TREAT OR TRICK?

I write this article as I’m anxiously awaiting little children, dressed in costume, to knock at my door asking for crack. Ok, so not crack exactly, but close enough. The sugar high they are about to experience will lift them up, let them down, and then leave them wanting more. Halloween is also a night where I go completely against my personal beliefs for the sake of the neighborhood. Giving children highly processed sugar is something I don’t normally support. Frankly, I’d rather pour pure maple syrup in their mouths than give them a snickers bar. Why so sensitive…because white sugar is truly the evil one on Halloween.

WHITE SUGAR IS…

Highly processed. White sugar comes from refining the sugar cane crystals to remove all the sugar cane juice flavor, and with that, all the nutrients. Your body knows what to do with food that is natural. Put something processed in it and it gets confused. I believe it goes something like this… “Hey, there aren’t any nutrients in this! What the heck am I suppose to do with it now?” This confusion creates an imbalance in your body that causes havoc. TRICK!

Leaches vitamins and minerals from your blood and bones. As mentioned above, your body recognizes that white sugar is missing vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This causes it to take vitamins and minerals from your body to process the sugar. In essence, white sugar is a thief that is stealing good things from your body. TRICK!

Makes you fat. Fat free candy surely can’t make you fat right? TRICK! Excess refined sugar is immediately converted to fat. Moment on your lips and lifetime on your hips is no

Suppresses your immune system. My sister-in-law would always tell me to lay off of the sugar in the cold and flu months because it decreases your immune system. Is it a coincidence that the cold and flu season coincide with the sugar seasons? Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day. I didn’t know why, until recently. The shortest explanation I have found is in the book “The Kind Diet.” (1) Essentially, our pancreas releases a hormone called insulin to deal with the excess sugar. Once this has been metabolized, there is too much insulin left over. This causes an imbalance in your hormones and particularly affects your immune system. TRICK! Although I do believe sugar decreases your immune system, I’m still sticking with my previous recommendation… that it’s more important to concentrate on your ph balance than how much sugar you’re consuming. (See article Balancing Act)

My 3 ½ year old is now asking me for MORE treats with a sparkle in his eyes that is more scary than cute. I do give my kids processed sugar every once in a while. My thought is that the more I forbid something, the more enticing it is. Halloween night is one of those exceptions. Normally, if he sees candy at the store and wants some, I explain that it’s “bad” sugar and then offer him “good” sugar when we get home. He’s not being deprived of anything and is very happy eating his good sugar.

So what IS “good” sugar? In my opinion, “good” sugar is anything you can find that is closest to nature. Meaning barely processed if processed at all. Here are a few examples: Agave nector, honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses, stevia, barley malt, and sugar in the raw. THESE ARE REAL TREATS! They are delicious and much healthier for your body. I haven’t had white sugar in my house for several months now. There have been no complaints in my house over the cookies, pies, cakes, and muffins I make. Honesty, I bet my husband has no idea he hasn’t had white sugar in months. Well, at least when he’s home.

When it comes to white sugar, the trick is on you. Start exchanging your white sugar with the examples listed above, and you’re treating your taste buds and your body. Now that isn’t so scary, is it?


(1) “The Kind Diet” By Alicia Silverstone. Published in 2009.

SHEDDING SOME LIGHT ON VITAMIN D

As I lay in my bed with my first cold of the season, I couldn’t help but regret not taking my vitamin D supplements before the beginning of the cold and flu season. When I say “lay in bed,” I mean at 6:00AM in the morning with two sick toddlers jumping on me. Their colds don’t seem to slow them down one bit. This of course wakes up the baby in my tummy who starts to kick me excessively. This gets me thinking, how much vitamin D should I be taking right now?


Research on this topic has changed doctor’s opinions dramatically over the last few years. I’ve read articles that say adults need 400 IU a day and others that say 4,000 IU for pregnant women. I’m not about to recommend to you how much vitamin D you should be taking, this is something you should talk to your doctor or naturopath about. (Although I’d be sure to mention the recent studies in the past couple of years just in case your doctor isn’t up on it.) Each person is different and your vitamin D consumption will depend on such factors as how much sun you get to how dark your skin is. What doctors seem to be in agreement on is how important getting the right about of vitamin D is.


Researchers have concluded that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a person’s poor immune system. This makes it more difficult to recover from infection and makes it more likely to develop autoimmune diseases. (1) Other health problems could include heart disease, chronic pain, Fibromyalgia, hypertension, arthritis, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, PMS, Crohns Disease, cancer, MS, and other autoimmune diseases. (2) It seems that every month there is new research being published on the dangers of being vitamin D deficient. Common sense would tell you that decreasing your immune system could contribute to numerous health problems.

You may be thinking, great Michelle, now that you have me paranoid that I may be vitamin D deficient, what do I do now? Like almost anything, you can get your vitamin D levels tested and truly find out where you stand. I personally wouldn’t make an appointment solely for that, but the next time you see your doctor it wouldn’t hurt to get tested. Previous recommendations included 200 IU for kids and 400 IU for adults. Some recent recommendations have stated 1,000 IU for kids and 2,000 IU for adults. During last year’s cold and flu season, I was taking 2,000 IU’s a day. Since I’m pregnant this year, I’ll be talking with my doctor about how much he thinks I should be taking. My little guys are getting 400 IU right now, but I’d like to increase that to 1000 IU after talking to their doctor. The brand I use is Nordic Naturals and I’ve been very happy with it. I highly recommend talking with your doctor or naturopath and find out what’s best for you.

Working in the court system with those who have been charged or convicted of crimes, is like bathing in a petri dish of cold and flu germs. I just might start handing out vitamin D supplements to the regulars. Throw two toddlers in the mix and I’m prime target for getting sick. This doesn’t mean I won’t go down with a fight.

(1) http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/64932.php

(2) http://www.fightingfatigue.org/?p=1220 I found this statement to be true from numerous other medical articles and used this one for concise purposes.

(3) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/NS_patient-vitamind (General information from Mayo clinic)

IS IGNORANCE BLISS?

Is ignorance bliss? Must be for the people who roll their eyes at me after asking why I do those “crazy” things. What’s so “crazy” about wanting to live a healthy lifestyle? So I don’t like my food to have chemicals in it. Is that so wrong? I am not writing this to criticizing others for their lack of knowledge or indifference. I'm also not writing this to vent, well, maybe to vent a little, but more to encourage you. If you’re reading this blog you’re probably not one of the scoffers, but rather someone who has been scoffed at. I’m here to say, keep up the good fight.


This fight doesn’t mean that you should think you’re better than your neighbor who still uses artificial sweeteners… but there’s also no reason to be embarrassed about your decision to live a healthier lifestyle. I have to admit, I do feel embarrassed when someone scoffs at the decisions I have made over the food or products I use in my home. According to Webster’s dictionary, embarrassment is “the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made public.” What is so shameful about preferring to eat grass fed cows rather than non-grass fed ones? Don’t get me wrong, I’ll down a Red Robin burger whether that cow ate grass or not, but when making burgers at home, I use beef from grass fed cows or buffalo.

What this lifestyle really comes down to, is putting some thought into the food and products that you buy. If you asked me five years ago why I had a certain kind of flour in my cupboard I would have said, “Because I needed flour and it said ‘flour’ on the package.” No thought whatsoever. Today is a different story. My flour is organic, not enriched, and not bleached. In fact, I’d say 90% of the food and products I have in my kitchen are there because I researched them. Sure, this thoughtfulness takes some research, but this is why I’m writing this blog. I want others to benefit from the research I have done and use it as a short cut. You of course don’t have to agree with me, but I do hope to provide you with useful information, or at least be thought provoking.

Please join me in consciously choosing the food and products that you use and consume. There is nothing shameful about this. For those scoffers out there that buy food and products because of commercials and fancy packaging… you can keep your bliss to yourself.