Cutting out sugar - needing food ideas/alternatives for kids

[AndiE]

I've thought for a long time that excess sugar makes my boys little terrors. Their behaviour has been shocking the past few weeks (at home that is, out socially they are angels ), and I think a lot of it has to do with birthday parties, xmas parties, xmas etc during December in particular.

I don't willingly feed them crap - I try to steer them toward fruit, crackers, yoghurt etc ... but invariably they want biscuits, emelade (lemonade), milkshakes, ice cream etc. The stuff that should only be occasional treats, but at the moment they want and expect it several times daily (and whinge and whine incessantly if the treats aren't forthcoming). Their sugar cravings are getting to the point of ridiculous. Now that my eldest starts school this year, I've decided to heavily cut back on their sugar intake. I could do with some sugar-free time too as, like the boys, I've been to the same parties etc as them. Waay too much sweet stuff lately.

So, here's what they get now for snacks that's low in, or free of, sugar: Crackers, cheese, carrot sticks, popcorn, pretzels, cruskits.

Here's what they like to snack on that has a questionable amount of sugar (alterative suggestions welcomed/needed): Fruche, yoghurt, yoghurt ice cream, apples, bananas, strawberries, sultanas, watermelon, grapes

I'd love some more (tasty) snack ideas, plus any suggestions for sugar-free, tasty breakfasts (porridge is popular but they like it sweetened with sugar).

I'm happy for the boys to eat fruit - I don't feel the need to cut out every scrap of sugar from their diet as I figure they'd go ballistic if exposed to any degree of sugar after going cold turkey - but I feel like I need to find some alternative snacks/foods they may like to get them off the sugar craving roundabout.

Has anyone gone down this path? Any food suggestions, tips etc?

[Artechim]

We have gone low sugar for similar reasons. I don't limit fruit at all but stopped buying biscuits etc and stopped baking. There is one brand of muesli bar that I still buy that they really like and is the lowest sugar I can find.

They nagged for biscuits for a bit, but I just kept saying I forgot when I did the shopping and they would have to remind me on shopping day - then I would 'forget' again. They don't ask now.

For snacks they have fruit, cheese and crackers, kruskits, popcorn, raisins, canned fruit.

I am not fanatical about it and they eat junk at parties and had a bit with the lead up to Christmas but our day to day life doesn't include much sugar. I have some ice creams that are like mini paddle pops that they might have as a really special treat when it is hot. We get ice creams sometimes when we are out but I always get the baby size so there is only a couple of tablespoons of actual ice cream and they still consider that they have had a treat.

For breakfast mine have toast or weet-bix. I put half a teaspoon of raw sugar on it.

Lunch box is a sandwich, a yoghurt, an apple/banana/orange, muesli bar, raisins, chippies, and a fruit salad/another piece of fruit.

So basically we cut out the unnecessary extras like biscuits and baking and have smaller portions of the treats we do have.

[Frangipani Lou]

Some of the low sugar foods I've seen children enjoy in their lunchbox are; dips with veggies, jam made with fruit juice instead of sugar,easy yo homemade yoghurt, smoothies with fruit, yoghurt and milk, mountain bread with stuff on it.
I'm also reading an article on sugar at the mo in a new magazine called Nurture. It mentions that maple syrup is treated differently than sugar by the body so it could be an option to consider on breakfast.
Would muesli be an option for breakfast?

[Frangipani Lou]

Btw, I also have a very very low sugar diet. Sugar just doesn't agree with me.
Natvia (stevia) might be worth a look at too to replace the sweetness for now.

[Mildez]

Just subscribing as I want to reduce sugar also. Just as much for me as for the kids. I'm currently Bf and crave sugar and find it hard to resist but I find sugar makes me very sluggish and tired.

[Katters]

Like the page Sweet Poison on Facebook, or google the book- if you trawl through, it has all the info you need and more on how to replace, alternatives etc.
also have you considered clean eating? There are so many amazing clean recipes out there and you don't have to memorise lists of 'good foods'- your fridge will naturally become clean and healthy as you convert each meal over.

[MrsFabuloso]

What about smoothies with fruit. I make them with frozen fruit and soy or almond milk rather than cows milk, just for something a little different for the kids, add some nut butter and they taste really yummy!! I sometimes add yogurt too (we only eat jalna yogurt, which is much more natural and doesn't have so much sugar or unnatural additives like other yogurts). I make ice blocks out of the smoothie mixture too. Pancakes with no sugar added, with fresh or stewed fruit on top. Muffins made with sulfide free, stewed dried fruits or extra ripe bananas add alot of sweetness too. Savoury muffins and slices. Home made hot chips (made with potato/sweet pot/pumpkin/carrots/parsnips...), tortilla/mountain bread chips (bread cut up into chip sizes and baked til crispy), fruit kebabs with yogurt as a dip, dips for veggie sticks/chips/crackers like hummus/natural nut butters/tzatzaki/avocado/salsa, nuts/seeds/trail mix...

[Novella]

My girls like porridge cooked with half a diced apple in it, natural sugar rather than refined.mi like to add cinnamon to mine

Cheese and crackers, Cold zucchini slice, tuna

My girls love 'everything on a plate' a selection of raw veg, fruit, cheese, cold meat, dried fruit and whatever I need to use up! They always eat a better range if they get to pick it from a platter

Air popped pop corn, I like it with Moroccan seasoning

[onthefly]

Just from personal experience, I would go easy on the fruit. I used to think my kids went nuts on sugar, but have recently found that it doesn't have anywhere near the effect of other things that tend to come with sugar.

[Arcadia]

I would also watch grapes and dried fruit because they are very high in sugar (I banned grapes from our house).

I am sugar free and I snack on corn chips, home made dis, carrot and cucumber sticks, nuts and bread and butter.

If you don't buy the food, they will stop asking. It's so hard when they whine for it, but i just say I can't afford it because I need my money for real food. What about cold cooked sausages, cold quiche, corn thins with Vegemite, or plain yogurt and blueberries (since they are low in sugar).

Good luck.

[meow]

We only eat a few natural sweeteners- fresh fruit, dried fruit (very minimal though) and raw honey. I also try to balance the sugar in them by making sure we have some fat at the same time.

I make honey sweetened coconut flour cakes and biscuits. Check out a lot of the paleo blogs for good recipes. Paleo also uses maple syrup which is another good sweetener as it's a whole food and has the minerals retained that help the body balance the necessary minerals needed to process the sugar.

We still go very easy on these things though. My kids get about 1/4 to 1/2 a piece of fresh fruit a day and 1 or 2 small pieces of cake.

[errie]

I have been baking sugar free banana muffins using whole meal flour. I buy colorful paper cup cake cases so they look exciting. Kids love em! So do the grown ups...

[AndiE]

Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

While I already give the kids some of what has been suggested, there are some other great ideas. I had no idea that maple syrup could be an alternative.

I was aware that some fruit can be quite high in sugar - grapes especially. But like many kids, my (older) pair will only eat certain fruits - and grapes and watermelon are two of them.

I have a friend who is into the Sweet Poison books, and while I dramatically want to reduce sugar I don't know if I want to go to the extremes of removing ALL sugar. And yes MadB, I also think it's not just the sugar content, it's also the other preservatives, flavourings, colourings etc associated with sugar-heavy products.

Wish me luck, I have to start somewhere and sometime. DS2 had a complete meltdown this afternoon - an absolute doozy of a tanty - and while his behaviour may not be 100pc sugar related, I'm convinced it's having an impact.

Thanks again