Sugarproof Your Kids: Simple Kid-Friendly Tips for Reducing Sugar

Sugarproof Your Kids!

Dr. Michael Goran & Dr. Emily Ventura share simple, tasty, kid-friendly steps for reducing your family’s sugar – and WHY you should!

by Steve Silvestro, MD @zendocsteve

Hey, we’re all trying to do our best when feeding our kids healthy food.

And what might be your best effort right now may not be your best effort at some other time, or the same as someone else’s best effort—and that’s okay.

But what isn’t fair is when the cards are stacked against you—when things that have been marketed to us as “food” are really causing harm to us and to our kids.

The biggest, most prolific culprit? Sugar. It’s everywhere—but it’s not just in the places you’d expect. In the last several decades, sugar has silently found its way into so many foods we eat, many of which would surprise you. In fact, I recently shared a video on Instagram highlighting a fruit and chia cup that had 14 grams of sugar ADDED to the natural sugar already in the fruit. Nowadays, sugar is added to yogurt, tomato sauce, even the bread you use to make your kids’ sandwiches.

And this invasion of sugar into everything we eat isn’t without consequence. We see its effects in everything from the obesity epidemic to kids’ mood, behavior, and brain function. We’re even seeing problems like fatty liver disease pop up in children.

But there is hope.

In their new book, Sugarproof: The Hidden Dangers of Sugar That Are Putting Your Child’s Health at Risk and What You Can Do, Dr. Michael Goran and Dr. Emily Ventura paint not only the intimidating sugar-laden landscape of modern American diets, but also simple steps you can put into action with your family right now.

In this enlightening conversation, Drs. Goran and Ventura show you how to “Sugarproof” your kids.

Take a listen on your favorite podcast app or watch the video of our conversation below:

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In This Episode, We Talk About:

The “perfect storm” that sets our children up for challenges with sugar
How the landscape of kids’ exposure to sugar has changed in recent years
How to navigate a food label when companies use over 200 different names for sugar!
Which sugars and sweeteners to avoid the most
How we can become addicted to sweetness & how to dial those cravings back
How excess sugar affects kids’ growing brains & bodies
How some parents see significant changes in their kids’ mood & concentration when sugar is decreased
How to internally motivate kids to make healthy choices
Whether there is any role for juice
Substitutions your family can make to easily reduce sugar in your home
What a low added sugar—but tasty!—breakfast looks like PLUS a challenge for you posed by Michael Goran!

Scroll up to the player above to listen, or hear it on your favorite podcast app!

Tag me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, and let me know what you think about my conversation with Drs. Goran & Ventura!

This episode is sponsored by happyly. Happyly was created to help every parent feel like a super parent, with inspiration for activities and curated adventures near home or on the go. Take the pressure out of planning family adventures & download the free happyly app today.