I have two beautiful children, with lots of energy and boundless joy. My only son was having some behavioral difficulties, I suspected some food allergies so we tested him and we are now a gluten free household.

Obviously, being a Sugar Mama myself and doing 7 day sugar cleanses with my clients, we are now a gluten and sugar free family. This journey of finding alternative foods for the usual social event, birthday party, holiday gathering, school outing, can be a challenging endeavor.

I assure you that with a little meal planning and healthy conversations with your children, all of this can be accomplished.

Here are some tips to help you cut sugar out of your child’s diet:

1. Eating in Libra:

Every time you eat, make sure you have protein, fat, and complex carbohydrates. The carbs in my book are vegetables and no more than 2-3 servings of fruit a day. An example of a balanced snack could be;

Almond butter, 1/2 apple

Organic goat cheese, cranberries and 1 slice of nitrate-free turkey.

Hummus and vegetable sticks and chicken thigh

When you eat in balance you will control your blood sugar and insulin levels. This will control cravings, mood swings, improve behaviors and brain productivity for better learning.

2. Eat a balanced breakfast and ditch the sugary cereal:

When it comes to sugar, breakfast cereals are a key offender, with two-thirds of the top 100 ranked “high in sugar.” Understand that 4 grams of carbohydrates is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Alternatively, swap out your cereal for protein in the morning. Fantastic ideas for breakfast are:

A. Eggs, sweet potato sautéed in coconut oil, spinach sautéed in coconut oil.

B. Green Smoothie: Kale, blueberries, banana, organic yogurt, and hemp seeds.

C. Gluten-free oats, sliced ​​almonds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, berries or sliced ​​apples with vanilla coconut milk and stevia to taste.

3. Become a label detective:

Adding white sugar to our food is not the only way to get sugar into our diet. Most of the sugar we consume is found in pre-packaged foods (including deli meats, condiments, yogurts, bread, crackers), which means the only way to know is to read the labels.

Note the many names for sugar. Some are: maltodextrin, corn sweetener, corn syrup, cane juice, dextrin, any word that ends in “ose,” any word that ends in “tol,” which is a sugar alcohol. Stevia would be an acceptable sweetener without raising blood sugar levels.

4. Moisturize naturally:

From vitamin water to fizzy drinks, fancy syrup-sweetened lattes and sugary cocktails, beverages are as guilty as they come for containing sugar, with numerous studies linking sugar-sweetened beverages to obesity.

Be careful with drinks that say they are sugar-free. They may have substituted artificial sweeteners that will disrupt our hormones and cause damage to our cells. Many of these artificially sweetened drinks will trigger cravings even though they are calorie-free.

Healthy drink options are: plain filtered water, coconut water, herbal teas, sparkling water, cultured buttermilk water, kombucha.

I will put a gallon of water in a glass container with a spout and fill it with cucumbers, berries, sliced ​​apples, and fresh herbs like mint, ginger, etc. This is a refreshing way to enjoy drinks.

5. Commit to Loving Upgrades for your favorite foods.

Incorporate the above elements for a week and notice the changes in your body, mood and energy. You will be surprised how much better your children will respond. It’s not about eliminating or avoiding, but about displacing the foods that don’t work for you and adding the foods that do work for you and you love. You will find that your children will want the most nutrient-dense foods.

Do a pantry cleanout by donating the items from your pantry that don’t work for you. If you need more help in this area, hire a health coach to do the purging for you and support you in choosing healthy replacements.