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I love sweets! Chocolate is a magical elixir as far as I’m concerned. But, after enjoying a big piece of cake I may as well curl up and sleep for an hour. Sugar affects my energy and my mood.

While scientific evidence does not suggest that sugar disrupts behavior, even in "hyperactive" children, all the evidence I’ve seen suggests otherwise. Like adults, when kids have sugar they want more sugar. Their little bodies are open receptive vessels and it’s my feeling that when sugar rockets through them it can shift them to overload. Yes we know sugar causes tooth decay but I believe too much of it can also cause kids to disengage from their natural spirituality and intuition as well as trigger their emotions to unnatural highs and lows.

According to a study published last year in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, many children get on average 20 percent of their daily calories from sugar. That means kids average 29 teaspoons of added refined sugar per day. And, every year, teenagers eat an average of 93 pounds of added refined sugar. Teens are struggling with their place in the world, spirituality, compassion, as well as experiencing hormonal induced mood swings. Sugar can blast their wobbly balance at this precarious stage.

For many of us there is an emotional charge around sugar-- sweets are symbolic of celebration and love. So, when we want to reward ourselves we might eat a few Oreos. When we are feeling lonely or unloved we may make a batch of warm chocolate pudding.

I’d like to ask you to become more aware of sugar and sweets and the energy around them in your life and the life of your family. I’d also like to encourage you to beginning cutting back on the sugar your child consumes, without making it a big deal. “No more sugar in this house” will only cause your kids to stash a few butterfingers just in case.

Sugar is tricky and shows up under the guise of glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, turbinado, honey, brown sugar, and molasses. Manufacturers are not required to list the percentage of sugar calories, so review the ingredient list. When sugar is listed as an ingredient on a food label, suspect that the product has too much of it. Many seemingly nutritious, pre-packaged foods offer the equivalent of candy. For instance:

*Two fruit roll-ups have two and one-half teaspoons of sugar -- the equivalent of a Halloween-sized pouch of Jolly Ranchers candy.

*A fruit-on-the-bottom, low-fat, apple-cinnamon yogurt has nine and one-half teaspoons of sugar -- the equivalent of three and one-half mini Three Musketeers candy bars.

*A small serving of nonfat vanilla yogurt has 13 teaspoons of sugar -- the equivalent of four mini-packets of M&Ms.

*A fruit snack, with its three and one-half teaspoons of sugar, has the equivalent of a packet of Skittles.

To follow are a few ideas to help you shift from a sugar heavy lifestyle to a healthier, energetic, and more spiritually open way of being:

*Switch from soft drinks, which are the biggest contributors of sugar in kid’s diets, to iced water. A can of regular soda contains approximately 9 teaspoons of sugar not to mention caffeine. Throw some water bottles into the freezer for your kids. They can grab one in the morning and sip cold water throughout the day. Add lemon to your water and drink it out of a special glass to give it that celebratory feel.

*Cut back on sweets, such as doughnuts, pies, cakes, cookies and ice cream. These foods are doubly harmful because of their high sugar and high fat content. Get creative with dessert and serve luscious fruit, especially plentiful this time of year.

*Use more spices in lieu of sugar. Cinnamon, vanilla, spearmint and anise provide a sweet taste to food without adding sugar or calories.

*Choose fruit juices with no 'added sugar'.

*Cut the amount of sugar a recipe calls for in half.

*Strawberries, raisins, grapes, pineapple chunks, oranges, bananas and apples are delicious and healthy. Make your own frozen juice bars or freeze a banana and roll it in nuts. Buy small containers of sugar free applesauce for easy portable snacks.

*Rather than buying sweets to celebrate a great high dive or packing up candy in your child’s camp duffel, pick up some small puzzles, cool key chains, licorice from the health food store, or even jokes you’ve written out on index cards.

*When you do eat sugar add protein to the meal as it somehow diffuses the negative effects of the sugar coursing through your body. Kathleen DesMaisons in her book “The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program” encourages readers to add protein to breakfast to create blood-sugar stability to help eliminate sugar cravings. Some protein breakfasts include: scrambled eggs and toast, pancakes with protein powder in the batter, toast with peanut butter, oatmeal with milk and fruit, hard boiled eggs on the way to work or camp.

Like everything, it’s important to remain balanced. I’ll always remember my daughter’s Kindergarten classmate who waited excitedly for her mom to come to class with treats to share in honor of her birthday. I was parent helping that morning and heard the little girl tell other kids that her mom would be in any minute with a surprise in honor of her big day. Finally her mom arrived with a platter of sliced apples and various cheeses. The child’s face fell as the expected cupcakes were glaringly missing.

Become conscious of sugar’s role in your families life and make shifts when possible to lessen the stress sugar puts on body, mind and spirit. I’m right there with you getting a grip on my “monkey mind” that chatters away about that last luscious date bar in the kitchen that’s calling my name. Sigh………………Guess I’ll brew up a pot of tea with mint from the garden instead.

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