3 Simple Words for Better Health
The choice is yours
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As Halloween rapidly approaches is sugar is on your mind?
I know it is on my mind.
As my children were growing up, we went to plenty of birthday, Halloween, and other parties throughout the year–children and adults alike.
As the party got going, inevitably, a cake appeared. Usually it was a bright concoction, decorated to perfection, iced with brightly-colored icing and who knew what kind or quality of ingredients.
“No thank you” I would say on behalf of myself and my young children.
Often that wasn’t enough.
I’d have to repeat myself over and over.
“No thank you.” I sounded like a broken record.
The amount of pushing I had to endure was borderline harassment.
It is, perhaps, even worse today. As the children aged, so have friends. But the birthday cakes, ice cream, and candy at parties is a constant. The decorations just change.
Now, there is even more “variety.”
Cute cupcakes
“Artisan” baked goods (have you checked the ingredients?)
Homemade baked goodies from young entrepreneurs or work-at-home moms.
With Halloween around the corner, more temptations approach.
It’s another chance to practice these 3 simple words:
“No thank you.”
Look, I KNOW it’s tough.
Whatever platitudes people say about “choice” and health, it’s not always socially acceptable to say “no thank you” to a birthday cake, halloween candy, or “treats” from caring family members without extenuating circumstances like being “gluten free” or having a serious food allergy. (Even then, there are all the gluten free options even more loaded with sugar and vegetable oils making it even harder to say no.)
And yet,
We have higher than ever rates of obesity and diabetes.
Our chronic illnesses are off the charts.
Obesity rates in children are constantly going up.
Depression and anxiety are on the rise.
While sugar is certainly not the only cause of these issues, it make make them all worse. Too often, we are socially expected to accept food that is excessively sugary or terribly bad for our well-being.
But guess what? You CAN say no to birthday cake, Halloween candy, and everything else in that genre. It’s hard, at first, to stand your ground whether for your own self or your young ones.
Practice gives you strength.
Our bodies--especially our growing children--don’t need all that excess sugar, corn syrup, the bleached white flour, toxic artificial colorings and flavorings, and the vegetable oils (and trans fats) that are part of almost all cake recipes.
Candy, cake, and many sugary baked goods are actually a recipe for acute illness, ADD, ADHD, chronic illness, nutritional imbalances in the body and chronic inflammation.
Sugar depletes the body of nutrients leading to chronic illness.
Excess sugar can lead to insulin resistance and–often–diabetes.
Artificial colorings trigger all kinds of allergies and attention disorders in children and adults.
Vegetable oils, white flour and sugar cause inflammation in the body.
The bottom line is: we don’t need it.
Think for a moment about how many parties you go to throughout the year.
➤ How many cakes are there?
➤ How much candy?
➤ How much soda?
You CAN say no to the birthday cake and candy.
Even if these are not foods you have in the home and you only make exceptions at social gatherings, think about how many exceptions this adds up to?
Suddenly, it’s not an exception anymore. It’s several times a week.
It adds up FAST.
Today’s wellness tip is to practice saying “no thank you.”
With a smile.
It’s 3 simple words that can give YOU greater health; These 3 words are POWERFUL in your wellness vocabulary.
Practice, practice practice.
You can do it!
I’m rooting for you.
About Raw Milk Mama: I believe in the freedom to feed our families how we see fit. I also see the direction that our country is going--no one wants to live in a world where food scarcity is a constant reality. It's time to take back our food systems so they serve us, not monopolistic corporations.
Sugar and fat in processed and ultra processed foods are silent killers and we’re not aware enough of their potency. The Halloween thing is a whole different kettle (cauldron?) of fish. Don’t get me started.
This is a great one, Liz, because it hits home in the everyday 3D reality!
I imagine that you might be "preaching to the choir" and that's perfectly fine because even the "choir" needs support.
I'd like to say in great gratitude (most largely) that my sensitivity to refined sugar is now at an all time high! It's because I have done my absolute very best to minimize my intake of refined sugar. I honestly have no regrets about that at all! The challenge for me (as it relates to this blog post) is when other people offer me food. I mostly have to turn down the offers. Sometimes this coincides with turning down the social contact that comes with sharing food with people. Generally that is not really a problem for me. However I live in shared housing with others under a "banner" known as: "The Enchanted Garden" that for about thirty years has advocated farmer connected, real food. It's somewhat mind-boggling for me to be living with people here who "supposedly" arrived under this "banner" yet who don't seem to be concerned about having refined sugar in their diets.
Here's one example of how sensitive I've become: A housemate offered to get me coconut water at a discount food club where I had gotten really good coconut water from before. At this store the housemate got distracted with all the other merchandise there and suddenly the closing alarm went off before getting the coconut water. The housemate had to make a special request to have an employee get a couple cases as the store isle was now closed off. The good coconut water I had wanted wasn't asked for by the housemate and what the employee got had a "1%" sugar added. Just that 1% not only altered the usually good-tasting coconut water it noticeably impacted my blood sugar as well!
Sugar is absolutely addictive! However people probably can't realize this unless they go the whole distance all the way through a long-term detox! I thank God that I made al the way through!
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