Sugar Free for Kids

[Anonymous]

Do you ever give your child sugar-free food or drinks? Im curious if there is a health risk to this.

[Anonymous]

No. I don't want to feed them artificial sweeteners; I just cut back on sweets in general (e.g., limit juice in favor of water).

[Anonymous]

If it's reduced sugar- no- but I'm personally wary of giving my young kids a sugar substitute. I particularly abhor the practice of Capri Sun waters- it states it's water with asplash of juice- but you have to dig to see it has a an artificial sweetener..

[zumbamama]

Those artificial sweeteners taste awful to me...does anyone else get that weird after taste? I'd rather use a miniscule amount of organic sugar.

[Anonymous]

I asked because my kids like to drink my Crystal Lite...I always tell them no, but those naughty children sneak it.

[Anonymous]

There have been some studies, and I do personally believe, that artificial sweeteners have contributed to our obesity problem. I find they make me hungry for no apparent reason, and if I drink them, I tend to eat more. If I cut them out entirely (i was a diet coke addict), I drop weight like crazy.

For that reason alone, I would never give them to my child. Watered down juice, freshly brewed iced tea (no sugar, decaf if you like), "icy water" (my DC gets a kick out of ice cubes), and milk are all we drink. I'm not super-militant about foods, but I am about this.

Sugar we add is fine. It's the prepackaged, sugar-added stuff that's awful. And high fructose corn syrup is horrible too.

Make some homemade lemonade for a great treat. Nowhere near as sweet as that CountryTyme or whatever it's called.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't drink Crystal Lite, and I'd never give it to my kids. It's full of chemicals. Drink watered down juice or add stevia if you need something sweeter. We have no desserts, no candy, no cookies, no cakes (except on birthdays or when we have friends over for dinner). I used to be addicted to sugar, but once I started reading about the damage sugar does to your body (and especially to children's developing bodies), I gradually cut it down to almost nothing.

I read recently that artificial sweeteners make you gain weight, as a PP noted. I'd keep my entire family away from them, especially children.

[Anonymous]

No way in h*ll. My mom and sister down diet sodas and other sugar-free drinks, and keep getting fatter and fatter. Plus, I find that most of what they cook and eat is too sweet for my palette. I'm convinced the sugar-free stuff screws up the taste buds and contributes to obesity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way in h*ll. My mom and sister down diet sodas and other sugar-free drinks, and keep getting fatter and fatter. Plus, I find that most of what they cook and eat is too sweet for my palette. I'm convinced the sugar-free stuff screws up the taste buds and contributes to obesity.

YES YES YES! I swear that's true, as a former Diet Coke addict (I'm the PP above who mentioned my former addiction).

The more natural you can go, the better. Artificial sweeteners made me feel bad, feel tired, eat poorly. Your body thinks you are getting sweet stuff (calories) and then you fool it. So it almost seems to crave "more" sweet stuff, and you end up wanting sugar to balance out the artificial crap you've set in motion. There's no need to put our children through this.

[Anonymous]

Im the Crystal Lite poster. So, what do you guys drink? I never drink soda. We usually drink water or Crystal lite. Sometimes water gets boring so we spice it up with the CL. But if the SF is bad, what would you drink?

[Anonymous]

juice
lemonade
iced tea
milk
fruit shakes

[Anonymous]

decaf iced tea.