By eliminating sugar from your child’s diet, you will quickly improve blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels. This is evidenced by the recently published in the magazine Obesity research, which also casts doubt on the claim that only the number of calories is important, and not their source.
In this study, researchers found that the health of obese children improved significantly when, while maintaining the same calorie intake, sugar-free foods were substituted for sugar-free foods in their diets. Robert Lustig, San Francisco-based pediatric endocrinologist and author of the book Fat Luck: The Hidden Truth About Sugar (“A Chance for Fat: The Hidden Truth About Sugar”) states that metabolic diseases in children that can cause diabetes disappeared in just 10 days.
43 children, aged 9 to 18 years, were invited to participate in the study because of their weight and significant associated health problems such as high blood pressure. For 9 days, the children were offered food to their liking, including a variety of snacks and drinks – turkey, chips, pizza and hot dogs, and so on. In doing so, high-sugar starchy grains, cakes and sweetened yogurt were eliminated from their diet.
Overall, sugar consumption dropped from 28% to 10%, and fructose from 12% to 4% of total daily calories. Fructose, or high fructose corn syrup, is a form of sugar that is a serious problem and is hidden in many foods.
Nine days later, the health status of the children improved in all respects. Their diastolic blood pressure, “bad” LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides dropped. Fasting blood glucose levels decreased and insulin levels fell by one third. Liver function scores also improved. However, their weight remained the same.
These results raise serious questions about the health effects of sugar consumption, including challenging the longstanding belief that “calories are calories” regardless of source.
Of course, changing your diet by cutting back on sweets is not easy, because sugar is addictive for us. Try these 10 steps and get rid of your sugar addiction. It may be even more difficult for children to overcome sugar cravings. These are a few guidelines to help you adjust your child’s diet.