3/6/11

Sugar and "No"

According to traditional medicine, in order for someone to be in optimal health, their body needs to be in good balance.
This balance is what they call, in Chinese and Japanese medicine, yin and yang. In our blood, it is the balance between acidity and alkalinity.
That is when sugar comes in.
Sugar is incredibly acidic. When you eat too much of it, your blood becomes too acidic, and your whole body goes out of whack.
When the blood is too acidic, the body tries to compensate and balance it by shedding its own minerals (stored in our bones) into the blood in order to make it more alkaline.
When you constantly eat sugar, and therefore repeat this acidic/alkaline process over and over, you end up with a body that is depleted of the minerals and nutrients that it needs to function properly.
So how do you keep your body balanced?
In terms of sugar intake, the trick is to choose wisely, and eat little of it.
But don't forget, also, that you must take into consideration for a healthy equation how much movement you do every day, what foods you eat every day and in general, and your state of mind. If you eat a great diet full of whole grains and vegetables, and are always moving, a little sugar will just be part of a great day.
And then there are our kids.
They will eat sugar until the cows come home if we parents and adults are not there to watch and make sure that there is balance, and good and varied food in their diet.
That is why it is so important, for me, to have the ability and confidence to just say "NO". You know your kids and what they need, and you know when they have had enough. "NO" is for their own sake, health and well-being. And yours.
The same way kids need an adult to help them cross a busy street until they learn to negotiate it safely on their own, they need someone to help them navigate through the avalanche of daily sugar choices- until they can do it themselves.
So next time you say "no" to too much sugar, either for yourself or your kids... know that you are not being rude and/or mean. But that you are, instead, being kind to your body, and that of your own kids.

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