It’s finally that day of the year!  The day when your little ghost and goblins will stride door to door seeking bags full of individually foiled sugar laden treats, grinning ear to ear about their candy rewards.  Although, it may seem like a harmless holiday since we all have made Halloween a basic festivity full of cheers and candy comas; I find that it is very important to straighten up the facts about the effects of sugar on our children’s bodies and health.

I know everyone always says “all food is okay, if it is in moderation” or “No food group should be total eliminated from any diet”, so I want to just say this now: Sugar is not a food group, and it has no nutritional value what so ever.  This is a really important topic to me, for the simple fact that this over consumption of sugar leads to one of the top disease in the U.S today: Diabetes.  Not only is diabetes a major killer, but the epidemic is getting worse and worse.  The thing that angers me the most about type II diabetes is that it used to be called “adult onset diabetes” due to the fact that it is from insulin resistance normally associated with people over the age of 40 with poor dietary lifestyles that consume way to much sugar for their bodies to keep.  However, in the recent years, the named “Adult onset diabetes” was changed to “Type II diabetes” for the simple fact that it is no longer just hitting just the older population.  Now pre-teens, teens, and young adults are all being impacted with this disease and we only have ourselves to blame for our lack of a proper, nourishing diet and lifestyle.  Therefore, I have compiled a list of facts about sugar and it’s effect on the young adult body, so you all can think twice before you allow your child to reach back in to that baggy of goodies for another handful of treats.

First of all, sugar suppresses the immune system for 24-48 hours post 1 teaspoon consumption.  Therefore, If your child is already fighting a flu virus or cold bug; just a little piece of candy will postpone their fight for at least another day.  Sugar also has effects of both hyperactivity, anxiety, and concentration issues in children (as we all are probably aware of), but it also has an opposite effect of causing drowsiness when children are coming off their sugar highs.  This is can greatly effect school performance since children are always going from highs to lows with their attitudes and hormones due to sugar.

Sugar blocks the body’s ability to absorb minerals that it needs like copper, chromium, potassium, etc.  This poor absorption in the body cause many extreme digestive issues for children that are really hard to deal with.  First of all it makes the stomach extremely acidic, killing all the good bacteria in the stomach.  This causes an outgrowth of yeast in the stomach allowing children to be very susceptible to numerous health concerns and diseases like autoimmune disesase, eczema, asthma, headaches & migrains, and food allergies.   It’s also been associated with bowel and bladder abnormalities, as well as intestinal issues like Crohn’s disease, ulcers, or ulcerative colitis.

Take care of your children today, and make sure you do not overdo the candy and bars this Halloween.  Also, if your child is have symptoms of sugar overconsumption or addiction, come see me today at Optimal Chiropractic and I will go over dietary, lifestyle, and health protocols to help your family reach their optimal state of health!