Hey I’m guilty of being that dad with a sweet tooth. My wife always says that I’m addicted to sugar and she might have a point. Growing up in a Dominican household no one looked at a label or even realized how much natural sugars were in everything..or even what foods simply turn into sugar in your body.
Let’s not forget all the corn flakes we use too have, who remembers putting all that “sugar” on the cereal to make it look like “Frosted Flakes” lol. I think that’s when my addiction to sugar started.
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Let’s face it, if you eat too much of anything it can harm you. Read your labels and you’ll see sugar is in mostly everything we eat.
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One thing I learned as I got older, “Health is wealth.” As much as it can be a huge effort with some kids you have to incorporate fruits and vegetables between all the sweets.
Growing up for me it was a free for all. No one was stopping us from running to the bodega to get candy..or even realize how much of it we were actually eating!
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One way to pack in the fruits and veggies is to start the day with a shake. Have your child pick what fruits they like and take it from there. Milz is 13 and finally after years of trying he’s drinking a berry, banana, spinach with chocolate protein shake. Little by little he’s eating more fruits and vegetables and that’s the goal. We as parents have to balance it out and build the foundation for them.
Smoothie
*frozen mango
*one spoon of blueberries
*one banana
*handful of spinach
*coconut water
*Ice
Remember “health is wealth” Now that I know better I can do better and you can do the same. stay healthy my friends.
To learn more about sugar check out The Sugar Association, they break it down.
By Danny “Moya” Reyes
Cover Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash