From Candy to Kale
I love gummy bears! And, quite honestly, over the years, I have become a self-proclaimed gummy bear connoisseur. A family friend introduced my brother and me to Haribo gummy bears when we were kids. And ever since, I have had a love affair with those colorful, chewy (but not stick to your teeth chewy), sweet yet tangy little loveable bears.
What’s wrong with this picture? Right, a culinary nutritionist who has devoted her life’s work to teaching people about health supportive food lifestyle is talking about her love of candy. Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
I just wrote an article for my holiday newsletter entitled You and Your Kids: How Much Health Food is Too Much? An excerpt:
I picked my older son Jack up from school the other day to find him wearing a necklace made of Frootloops (artificially colored “cereal” that is literally the bane of my existence). OK, I will openly admit that I took a slightly not-so-silent gasp as he ran over to me filled with pride over his creation. I pulled it together just in time to meet his enthusiasm with a smile at the same time thinking, “OMG, my kid is wearing a necklace made of “food” with carcinogenic dyes.”
So, that evening Jack’s culinary nutritionist-mom (me, that is) decided to email his teacher to “just throw out there” that in the event that she has food related activities in the class, I am happy to make suggestions for the healthiest products on the market to use (ie. New Morning Fruit-e-O’s versus Frootloops). I received a very nice e mail back from her stating in not so many words that to teach kids about what is healthy, they also need to experience what is not healthy. Point taken.
This whole experience triggered a very important thought process for me: How much “health food” is too much? A weird question posed by a person who devotes her life to teaching people about eating healthfully. But, at the same time a very important question to ask and address. And one I deal with every day in my work and personal life.
First, back to the gummy bears. Yes, Haribo does have those carcinogenic dyes* in them, the same ones that Frootloops have, but I have come to the conclusion, after wearing many different food lifestyle hats, that a little junk can’t hurt. In fact, it is actually healthy. OMG! What a weird thought! Even so, I must add that I do have a little Jewish guilt when I eat those dyes (which comprise less than .1% of my diet).
Second, I will have you all know that I love kale! It is an acquired taste for some but raw and if cooked just right, it’s delicious (and filled with all that good stuff our bodies need). I love it raw in salads (finely chopped); sautéed in olive oil and garlic with a little lemon; and roughly chopped with onions and cooked in a little olive oil, broth and white vinegar with a touch of salt.
So, I guess the big question is (and appropriately so post-Holidays): How do you balance junk food with healthy food?
Firstly and most importantly, I want to point out that it differs for everyone. To some, junk foods are chips, candy, cookie, cakes, beverages and more that are made with “fake” ingredients (dyes, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives) and to others junk foods are the same foods with natural ingredients. To me, the first is SUPER JUNK and the latter is JUST JUNK. My choice: SUPER JUNK is for once in a while and JUST JUNK is OK in small doses everyday.
I am big on Conscious Eating. And the way I encourage my clients to become conscious eaters is to keep a food diary. They eat, write down what they are eating then look at what they have eaten. After about two days, they don’t like what they see. Thus, they start thinking about what they are putting in those precious bodies of theirs. So, just a little suggestion for all of you who want to assess the “candy” (junk food) and “kale” (healthy food) in your food lifestyle:
• Keep a food diary for one week
• When complete, highlight “candy” in one color and “kale” in another
• Assess the results, determine what you want to change and write it down
• Then ask yourself, can I replace any of the “candy” with the “kale” or can I replace the SUPER JUNK with JUST JUNK (the healthier JUNK choice)
Life is about balance. Moderation is my mantra!
I can’t end this article without adding that I have finally found the perfect natural and organic gummy bear thanks to Yummy Earth! It is even better than Haribo. My SUPER JUNK is now JUST JUNK. I can have my candy and eat it too, all guilt-free!!!
Finally, for those of you who love “candy” (literally), check out www.naturalcandystore.com. An amazing resource!
*The FDA will argue that food dyes are GRAS—Generally Recognized as Safe. Don’t know about you, but I want to eat (99.9% of the time) things that are safe versus generally recognized as safe?
- Posted by Stefanie on January 7, 2010 at 5:00 am
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Tagged as: children, family, nutrition
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I love this post!
Whilst I try to eat a healthy diet (vegan, alot of raw but not quite high raw) I also LOVE haribo. It’s a difficult addiction to break but somehow if JUST JUNK is ok in moderation then it feels a little easier to limit it, if that makes sense? Now I’m just going to have to find the healthy haribo equivalent over here in the UK… I think I’ll try that food diary idea for a week too. Thanks Stefanie
Love this post!!! Great insight, never thought of “junk” that way!!
I love your post!
I agree that life is about balance and I’m gonna start using your moderation mantra as well. I especially need to do it when it comes to feeding my 2 little ones. I need to back off a bit and let them have more junk sometimes.
Balance… balance.. balance..
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
I LOVE this post! I have very similar reactions to food activities done in schools. FYI: A great company for great gummy bears is Surf Sweets….a great treat, but not as bad at the “other” ones.
Hi Stefanie,
Happy New Year! LOVE this post and am grateful for the resource! As always, insightful! Best, Rachel
I really enjoyed this post. It touched on an issue that I have been giving a lot of thought to. I’m trying not to turn my daughters into health food fanatics.
This is such a great post. I struggled with how to approach this with my (now 6-year-old) daughter – esp. in light of the high incidence of eating disorders among girls, etc. I have let her have some super junk (Froot Loops, etc.) and while she’s been excited to try it, she never really ends up liking it – and always comes back to much more healthy eating. She does love her some sugar, so we do have some candies & other nutrient-free treats, but she won’t even buy school lunch anymore b/c she thinks it tastes awful. But she came to that on her own, which, as most of us w/kids know, is the best way!
I think we all strive to do the best we can. I think when you get into trouble is when you place the nevers into you mind. I will never again have wine??? gasp ! I will never again have salted Gummies try that.. divine use fleur de Sel the really good 20 buck salt and sprinkle it.. foodies are dropping like flies at this one.. but it is divine. Never makes us crave. And sometimes the middle road. The taste, the no restrictions makes it easier for us to suceed. I love this blog.. I can so see it. My vet gave my huskies a Corn treat. She spit it out.. but I like to have stroked. Not the same as a kid but I was proud Saatchi didn’t make a liar out of me like normal when I told the doc she doesn’t eat filler foods.. But a little meat she gets.. way not a kid but as close as I have for now. Modertaion can change you life. Thanks for the blog. I loved it. Callie
sadly I have learned I can’t really control myself with white sugar even though it’s organic. so i make my own raw treats that are still sweet but don’t make me nutso. but if i had a kid i would let him/her experiment with the “Healthier” vegan junk food from time to time. they can usually tell too much if they eat healthy most of the time.
Love this post. I must admit my passion for gummy bears…well; I love the things. But I just watched my teenaged daughter down a mango and some hummus on wheat crackers…SO I’m proud that I can say despite my love for the little gummy gods; I’ve done SOMETHING right! Great article!
Thank you all, really. Something I am in constant conversation with as it relates to myself, my kids and my clients. Glad I could share. Your insights are warm and lovely. Thank you!!!
So excited you love our YummyEarth Gummy Bears. My husband and another dad friend started YummyEarth a few years ago to make healthier treats for our kids. We have now have organic lollipops, candy drops, gummy bears and gummy worms. YUMMY!
Yummy Earth Mama…I am with you all the way!!! I know all of your products well and stand by them. Have a case of the gummy bears tucked away for that little treat once in a while. Beautiful work. Kudos to your husband and his friend.
My junk food ends up being things like organic potato chips with sea salt. Come to think of it, that’s about it. My cravings tend toward the savory, seldom sweet, foods like Curry Tofu and Spring Rolls (vegan). In fact, my passion lately is for a local Chinese vegetarian restaurant’s Curry Spring Rolls. To. Die. For!
Sweets? Occasionally I hit up the vegan cookies at Whole Foods. Or maybe Blueberry Fig Newtons.
Should I eat more JUNK? I might be lacking actually. I gave up the gummy bears when I realized they contained gelatin. I might need to check out the organic version, reading the label well of course. I’m afraid I can’t turn off my conscious eating now that I’ve begun (a year and a half being vegan, three and a half years being vegetarian).
Great post…
When our family began eating healthier, children did much of the research. They now ‘request’ organic fairtrade chocolate and other ‘healthy’ junk food for their Easter baskets and Christmas stockings. High fructose corn syrup is the bane of their existence. They absolutely will not eat anything that contains HFC. Luckily there are many organic, veg and vegan choices for treats and yes, it is still sugar but atleast we know it doesn’t come from GMO’s sources or chemicals. Thank goodness there are choices now for even healthy(er) ‘junk’ food!
We homeschooled our daughters, and we live on an organic farm, so healthy eating was always a given. Now that they are 15 and 17, they have developed their own sensibility for good food, and more often than not, they choose it. But sometimes with friends, they do eat fast food, and we have had to just let that happen, and loosen the reigns so to speak… They now understand that they don’t feel good if they go too long eating processed or restaurant foods.
Another aspect of raising healthy teens is that we started to become willing to buy more organic mac and chz, newman-os, etc… as way for them to feel “normal” and circumvent a rebellion against what teenagers might look at as a too-austere food scene at home.
But the fact that they love salads, drink juice, love to cook from scratch, and so on makes us very happy.
Great post. Your child’s teach had good comeback, however, I’m getting tired of all the food that’s in my child’s classroom and she’s not even in grade 1 yet! Treats for this, treats for that. She gets plenty of treats at home, at parties, etc. I would like some boundaries.
Great post and so true to!
Love what all of you are writing. Life is about balance. I believe it is all about educating ourselves and our children so when we all make choices we truly understand what those choices are. COntinue to teach those kids!!! They are our future!
I really believe that keeping our kids’ bodies clean is the greatest gift we can give them to reach their highest potentional. Our son is so sensitive to sugar and food coloring that I have to be very strict about it, while at the same time not giving anyone too hard a time if he gets it at a party or at camp. Now that he’s 7 and having to make choices for himself when we’re not there, we’ve found that really explaining why junk is junk helps him to make healthy choices. He makes the connection between his tummy hurting and too much junk at a birthday party.For kids who are sensitive, I think clear and frank communication about why it’s so important to avoid the junk can take them a long way. We’ve gotten a lot of great info at feingold.org about artificial additives and kids behavior.
Great post! Kale chips rule!