Health Tip of the Week!

Health tip of the WEEK (of the MONTH, of the YEAR!):
CUT OUT THE SUGAR!
Sugar is slowly killing us!
It is destroying our immune systems causing disease that sneaks up on us when we least expect it!
It is zapping our energy and making us fat and lethargic!
It interferes with brain function, hormones, sleep patterns, mood, etc, which will in turn interfere with how we will react to stressful situations (and we all know that stress is a killer!)
It affects our relationships and how we interact with eachother!
We are at great risk of losing our health and vitality, our viv and our verve, our joy and our happiness, OUR LIVES, when we feed our bodies this poison!
And the precious children! Oh, how they suffer the consequences of the poison in our food!
There are chemicals in our water supply, chemicals in the food, toxins in the air, etc, etc.
And there is sugar!
Disrupting the body's ability to function properly on top of all of these other assaults taking place!
It reacts as a poison in the body!
It would do a body good to stay away from it all together!

Oh, great!
I am about sure, Laura!
Give me a break!
There is no way to stay away from sugar! It's everywhere! What do you want me to do? Be one of those mom's that don't let her kid eat anything fun!
Don't be ridiculous, Laura!

So, is this what you're thinking?
Probably.
A good way to start eliminating sugar is to not have it at home.
Don't buy it at all!
Stop baking with sugar.
Stop buying the packaged junk!
Leave the pop and juice jugs at the store!
Forget about buying the little sugar-loaded cups of yogurt, puddings, jell-o, candy, cereal!!
Now can you start seeing where it is sneaking into our lives everyday?
It is in almost everything! (And another killer is fast food! It's loaded with sugar and chemicals & slowly destroys all bodily functions!)
So Just stop buying it! (Believe me, you and the kids will be much happier without it! Just wait and see!)

What we do is have no sugar Monday through Friday.
No brownies, no cookies, no ice cream, no juice, no fruit-flovored yogurt, no package cereal, etc.
Not even bakery made with raw organic sugar, sugar cane natural (Sucanat), or any processed sugar.
We will make dessert when friends or company come over on the weekends that may have sugar in them but I will always cut the sugar in half (or more-and I will NEVER bring white sugar into the house at all!) or use a natural sugar substitute like fruit, honey, or stevia.
I made a pumpkin cake for my friend's birthday that had a bit of honey in the cake and crushed pineapple with butter, cream cheese and milk in the frosting! It was very moist and delicious!
Maybe I will post the recipe soon!
Honey has a lot of nutrients and is favored over sugar but can still cause the body harm if overconsumed. It should be treated as a treat, not an everyday indulgent.
I love our local Michigan raw honey that I get from the Country Life co-op www.clnf.org.
There is nothing like it! It's wonderful!
I use it to make granola or granola bars and a teeny bit in my tea on the weekends and for a special dessert.
We will use a bit of honey in homemade chocolate milk for the children when they come in from the snow and cold and even a bit in plain yogurt but we try to keep it to a minimum.
Since we do not have sugar at home, we don't mind if we or the children have it away from home, if it is offered, and on special occasions! The problem lies in the fact that sugar is consumed in huge amounts on a daily basis. Every day is NOT a special occasion!

I encourage you to look up any information regarding the affects of sugar on the body and any recipes for natural, sugar-free food. (Please, NO FAKE SUGAR! It is even more of a poison than processed sugar! Any food that is man-made & processed is not food!) You know what I'm talking about~if we cannot pronounce the ingredients, we shouldn't be eating it!

Here are a few ideas for sugar-free snacks!

No-sugar snacks & food ideas:
1) Fresh fruit
2) Apples or bananas with peanut or almond butter
3) Popcorn
4) Hardboiled eggs
5) Plain yogurt with berries, mashed bananas, etc
6) Cheese sticks
7) Veggies~plain or with hummus, artichoke dip, avocado dip, etc.
8) Celery with peanut or almond butter and raisins
9) Raw nuts & seeds (with dried fruit & dark chocolate chips on occasion)
10) Mini crustless quiche cups made in muffin tins