Low sugar snacks (Sugar Crash RTE1)

John Mason

Look everyone feeds their kids as they see fit but if you use common sense it is very easy to avoid add sugar. the easiest by is stop buying food in man made packages.

I don't know what an Elle's pouch is but if you are happy to eat that to your child that fine.

The same with fruit, again I don't know what a fruit pot is but if you are happy feeding that to your child then go for it. I just gave him fruit as nature intended - the only thing that is pureed in this house is soup.

What is next years food obsession ? dairy? will we go back to wheat ?

Every few years something is demonised.

Hamstring

pwurple wrote: »

This illustrates my point. People can argue whether this is added or non-added sugar. Pour over the ingredients for days on end, and you know what? It doesn't matter. This sugar vendetta is yet another way of saying "Eat real food", which we knew all along anyway.

Agreed. Absolutely no contest between eating fruit naturally than in these pouches. But there is no way I could get my all my kids to eat (or in some cases even try) all of the various fruits included in even this example (banana, apple, blackcurrant & blueberries). So there has to be some trade off for parents in my opinion where you just go...right...its either this and you take the sugar-hit (natural or added) or the child doesn't have any of this in his/her diet.

Everything in moderation in my view. Your not going to pump 5 of these into a child to make up for them not eating an equivalent size piece of fruit.

genie_us

Hi

this maybe slightly off topic but I'm just interested to know if the people whose kids are fussy now and not wanting to eat fruit or veg etc - is that something that was always the case or something the kids tend to develop? I'm just curious to know if it's something I might end up dealing with myself. My 14 month old currently hoovers whatever is put in front of him, if anything his issue with food will be not knowing when to stop so that's my current focus at the moment. Luckily he does eat everything and I make all his stuff myself. So I'm just interested to know if your kids are fussy now were they always that way?

sillysocks

genie_us wrote: »

Hi

this maybe slightly off topic but I'm just interested to know if the people whose kids are fussy now and not wanting to eat fruit or veg etc - is that something that was always the case or something the kids tend to develop? I'm just curious to know if it's something I might end up dealing with myself. My 14 month old currently hoovers whatever is put in front of him, if anything his issue with food will be not knowing when to stop so that's my current focus at the moment. Luckily he does eat everything and I make all his stuff myself. So I'm just interested to know if your kids are fussy now were they always that way?

My little fella has always been like that. It used to even take an age to get a bottle into him when he was only a baby and not on solids. Funny because my little girl who's older eats way more and would eat any type of fruit I put in front of her, he won't even put it near his mouth!

yellowlabrador

pwurple wrote: »

We have two diabetics in the extended family, so we get a lot of exposure to the impact of sugars. 'Natural' sugar from a banana will send a diabetic reeling as fast as a bar of chocolate.

I just think that over simplifying this kind of this is pointless, we can all understand the basics of what to eat without villainising or cutting out foods, and frankly overcomplicating everything trying to keep up with the latest fad. It used to be bad guys were fats, then they got split into good oils and bad saturated fats, and now we're back full circle at saturated fats being essential nutrients. There was a phase of yeast being the monster before that, and the current villains of choice are gluten and sugar. It's the cynic in me, but I just really see this as another marketing tool for selling books, and more free-from products.

A varied diet is the best for everyone, with as little out of packets as possible. I give my children a biscuit, but it's a biscuit I made myself from oats and real butter. They mostly eat fish, meat, pulses, veg and fruit (some of which they help grow) and bread (which they help make). I do my very best to teach them how to shop for fresh things, how to recognise a fresh fish, or a local bit of veg, which is a skill in itself.

My main struggle with feeding children is that it is difficult keeping it varied enough, and giving them loads of exposure to different tastes and textures, along with teaching them some cooking and shopping skills. After a long day of work, it's tough going to keep the brain engaged enough to not just give them pasta every damn day of the week. If I had to also consider a list as long as my arm of good guy and bad guy things to avoid, I'd crack up altogether.

When my children were young, I had a fixed rota of meals. It made shopping easier too. I had my own battles with food. I was used to a continental diet and the pressures of society are something else. Crisps, sweetened yogurts,sugared drinks, sweets everyday after school, these were all unknown to me. The battle to keep them out of my childrens diet was something else. A treat is a treat and should be for special occasions. How many children don't have at least 1 packet of crisps a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is enough and if you want to have a snack, a glass of milk and 1 or 2 biscuits is fine. If you make your own biscuits and cake, you can control the amount of sugar you add. Shop bought is always sweeter.

genie_us

sillysocks wrote: »

My little fella has always been like that. It used to even take an age to get a bottle into him when he was only a baby and not on solids. Funny because my little girl who's older eats way more and would eat any type of fruit I put in front of her, he won't even put it near his mouth!

Thanks sillysocks! Funny how they are so different!

pwurple

yellowlabrador wrote: »

When my children were young, I had a fixed rota of meals. It made shopping easier too.

Rota of meals is easier, but I don't think I can get enough variety or eat seasonally/locally/cheaply etc if I lock myself into a rota.

madeinamerica

pwurple, you're echoing a guy, Michael Pollan, I saw on tv over christmas (as I was finishing off a box of Roses :rolleyes:). Ever hear of him and his advice of Eat food, mostly plants, not too much. And he had some interesting thoughts about nutritionism in foods with 'bad' things removed and other 'good' things added. Here is some info from him http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/20090323/7-rules-for-eating

I'm all for basic food (and the occasional box of Roses).

pwurple

madeinamerica wrote: »

pwurple, you're echoing a guy, Michael Pollan, I saw on tv over christmas (as I was finishing off a box of Roses :rolleyes:). Ever hear of him and his advice of Eat food, mostly plants, not too much. And he had some interesting thoughts about nutritionism in foods with 'bad' things removed and other 'good' things added. Here is some info from him http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/20090323/7-rules-for-eating

I'm all for basic food (and the occasional box of Roses).

What a sensible fellow! Enjoyed that article, thanks, a cynic after my own heart, and expresses it better than me too!

The trouble with the whole notion of "evil' and "blessed" ingredients is that they help the food industry sell us processed foods that are free of the evil thing or full of the blessed one.

Love this piece as well... I forget how much of our childhood memories and relationships are wrapped up in occasions where we eat.

Myth #3: The whole point of eating is to maintain and promote bodily health. "You are either improving or ruining your health when you eat -- that is a very American idea," Pollan says. "But there are many other reasons to eat food: pleasure, social community, identity, and ritual. Health is not the only thing going on on our plates."

fro9etb8j5qsl2

John Mason wrote: »

I wouldn't be too concerned about dairy, its really bad for you anyway. we limit dairy produce in our house I am sure Dr. Ava will have a probably out next stating the dairy is the work of the devil.

Do you mind me asking, do you substitute other calcium rich foods for the dairy? My little girl is allergic to cows milk protein so our meals are all dairy free and I have trouble finding other ways of getting calcium into her.

The only treat we give at home is an occasional fig roll. I used to buy the heinz biscotti until I realised that there is almost as much sugar per 100g of biscotti as there is in 100g of mc vities choccie digestives :rolleyes:

Is there programmes running in schools these days to teach young people about basic nutritional requirements and how to read labels on food? When I was in school, home ec was the only subject that covered this and most people I know wouldn't think twice to read the nutritional info on a packet unless a doctor advised them to. Crazy given all of the money we pump into being healthy, gyms, living well, looking good etc.

Miss Merry Berry

pwurple wrote: »

We have two diabetics in the extended family, so we get a lot of exposure to the impact of sugars. 'Natural' sugar from a banana will send a diabetic reeling as fast as a bar of chocolate.

I just think that over simplifying this kind of this is pointless, we can all understand the basics of what to eat without villainising or cutting out foods, and frankly overcomplicating everything trying to keep up with the latest fad. It used to be bad guys were fats, then they got split into good oils and bad saturated fats, and now we're back full circle at saturated fats being essential nutrients. There was a phase of yeast being the monster before that, and the current villains of choice are gluten and sugar. It's the cynic in me, but I just really see this as another marketing tool for selling books, and more free-from products.

A varied diet is the best for everyone, with as little out of packets as possible. I give my children a biscuit, but it's a biscuit I made myself from oats and real butter. They mostly eat fish, meat, pulses, veg and fruit (some of which they help grow) and bread (which they help make). I do my very best to teach them how to shop for fresh things, how to recognise a fresh fish, or a local bit of veg, which is a skill in itself.

My main struggle with feeding children is that it is difficult keeping it varied enough, and giving them loads of exposure to different tastes and textures, along with teaching them some cooking and shopping skills. After a long day of work, it's tough going to keep the brain engaged enough to not just give them pasta every damn day of the week. If I had to also consider a list as long as my arm of good guy and bad guy things to avoid, I'd crack up altogether.

You seem to be an intelligent person so I don't understand how the concept of ridiculous amounts of excessive sugar being pumped into countless amounts of sweet as well as savoury food stuff is a concept lost on you. Fruit and vegetables are nutrionally rich, a bar of chocolate has zero nutrition but might make you feel psychologically nice for a short space of time. There are over 250,000 people with some type of diabetes in Ireland at present, they didn't get this by eating a few blueberries. It is not hard to educate yourself on the sugar and salt content of the main foods you eat or would like to eat. Even myself, when I eat more junk and less fruit/veg like I did at Christmas, I had ulcers in my mouth from lack of vitamins and minerals. That's my body's way of telling me enough is enough. Sugar is highly addictive, it's so important to remember this.

Miss Merry Berry

Wren Bald Marmot wrote: »

Do you mind me asking, do you substitute other calcium rich foods for the dairy? My little girl is allergic to cows milk protein so our meals are all dairy free and I have trouble finding other ways of getting calcium into her.

The only treat we give at home is an occasional fig roll. I used to buy the heinz biscotti until I realised that there is almost as much sugar per 100g of biscotti as there is in 100g of mc vities choccie digestives :rolleyes:

Is there programmes running in schools these days to teach young people about basic nutritional requirements and how to read labels on food? When I was in school, home ec was the only subject that covered this and most people I know wouldn't think twice to read the nutritional info on a packet unless a doctor advised them to. Crazy given all of the money we pump into being healthy, gyms, living well, looking good etc.

Healthy eating, exercise and reading food labels is on the SPHE and Science curriculum. There is a food programme running in schools called Food Dudes and their aim is to introduce children to fruit and vegetables. The children get prizes for sampling new f&vs. My sister is a teacher in a relatively well off suburb in Dublin and in her 2nd class, there were some children in her who had never tasted bananas, apples or oranges before! She was telling me that her school used to run a (One) Treat of the Week in their lunchbox on a Friday and parents used to send in whole packets of chocolate digestives as their treat! This is what you are up against in schools these days.

lazygal

I worked as a Montessori teacher and occasionally do sub work. We had healthy eating policies, HSE guidelines and most parents were really into healthy eating but you'd still be amazed at what parents give. One girl came in with a packet of Tuc crackers or a dry bagel for lunch most days. We did a tasting game and she loved everything so why she had that for lunch I can put down to poor parental choices.

pwurple

Miss Merry Berry wrote: »

You seem to be an intelligent person so I don't understand how the concept of ridiculous amounts of excessive sugar being pumped into countless amounts of sweet as well as savoury food stuff is a concept lost on you.

Ahem? I seem to be intelligent so why am I being so thick?

Because this concept is another way of selling more stuff. People get the sugar soundbites stuck in their brain, and the marketing depts latch on. The packaging now says "all natural sugars" or "low in sugar", but if they are just swapping honey into the chocolate bars instead of white sugar, it makes no earthly difference to either diabetes or obesity. I've seen things advertised as sweetened with concentrated apple juice, honey etc. So, from tv personalities selling their new amazing weight loss program, or set of books, to the newly rebranded processed foods disguised as the new 'healthy', make no mistake, it is all selling us something to fix a problem they have convinced us we all have.

I don't need to educate myself on qtys of salt or sugar on boxes of cereals or prepackaged children's snack items, because we buy raw ingredients and eat real food. If you find yourself looking for a new processed food that's 'low in sugar' to replace your old processed food, what's the point?

John Mason

Wren Bald Marmot wrote: »

Do you mind me asking, do you substitute other calcium rich foods for the dairy? My little girl is allergic to cows milk protein so our meals are all dairy free and I have trouble finding other ways of getting calcium into her.

he eats lots of green veg, sardines, tofu, soya beans and fortified rice milks and stuff like that.

The Dairy farmers have played a blinder making us think we will collapse into a pile of dust unless we take in excess amounts of dairy.

Ask an Asian person what we smell like!!

Neyite

I'm of the opinion that lots of fresh foods, in as varied a variety as your budget will go, goes a hell of a long way towards weight management. Portion control plays a big part too, and I've recently experimented with the theory that you can always reduce sugar amounts in baking recipes by about a third, and I've never noticed the difference in the few things I have baked.

I almost never add salt to cooking - there is one recipe that I have where you'd notice the salt removed, but I have reduced it in the recipe as much as I could without it changing the taste too much - I don't use salted water in veg or pasta - I've never heard any one tell me they tasted different. I use full fat butter, milk, yoghurt's, cheese and so on - I'm very sceptical of the low-fat ranges.

My new years aim will be to expand on my range of dinners, and I'm going to pick at least one ingredient a month I don't know much about and that I've never cooked with before and experiment.

j@utis

bp wrote: »

<...>
Now how to stop grandparents????

shoot them

I watched the program couple of days ago. I found presenter quite annoying because she was talking soooo slow, cutting words in to syllables at some places :mad:

I wasn't shocked by the contents of the program. If you're interested in nutrition - it's old quite old news tbh.
What drives me mad is trying to shift the blame onto someone else, i.e. onto food producers. It's free market afterall and what we buy drives the supply. Stop buying crap and it'll disappear from the supermarket shelves.

j@utis

John Mason wrote: »

<...>
Ask an Asian person what we smell like!!

Asian people don't smell nice to me at all :rolleyes:

madeinamerica

j@utis wrote: »

shoot them

I watched the program couple of days ago. I found presenter quite annoying because she was talking soooo slow, cutting words in to syllables at some places :mad:

I wasn't shocked by the contents of the program. If you're interested in nutrition - it's old quite old news tbh.
What drives me mad is trying to shift the blame onto someone else, i.e. onto food producers. It's free market afterall and what we buy drives the supply. Stop buying crap and it'll disappear from the supermarket shelves.

Yeah, its not quite that simple, unfortunately. Human behaviour gets in the way!

j@utis

<...>

Lucuma

John Mason wrote: »

What about eggs? homemade muffins have no sugar.

have a look on the BLW sites, we never bothered with the pureeing faff. life is too short.

http://littlegrazers.com/baby-led-weaning/blw-recipes/

sugar free muffins
http://www.babyledweaning.com/blw-recipes/broccoli-and-cheese-muffins/

Egg muffins
http://www.herfamily.ie/family-time/realy-easy-brunch-recipes-mini-egg-cakes-you-can-make-with-your-kids/210570


two ingredient pancakes, which freeze great and you heat them in the toaster

.

Thanks a million for this I was looking for this kind of info

John Mason

Lucuma wrote: »

Thanks a million for this I was looking for this kind of info

I forgot this one. I use this the most

http://mylovelylittlelunchbox.com/