the food we eat now is very different from what we ate 30 years ago. Today, many children’s diets consist of highly processed food with a bountiful mix of artificial chemicals, preservatives, sugar, pesticides and trans fat. Shifting more to a “whole-foods” diet and eliminating unnecessary ingredients can benefit any child but children with developmental and neurological disorders can see an array of benefits from improved brain development and function, improved gastrointestinal health and improved immune function just to name a few. But today, we would like to share some important information Added Sugar.
What Is Added Sugar?
Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk and fruits. The major food and beverage sources of added sugars are: Regular soft drinks, energy drinks, and sports drinks. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk and fruits.
The major food and beverage sources of added sugars are:
- Regular Soft Drinks, Energy Drinks, and Sports Drinks
- Candy and Sweets
- Cakes and Cookies
- Pies and Cobblers
- Sweet Rolls, Pastries, and Donuts
- Fruit Drinks, such as Fruitcakes and Fruit Punch
- Dairy Desserts, such as Ice Cream
Other names commonly found on Food and Beverage Labels. Reading the ingredient label on processed foods can help to identify added sugars. Names for added sugars on food labels include:
- Anhydrous Dextrose
- Brown Sugar
- Confectioner’s Powdered Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Corn Syrup Solids
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
- Honey
- Invert Sugar
- Lactose Malt Syrup
- Maltose
- Maple Syrup
- Molasses
- Nectars (e.g. Peach Nectar)
- Pancake Syrup
- Raw Sugar
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- White Granulated Sugar
You may also see other names used for added sugars, but these are not recognized by the FDA as an ingredient name. These include cane juice, evaporated corn sweetener, fruit juice concentrate, crystal dextrose, glucose, liquid fructose, sugar cane juice, and fruit nectar.
SOURCE: www.choosemyplate.gov
For more additional information on the negative effects of sugar … click here: