How to correct excess sugar in children's food

Although controlling carbohydrate consumption is sensible, it is not advisable to demonize carbohydrates, since carbohydrates are not bad, neither for adults nor for children, but rather they are necessary for the optimal functioning of the human body. Sugar is metabolized in the body as a carbohydr

Sugar is metabolized in the body as a carbohydrate, but also as fat. It is easy to go over simple carbohydrates but there are ways to prevent children from taking too much sugar, which is unnecessary and harmful to health. In Guiainfantil.com we tell you how.

Sugar in the body

Complex carbohydrates are hydrolyzed by dividing into monosaccharides or simple sugars, and these go into the bloodstream to reach all the cells in the body. On the other hand, simple carbohydrates, such as glucose or fructose, present in fruit and in refined products, pass directly into the blood, increasing levels rapidly or producing what are known as glucose peaks.

Once these simple sugars pass into the blood, the pancreas begins to produce insulin, necessary for the cells to receive their sugar supply, that is, for that circulating sugar to be used as energy.

Glucose is metabolized as a carbohydrate but is stored in the body as fat, while fructose is metabolized directly in the liver, becoming mostly fat, hence no more carbohydrates should be consumed than necessary.

Guidelines to correct an excess of sugar in the diet

It is very easy to exceed the consumption of simple carbohydrates, and it is much more complicated to break that habit, but educating the palate to a minimum amount of sweet is a positive habit in the nutritional education of our children. Let's see some guidelines to try to get it.

- Observe the labeling of the food we offer our children. Most of the products offered at breakfast are excessively rich in sugars, and should be avoided. One idea would be to substitute the sugary cereals for their integral counterparts by mixing them in different proportions until the first ones are completely eliminated, and in the same way with the cookies or with the cocoa for the milk.

- Avoid sugary and flavored yogurts and, as with breakfast, decrease the amount of sugar added until the child accepts natural yogurts well. You can also add fruit if you like. No - Do not offer industrial sweets

or trinkets as prizes and avoid juices, especially industrial ones. Offer fresh fruit instead. - Industrial ice creams have simple sugars in excess,

however, making fruit ice cream at home is not complicated. Strawberries and ripe bananas, crushed with a teaspoon of lemon juice to avoid oxidation and frozen in the shape of poles are a fantastic way to combine fruit and sweet. It should not be forgotten that the process must be gradual to ensure that the results will last long term.