How to detox your kids from sugar.
I took my kids off sugar for 8 days and here’s what happened.
There I was, standing in the kitchen having my 13th argument of the day about whether or not my daughter could have another sugar-laden piece of Halloween candy. Before I was a parent of kids with opinions older children, I was a big Halloween fan. We did all the fun decorating and we were considered “the house” in the neighborhood. As the years have gone by, it’s become the dreaded day that leaves me weary of the “can I have candy at 8 a.m.” debates that would happen daily until the kids FINALLY forgot about the candy and I eventually threw it out.
But this year I took a different approach. This year I had been on my own health journey, trying things like Whole 30 and Keto, in hopes of finding an eating style that felt good to my body. So… unfortunately for my kids, I was already kinda being a sugar party pooper. Now I was wondering how to detox my kids from sugar. I was seeing some pretty negative eating habits develop in our home – including choosing ‘carb-age‘ as I started calling it, over good whole foods. And, for one of my kids, there was an unhealthy obsession with dessert. (when they could have, how much they had to eat to get it, what kind was available) This kid was planning dessert before breakfast!
Calling it quits
I decided we needed drastic action for our family’s health as a whole and made a deal with my kiddos. We decided we would give them a ‘free for all’ for the weekend, but come that following Monday they had to agree to a full week of no sugar. I could see their eyes almost bug out of their little precious heads as they contemplated this arrangement and just like that they were both ‘in’.
Let the binge eating begin
Here’s the truth (that I will never tell them until they are old enough to figure out how to search for and read this blog) I hoped that by letting them go nuts on candy, cookies, and cakes they would essentially make themselves just sick enough to not want more. And amazingly, this worked pretty well!!! After the 2nd time, they said ” Oh mom, my tummy doesn’t feel so good” they backed away from the junk food and started to naturally make some better choices.
The real deal
On Sunday night, I did a complete purge of the kitchen removing anything that had high sugar content including their Quaker oatmeal and Yoplait yogurts. I had them sit with me and make a list of the lunches and snacks they would plan to pack and eat that week at school and explained what was on the ‘acceptable list’ and what was off limits.
Now, listen… I’m not totally crazy! I knew better than to cut them off cold turkey and suffer the wrath of a true full-on sugar detox in all 3 kids at once.. ummm. no. I’d rather join the polar bear club and jump into an icy lake then deal with that!!! My plan was solid – leave just enough natural sugars that their little sugar-addicted souls wouldn’t turn to pure evil and tie me to a chair and raid the pantry.
I incorporated a few food items that were lower in sugar but would allow them to feel like the change wasn’t completely drastic (here are a few things that ended up being favorites )
Cascadian Farms Organic Honey Oat Crunch Cereal – this was one of the only cereals that were low in sugar (5 grams) and still tasted awesome. My kids love cereal – so I figured better to give them an option they could still eat and I still felt good about it.
Smuckers Simply Fruit Strawberry Jam – this uses only fruit juice to sweeten. So it followed the ‘technical’ rule of no sugar and gave them a sweet I could live with.
TruWhip – okay guys, this one is AH-mazing. This whipped cream only has 2 added grams of sugar and it was a great dessert for the kiddos. They dipped strawberries in it and LOVED it. (note- link for reference only.. please don’t spend $100 on TruWhip – grab it at your grocery store for a few dollars)
The kids chose natural peanut butter and toast or eggs and bacon for breakfast. For lunch, they usually had turkey or ham with cheese, fruit and a veggie. I also allowed goldfish and pretzels because.. well.. no sugar!
Quitting is not an option
On day 1 and 2, my sugar-a-holic daughter insisted she was quitting. I reminded her that she agreed to this and that since she ate ALL. THE. CANDY. she had to follow through. I was pretty surprised at how little resistance there was after that. No one cried, no one refused to eat – they just got creative with their options and kept trudging along.
By Day 3 other people were telling me how my kids had TURNED DOWN sugar while away from home! This is when I knew we were gonna make it!
The Magic Happens
By the end of Day 3 and into Day 4, I started to notice some changes. My kids weren’t being as argumentative with one another. They were seemingly sleeping better. They had more energy in the morning and the BIGGEST change I saw was my youngest daughter was actually sitting through dinner instead of getting up and down and wiggling all over!
This was INCREDIBLE!!! I want to say ” I couldn’t believe the difference” but the truth is – as someone who had tackled Whole30 I KNEW what this difference felt like and expected it come. Because it had worked for me and I assumed it would be just as beneficial for them!
Giving Grace
As you can imagine – telling a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 4 year
old ( he got away with more because.. well .. he’s 4) no to sugar for 8 straight days was no easy feat! We would have to have grace and plan for slip-ups, though I never let on to them that it was an option. On day 5 the girls had a holiday party and I agreed to let them fully participate in the festivities. Of course, there would be cake, and I never intended for them to feel left out because of this. I wanted them to come away from this feeling like they accomplished a goal, not that they suffered a punishment. My oldest tossed her cake after a few bites but my other daughter…. the sugar addict… I heard she went for a second slice.
Here’s the kicker friends, the next day, the 2 piecer had THE WORST behavior I had seen all week. She was emotional, irrational and irritable and hyper. It was undeniable that her sugar rush intake took an almost immediate toll on her. It took an additional 2 days to see her settle back into calmness and even emotions.
The plan to move forward
After you see such a huge transformation, it’s hard to just go back to ‘the way it was’. I knew that this week of sugar detox needed to become a change that would stick with my kids for the long term and allow us to naturally slip into healthier habits. It made me recall one of my doctors telling me in a “how hard is it?” kind of way to ‘simply not have the sweets in the house’. At the time I thought – “easy for you to say!” But the truth is, there is actually a simplicity to this method that I never expected!
Unexpected Results
Since we’ve completed this challenge (and we ALL did it) there have been some significant changes in our kitchen and on our table. Surprising, they have been pretty seamless. Where you once found 10 boxes of sugary cereal in my cabinet you will now only find a few lower sugar cereals like the one I shared. Where there was once regular ol’ PB and J, you’ll find natural peanut butter ( I like Kroger brand) and the Simply Fruit Jam. You won’t find any cookies, or cupcakes or soda. And, while my kids still insist on an Eggo waffle, they layer it in peanut butter instead of a gallon of syrup.
Change starts with us.
So here’s the thing. Was taking my kids off sugar hard? Yes and No. The kids managed to avoid tantrums and headaches, but I wasn’t as lucky! At best I figured at the end they would argue for all their old ways, but instead, this became their (mostly) new normal. My husband and I adopted the lifestyle, agreed on the benefits and led by example. And while we aren’t a sugar-free household anymore we are a WAY less sugar household and that is awesome. That is what we call a parenting
Wrap it up
So let’s re-cap. You may have come to this post with the same question: How do you detox your kids from sugar? Friends, let me tell you, this feels like it will be awful but, it can end up being easier than you anticipate. Following these steps can help you give this a try
- Give an incentive -how are your kids driven? Do they prefer gifts or quality time? Find out what motivates and offer it up as incentive.
- Make a plan – discuss a timeline and goal. Plan what foods you will eat, what lunches and breakfast will be. Shop together.
- Clean it out – take time to clean out the pantry and fridge of all the items that are not included. Look for added sugars and decide what is tolerable and what is not included.
- Look at the calendar – there will never be a perfect time to go sugar free. There are always birthday parties and holidays and classroom treats. If you know there is a major event happening, consider waiting or wrapping up beforehand. But usually you should just start now!
- Give grace – this may be totally new and an extreme change, know that your kids may not always follow the plan when they are away from home. Use this as a learning experience for honoring our promises to ourselves and others.
- Don’t make quitting an option – what a great life lesson for our children that just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean we quit. We might stumble – but we get up and keep going.
- Celebrate – I added notes to my kids lunch boxes with encouragement each day. I celebrated the completion of each day with them. We told them how proud of them we were at the end. This is a big accomplishment and can show your kids that they can do anything they put their mind to.
Have you ever tried something like this? We’d love to hear your experience.
Leave a comment and tell us – are you a no sugar, low sugar or gimme all the sweets kinda home?
