I
hear a lot about "junk foods", but I'm not always sure
what's included in that definition. Junk
foods aren't just candy, potato chips, cookies, crackers, soft
drinks and French fries. They're also processed and over-processed
foods found in the supermarket, often wrapped in cellophane. When
you read the labels, you find that salt and sugar are high on
the list of ingredients. Even a jar of spaghetti sauce may qualify
as a junk food if it's high in oil, salt and preservatives.
I encourage you
to make every effort to serve whole foods (foods as they appear
in nature), such as fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains. Whole
foods that haven't had the vitamins and nutrients processed out
of them are much better for you than microwave dinners and potato
chips.
This is a good
time to mention those very common junk foods, soft drinks. It's
hard to walk more than a few steps without bumping into someone
who has a cola can in their hand. The truth is that soft drinks
are nothing but gassy, flavored sugar water. To make things worse,
they don't even quench thirst because the body loses liquid trying
to digest the sugar. Furthermore, these drinks contain phosphoric
acid which robs the body of calcium and is caustic enough to clean
metal!
The one-calorie
varieties are no better, and in some ways may be even worse for
you. Artificial
sweeteners were never intended to be ingested in the large amounts
we find in our foods today. I would rather a child have a little
sugar than an artificial sweetener.
So soft drinks
really do rate as liquid junk foods. They contain unhealthy amounts
of sugar or sweetener, phosphoric acid and gas. They offer only
very low levels of nutrients and can actually make you thirstier.
Keep them out of your child!
Instead of soft
drinks, offer interesting fruit or vegetable juice combinations.
Whenever possible, use your kitchen juicer and encourage your
children to help you think up new ways to combine fruits. Always
dilute fruit juices with an equal amount of water. For a special
treat, you can add naturally-sparkling mineral water. The 50-50
dilution of the juice with water will cut down on the amount of
natural sugar your children get from the fruit. If you allow youngsters
to drink pure fruit juice, you'll be very aware of the roller
coaster effect sugar has on their emotions and behavior.
One more warning.
If you read the labels, most fruit juice has words like 'cocktail"
or "flavored" on the label. These juices have a high
concentration of sugar syrup. Always look for natural juices and
make certain that you dilute them just as you do the fresh juice.
Where your children
are concerned, water or diluted natural fruit juice is always
a better choice.
Soft
Drink Experiment
A convincing experiment for most children is to pour
a glass of the most popular cola drink and leave a dirty
penny in it overnight. The next morning, the penny will
be as shiny as new. If cola does that to metal, think
what it does to the lining of your child's stomach! |
Please remember…..
Be gentle as you are making dietary improvements for your family.
Some families do well with a drastic and complete change and some
require a more gradual approach that leads them to a very occasional
indulgence of a favorite food. Find what works for your family
as you walk this path to improving your health by improving your
foods.
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