The No Sugar Easter Basket
With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 now more than ever it is important to curb the sugars in your diet and those of your children and grandchilden.
My three sons range from age 43-36. How that happened I’ll never know. Anyways, I’ve learned a lot about the good and bad of nutrition since my boys were young.
According to Mayo Clinic “eating sugars of any kind has the potential to reduce your body’s defenses by 75% or more for four to six hours.”
Web MD says “Eating or drinking too much sugar curbs immune system cells that attack bacteria. This effect lasts for at least a few hours after downing a couple of sugary drinks.”
In a recent article from HuffPost they state ““Nutrient deficiencies can increase your risk level when warding off infection, and food items with high levels of refined sugar are usually nutritionally obsolete. Sugar triggers low-grade inflammation in the body and also increases the mass. This can contribute to diseases that are chronic in nature, things as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”
And the list goes on….article after article can be found on the web, in newspapers, blogs ect. on this topic.
How much sugar is in your favorite Easter Candy? Here’s an idea.
- Cadbury Egg – 26 grams or 6 teaspoons of sugar
- Jelly Beans – 10 each = 8 grams of sugar – But who stops at 10? 130 jelly beans = 100 grams or 25 teaspoons of sugar/8Tablespoons.
- 4 Peeps – 26 grams of or 6 teaspoons of sugar
- Lindt Milk Chocolate Gold Bunny – 1/3 size = 22 grams
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses – 1 serving = 18 grams
- Russell Stover Coconut Cream Egg – 1 serving = 16 grams
Now is the time to wake up and change up that Easter Basket. Here are some of my favorite ideas that I used to include in my boy’s baskets. I’ll give you some ideas for girls too, but I’ll have to guess at those. ? Some of the items can be interchangeable, you decide.
- Kites
- Matchbox cars
- Socks
- Army men
- Stickers
- Activity Books
- Colors
- Playdoh
- Legos
- Trail Mix
- Cheese and Cracker packets
- Gift cards
and for the girls:
- Hair ties, ribbons, head bands
- barbie doll
- barbie clothes
- dolls
- playing cards
- small puzzles
- jump rope
- bubbles
- sidewalk chalk
- small planting kits
- nuts (if they don’t have a food allergy)
- Raisins
These are just a few off the top of my head. There are many other items you can use to fill that basket to cut out the sugars.
Be creative and don’t feel guilty for not putting in the candy. You will save money at the dentist and you will be setting them up for a lifetime of better health by educating them now. Make this Easter the birth of a new healthy way of living.
Happy Easter everyone.
Love,
Linda
