to cut out sugar from my son's diet. And how on earth do I do it?

[newrecruit]

DS is 8 and I think he reacts really strongly to sugar.

If he drinks fruit shoots / squash (very rarely) for the next half an hour he's terrible. Twitchy & physically can't sit still.

He struggles with concentration all the time and I think cutting out sugar night make a difference - or I'm jut making excuses.

DS2 is 5 and has never reacted in the same way.

Has anyone else managed to do this.

I don't want to cut out carbs - he needs LOADS of food and can eat more weetabix/ pasta than I can. However I think refined sugar might be the problem.

Or am I jut ening precious.

Talkin - you know how people with allergies and bad intolerances cope in deprived countries? They don't. It's survival of the fittest so they are in the large number of children who die before there 5th birthday.

Like those with disabilities. They don't have to cope with disabilities or adapt as they die very early on due to lack of knowledge/ facilities/ drugs.

Having worked in remote Nigeria, Mali, China, Mongolia and Eastern European counties I can tell you the above happens daily

I think you should reduce it slowly.A sudden reduction makes you feel horrible

i need an answer too.
if not cut out at least reduce

Children's brains require carbohydrates, so bread is not bad, and fruit and veg are essential. Children shouldn't do low carb diets. But it's a good idea to reduce processed foods that have high levels of refined sugar or corn syrup etc. So fruit juice is better than squash or fizzy drinks - even 'no added sugar' drinks, because 'no added sugar' drinks usually contain sweeteners like aspartame, which also aren't ideal. Basically, kids with food sensitivities usually do best on food that's prepared from fresh ingredients, with very little processed food.

talkinpeace, plenty of places online for you to look up the differences between sugar and honey.

The single most important reason to eat honey for my family is because of its many health benefits. It contains many minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium chlorine, phosphate, sulphur, and iron.

Most types of honey contain B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and C vitamins. It also has choline which is important for cell membrane growth (and it has to be consumed because your body can't produce it.) Acetylcholine is also found in honey and it works as a neurotransmitter. Sugar doesn't contain either one of those compounds or any of the vitamns, its an 'empty calorie' food nutritionally.

The glucose in honey can be quickly absorbed into your body which will result in you having more energy. Fructose in honey will help your energy levels last longer compared to sugar. Sugar is more readily laid down as fat.

Sugar is void as a contributor health wise, you dont have to weave lentils to be able to grasp that. But actually lentils are another superfood youshould try and incorporate into your diet too if you dont already, plenty of information on the web about why that too. :)

And nowhere did i say we used as much honey as sugar. By cutting out all processed foods we managed to massively reduce our sugar intake. All the sugar in shop made bread, crisps and deli meats alone is crazy, let alone properly sweet foods.
As a child of diabetic parents and grandparents it would be irresponsible of me to ignore thehealth risks too much sugar represents to my kids. Unless you think diabetes is a made uo ailment like food intolerances...

Talkin,
You're talking bollocks. Food intolerances exist the world over, just people's developing countries have no choice and so have to live with ill health. And die younger.
I work with chronically ill people in the UK and often food intolerances play a part to what is making them ill. It definitely isn't just upper middle class people. There is now clear scientific evidence that there with wheat intolerance there is a different specific physiological effects from allergym though still linked to the autoimmune system. GPs and consultants are increasingly recommending exclusion diets.

I agree with you about sugars though, although honey has some other trace elements than sugar and also has far less carbon footprint if made locally than sugar.

The glucose in honey can be quickly absorbed into your body which will result in you having more energy. Fructose in honey will help your energy levels last longer compared to sugar. Sugar is more readily laid down as fat.
This makes no sense. They are all carbs. They all form glucose in the body. The body treats them the same way. sugar does not turn into fat. if there is excess it is stored as glycogen.

Talkin - airmiles can't be confirmed surely? We get our honey from my brother. He keeps bees. It's about 150miles away, and we collect when we would be visiting anyway. Sugar cane as far as I know isn't grown on mass in the us

Can u get advice from GP? They can look into it and can refer u to dieticians or other profesionals that can help.

the brain's main source of energy is glucose.

people smarter than me can explain it better, no doubt, but what i understand is that glocose metabolism will turn every available energy source into glucose if needed (including body fat) especially if there are extreme circumstances (illness, starvation...).

if you don't eat sugar the body will still provide your brain with glucose.
otherwise you'd die

zing you're right. However, eating foods high in glucose or sugar means that glucose is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream, your body compensates by releasing insulin to store glucose as glycogen, with the result that your blood sugar is first raised, then goes too low. Simple carbohydrates have a similar effect, as starch begins being broken down into glucose in the mouth.

With other nutrients- protein and fat- the body has to work to convert these into glucose. First by digesting and absorbing the amino acids and lipids into the blood stream, then by converting these into glucose. Therefore glucose is released into the bloodstream at a much steadier rate. The body doesn't have to convert all the fat/protein into glucose if it isn't needed at that time. So your blood sugar level doesn't go up and down dramatically.

Fibre isn't actually absorbed into the body, but it helps to regulate the digestive system and slow digestion down, so also helps with blood sugar regulation.

At least, this is my understanding of it!

Chronically

you speaketh the truth.

My biggest problem when trying to reduce sugary stuff is that I like sugary stuff.
it tastes so good and yummy and makes me happy (endorphines and all).
so I know that a "cut sugar out" regime to loose weight ( why else?) would just make me miserable and give up. then I'd feel crap, guilty, a failure..I don't need that emotional shooting myself in the sweet tooth!

instead, as I'm embarking on a self -devised diet today I've decided to reduce intake of sugary snacks (namely the ones that are high in fat too) but will still eat some honey, jam and drink hot chocolate. that way I still get the sweet taste I like and won't feel deprived, but my calorie intake will drop significantly. and so will my weight.

combined with less animal based fat containg foods/drinks (especially dairy and processes stuff), more lean protein, more fibre, more water. I will still be consuming complex carb foods, veg oil, oily fish, nuts &seeds and of course lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
but no more mayo in my sandwiches with bag of crisps or creamy coffee with half a pack jammy dodgers for breakfast! bring on the porridge, bring on the soups.
this combo of "guidelines" works best for me.

(especially because I've had my gallbladder out 2 months ago so I need to be careful about high fat foods anyway)

I like those jellies in a pot, have them when I'm dieting and craving sugar.

Grays, i'm not a scientist, but from the reading i've done my understanding is that though they bith contain fructose and glucose the two are bonded by the processing of sugar, whilst this is not the case in honey. Fructose doesn't convert to energy very fast like glucose does. Because of this, processed foods that contain high amounts of fructose will be converted to fat more easily than honey. If you are trying to improve your diet or lose weight, you should avoid those kinds of food products.
I may not have worded that very well at first, been in bed ill! :)