Don't Be Weird - Let's Talk Added Sugars

Today we are talking about the complex topic of added sugars. This is a conversation we have with EVERY single client that we have! The reality is, added sugar is in pretty much everything so it is a good idea to build awareness and be mindful of it. In this episode we chat about how to give you yourself a healthy boundary with added sugar without being restrictive. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

Featured Mocktails: 

Salud

SmartFruit

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

Baylee: 0:22

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey

Brianna: 0:27

This is Brianna.

Baylee: 0:28

this week I am drinking, so the Sams Club samples rot me in. They had, it's like a fruit fruit puree drink. It's called Smart fruit Ingredients. Good, like it's just fruit purees. And then the one I got actually had aloe vera in it. I was like, you know what? We'll, we'll get some. And Gannon really liked it, so I did that, mixed it with water, and then some vanilla collagen,

Brianna: 0:53

That sounds good.

Baylee: 0:54

a little tropical, tasty. It's like a papaya flavor and mango and all these other things.

Brianna: 0:59

Yeah. I'm doing, I thought these were new. I don't think they are because I saw'em at my grocery store and then I saw them everywhere at Target. called like Salud. I have like a a little skull on'em, but I got the energy. Last week I did like an immunity one, and this week I did and focus. So it has like L-theanine, B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, and then a little bit of caffeine. It's pretty good. Um, I also have a churro flavor.

Baylee: 1:25

Churro.

Brianna: 1:26

Yeah. Which is really weird'cause you add it to water, but it tastes very good, but it's thin. It's weird.

Baylee: 1:33

hmm.

Brianna: 1:33

I love it. Victor's drinking it.'cause I was like, I don't know if I can, maybe if I mix it with like a protein shake or something, it would taste good. But the whole

Baylee: 1:40

Like banana and everything. Yeah,

Brianna: 1:42

Yeah. I just can't, it's weird, but it does taste good. Yeah.

Baylee: 1:47

be interesting. Well, today we're talking about, what are we calling this one? Like sugar with the kids or just like sugar relationships in general. I don't know.

Brianna: 1:58

Yeah, your kid's relationship with sugar, that's kind of long, but I like Yeah.

Baylee: 2:04

something like that. But I know not everyone listening has kids, and so I think this is still important for everyone because we're gonna talk about your kids' relationship with this, but also I think it pertains to your relationship with sugar in general and.

Brianna: 2:21

Yeah.

Baylee: 2:22

I think you could take some time to reflect on, okay, what things, what did this look like when I was growing up? How is it impacting me now? So even if you don't have kids, I think this is still a good episode for you. Maybe we shouldn't put that about kids in the titles. That way we get you, we get you guys in too.

Brianna: 2:42

Yeah, that's a good idea. Yeah, because it's true. If you don't have kids, you were once a kid and your relationship with food and sugar was probably formed because of certain things. So it applies to everybody. Yeah.

Baylee: 2:54

Yeah, so when it comes to sugar. We are naturally drawn to sweet flavors. It's just a biological preference we have, and the issue isn't that sugar is just like this terrible thing that's gonna make you die. But it's hidden in so many foods. We are getting an overabundance than what we were because I mean, think back hundreds of years ago, like no one was just sitting eating a little Debbie cake. Yogurt

Brianna: 3:27

Sitting down all day, you know

Baylee: 3:28

yeah, the sitting down part too, like yogurt was yogurt. It didn't have all the added sugar. It wasn't like a yogurt where it's got quite a bit of added sugars in it. So I think things have changed a lot. And so that's where we've kind of had to adapt maybe how we talk about sugar, how we introduce sugar even to kids, because. Everything's different, but sugar, it affects your energy, affects your gut health and immune function. And overall it's gonna affect your long-term taste preferences. And this is when, if you are someone who's used to doing like a creamer without a sugars or like the Starbucks drinks, so all these different things that have the higher added sugars and you're like, oh, this tastes gross. Doing it the other way, it's because your taste buds are already expecting that high amount.

Brianna: 4:18

Yeah, because if you were to take a break from it for a while and then go back, you'd be like, oh my gosh, this is so sweet. Like this is, how was I just drinking this all the time? It's just because you're used to it, you've adapted to it. So I think that. That's one thing to really think about is your taste buds change, and if you're just like, Nope, I have a major sweet tooth, I can't not have one. There's probably a couple things going on there, aside from your preference, but also your taste buds can adapt. So if you start eating less sugar, you will like things less sweet percent.

Baylee: 4:50

Yeah, and so something to think about too, part of how we talked about like. A lot of things that we know now. It's because of how we've grown up. And I mean, when it comes to sugar, just think about how many times either you were rewarded or you reward your kids with sweets. It's like after a game, you go out for ice cream. If you got a good grade, you got ice cream. If you're being quiet, oh, you get a piece of candy when at the checkout, without even realizing it. We teach kids to associate. Sugar with comfort, reward and emotion overall. And so I mentioned like we're kind of hardwired from birth to prefer like sweeter things. It's our innate preference and it's almost like it evolves to a survival mechanism. Sweetness is actually signals like safe energy rich foods. So like. If you've ever tasted breast milk before, it's actually pretty sweet. It tastes like cheerio milk, but like bitterness or sourness is often indicated by like toxins or spoiled, spoiled food. So we developed kind of like a natural aversion to that. But babies are born liking sweet taste, but newborns will smile or even relax when given something sweet, even before they've really learned. What food is? Human breast milk contains lactose and natural sugar. Because the breast milk is often like first taste experience, it reinforces that sweetness as comfort, safety, and nourishing. Not to say that it's bad,

Brianna: 6:25

No.

Baylee: 6:26

not. Again, we're not saying sugar at all throughout this whole thing that's bad. It's the relationship around it and the relationship we're forming with always rewarding with sugar.

Brianna: 6:37

Yeah, it's your body's main fuel source, so of course you are going to have a preference for that. And I mean, I've gone back and forth about like, should we reward with food? Should we not? I don't think it's always terribly bad because I do kind of look at like. Going for a sweet treat as like something we don't do all the time, right? Like I enjoy it. Like I wanna go out for a sweet treat. Okay. It's all about how you do it. So maybe like over rewarding could be a reason why your kids are always like wanting it. Or under rewarding too, I would say is a big one because restriction always backfires. So banning sugar completely, it creates this like obsession or like secrecy or this like taboo, like I shouldn't have it. Your kids are gonna want it. So. Kids who are overly restricted tend to overconsume either when they finally get access to sweets or even as adults, like my husband was somebody where like his dad never let him have sugar.'cause he is like, oh, he's bouncing off the walls. I'm like fully convinced. That's why my husband has like around sugar, know? But the key is balance and awareness, not fear. So like we de definitely like demonize sugar, but. You were talking about this in your stories too, and I definitely relate when you kind of just teach your kids like, Hey, this is a food that it does this for you, right? It's gonna give you lots of energy. So maybe you don't want that when you're trying to like sit still and behave or like when you're trying to go to bed or if you're not gonna go move around your body as much. Like it's gonna hurt your belly if you have too much of it. So like stop eating it when you're satisfied. Like my kids have no problem being like, I'm done with this. Or like. My 12-year-old has been at a birthday party and been like, no, I don't really want the cupcake. Simply'cause like like how it makes him feel. He doesn't like the frosting. And that's not, because I was like, you can't have it. I'm just like, oh, okay. And it's nice to know, like we inherently do things like out of survival. If we know something does not make us feel good, we're not gonna keep doing it. Unless we've been heavily restricted, then you just want it.'cause then it's like. I shouldn't be having this. It just, it's not grounds for a healthy relationship, and I think we're making it more complicated. So

Baylee: 8:48

I

Brianna: 8:48

who do that. I'm

Baylee: 8:50

Exactly, and I think the same thing with our adult clients is the more you focus on restriction, the more you're like, I want this, I want this. The more you focus on just like a little bit of guidance, and again, I mean we've talked about this before, we've just gotten so extreme with everything that we like anything that has structure around it feels like restriction. It's not restriction sometimes, I mean. He's 15, almost 16 months old, right? October. Yeah. Yeah. Almost 16 months old. And so like he, he's still learning about a lot of things, so yes. I don't make him a plate of cake. If we're having cake. Now, if we're eating cake and I decide to have some, he comes up to me and he's like reaching for it. I'll give him a bite. There's times he's just like one bite and he's done his first birthday cake. So we did no out of sugars until he turned one.

Brianna: 9:47

Mm-hmm.

Baylee: 9:48

He has idea he's not missing out on life, I promise you he is not missing out. He didn't even like the icing. No, he didn't like the cake. Like I gave him a piece of cake, he spit it out.

Brianna: 9:58

Yeah.

Baylee: 9:59

no, but we, I think what causes these issues in adulthood is when we have been conditioned that it's No, no, no, it's bad for you. And then we're so resistant to just eat broccoli. But it's like, oh, we didn't eat our broccoli, but we have enough room to eat this cake. We put these things on a hierarchy and it creates a really poor relationship with food. And I've made a post before that was like, not to roll, pull any feathers, but you can actually survive without soda. And so I commented back and they're like, we know this, but we love, and I'm like, okay. And that's fine, but if you have goals and you're exhausted and you have insulin resistance.

Brianna: 10:42

Yeah.

Baylee: 10:44

I mean, cutting out soda could be one of the easiest things you could

Brianna: 10:48

I. There's

Baylee: 10:49

It's a habit.

Brianna: 10:50

with, there's people I work with where I'm like, just stop soda. I don't care anything else that you're doing. And their blood sugar gets so much better. It's

Baylee: 10:58

It's a liquid sugar.

Brianna: 10:59

Yeah, it's so much added sugar at once. And I think that's something to like notice and like you said. Anything with a boundary can feel restrictive. It shouldn't, like you know how much, like I can't tell you how many people that I'm like, Hey, the recommendation is 25 grams of added sugar or less a day. They're like, what? It's okay to know that. And I like to like think of it as like an allowance. You have wait, you have room to spend for that sugar. Start to build awareness of like, what the heck has added sugar in it? Do I really wanna be wasting my sugar on like a yogurt or ketchup? Probably not.'cause I really like ice cream. Or I want this every now and then. So thinking like, where do I wanna spend it and what the heck has sugar in it?

Baylee: 11:41

Mm-hmm.

Brianna: 11:42

And then just that is a normal relationship, right? Just like your people probably don't love broccoli and carrots like. Out of intuition. Okay, but you eat it.'cause you know it's good for me. I need this from it. That's not a bad thing to have. We just don't know how to have boundaries. how to do that. And then I, I do see that with some parents too, where it's like they can have it whenever they want. And I do think like we do need to help give them boundaries. Okay. As

Baylee: 12:08

agree.

Brianna: 12:08

That's what we do. So like for me, I don't really buy things that have a lot of added sugar. Like we've never done juice. We don't really do desserts or cookies, but like if we go out somewhere and it's there, I'm not weird about it. I'm like, yeah, have Because I know they're not getting like 50 grams of added sugar at home every day with the stuff they're eating,

Baylee: 12:25

Mm-hmm.

Brianna: 12:25

you know? And then it's like, like my oldest, the first time he tried soda, he thought he was dying and I was like, proud moment. He like hates so. He was like, why is it spicy? Like it's carbonated. It's, I hate it. I was like, cool. I'm like my middle one. He does like soda more, but he like never gets it. And he's one of these where he learned his lesson. He had like two sprites back to back and was like, I'm gonna vomit. And I was like, did we learn

Baylee: 12:49

Now, you know?

Brianna: 12:50

Did we learn? He is like, yeah, I'm, I'm probably not gonna do that next time. I'm cool.

Baylee: 12:55

And this is a perfect example because I know I'm not at this stage yet where like gannon's, like I need a soda, but he liked soda. But that doesn't mean you're going out and buying it every week at the grocery store. As a parent, you have a responsibility to provide and they might not always like it, but when you just make the other foods normal,

Brianna: 13:18

Yeah,

Baylee: 13:19

you're good. It's not. So it might be a struggle some days, but it's okay to say no, and it's okay to help your kids set boundaries and understand their body. So. When you're trying to build this healthy relationship, normalize it. Like include small amounts of sweetss, occasionally make it a part of life and not like this forbidden thing. So, okay, we're at a birthday party, let's eat, let's get some lunch first. And then, yeah, if you want a piece of cake, have a piece of cake. Talk about how it makes them feel, not it's good or it's bad. How's your stomach feel? How's your energy feel? your head hurt? Things like that. It could be something you could bring up and just like teaching that balance early. Use the add not restrict approach. So pairing sugar with like nutrient dense foods and recognizing that you have more control than what you think. Something like yogurt, and again, this is for adults too, like if you're used to, I mean, let's go a Go-Gurt type yogurt and you switch to a Greek yogurt, it's gonna be very different. Try it more than once. Your taste buds can adapt and you might actually enjoy it if you allow yourself to enjoy, instead of just being like, oh, I have to eat this.

Brianna: 14:31

Or, oh, this is a grocer option. of course, if you're going in with that attitude. Yeah, and I would say this is, it's so important because, and it's with everything, right? Like alcohol, phones. All the other things in life, you have to give boundaries for yourself and your kids because eventually they're gonna grow up and they're gonna be outta, I think about this,'cause I have a friend from high school, not really, it was like an acquaintance. She is obsessed with every single thing that her kids get. It has be this has to be that. And I was like, just so she knows in two years her son's gonna go to high school and he's gonna be living off of talkies and like big red. Okay, that's what he's do. And he's gonna go batshit crazy because he is gonna be like, oh my God, I've never had a talkie in my life. Instead of being like, just normalize it, you know? Like you have to

Baylee: 15:24

Okay. What's a talk? Hold on.

Brianna: 15:26

Oh my gosh. They're kind of like hot Cheetos, but they're like rolled up apparently about this. They're not good. They're not good

Baylee: 15:33

That sounds disgusting.

Brianna: 15:34

not good for you. They don't taste good. They have like a blue flavor that I'm just like, blue powder. It's not good for you, but. Kids that age, like love it. Especially if they don't at home, right? And so it's like, okay, I have to, you have to teach our kids. And sometimes ourselves, like I was definitely raised in a household where it was like, you must have this before this, like dessert was on a pedestal. I had to kinda rewire myself and be like, oh, this is why I want that when I'm feeling bad. Or this is why I'm finishing all of my food even though I'm full. Because I want that. Like I, you have to re, you know.

Baylee: 16:07

Mm-hmm.

Brianna: 16:07

think like, am I setting my kids up for success to really be

Baylee: 16:11

I don't. Exactly, and I don't ever remember having like pressure to finish food. I was a very stubborn child, I've been told, and a very particular eater. So like I just like wouldn't eat. I could care less if I got dessert or not as ingar. And you know what? I turned out fine. So if you're struggling with your kiddos right now. They're probably gonna be okay. feel like you have to give in and give them chocolate chips for dinner and stuff like that. As long as you are providing the food, they are not gonna starve. They will be. Okay. And you, you're teaching'em the balance, teaching'em not to be weirdos that it's okay to eat, but we also, we don't need ice cream for dinner type of thing.

Brianna: 16:56

no,

Baylee: 16:56

Keep it

Brianna: 16:57

great even as an adult. We know this.

Baylee: 17:01

And model it for yourself. Kids are gonna watch everything you do, and if they see you enjoying dessert, mindfully without guilt, that becomes their norm. And if they also see you skipping meals, that becomes their norm. If they see you skipping the broccoli, that becomes their norm. So if you wanna do something, you have to also do it for yourself.

Brianna: 17:22

Yeah. And this conversation is gonna come up because it's in a lot of like, I mean, they kind of teach like. The food pyramid or MyPlate and stuff like in pe I think that's like something they're supposed to like teach now. And so like my youngest came home and he was like, is this healthy? Is this bad? And I was like, okay, we gotta like redo how we think this. I'm like, how do you feel after you eat something like this? Like how would you feel if you just ate like all those cookies and then you had to go like run outside, you know?

Baylee: 17:50

Mm-hmm.

Brianna: 17:51

It's not that it's bad, it's just that whole like healthy, not healthy, good, bad. I think that's really where the problem is. And then we as humans do not know how to live in the in-between.

Baylee: 18:00

Yep. We put things on the pedestal and then the brownies look too shiny. But I promise you, if you eat a brownie every single day, three times a day, you're gonna get tired of it because it's normalized. It's not on this shiny pedestal anymore.

Brianna: 18:16

Yeah. It's just, I'm like, Hmm, I don't really want it. I had that came up with someone literally this morning. She was like, it's so weird. I've had the Trader Joe's ice creams in my freezer all week, and she's like, I haven't even thought of it. And she's like, I never knew that would be me. I was

Baylee: 18:29

So many people say that after working with us, it's actually crazy because no one believes you at first. And then they come back, I would say between three to six weeks and they're like, okay, this is actually weird, but, and I'm like, yeah, have

Brianna: 18:41

like, I had one small one and I didn't want another one. It was so weird. I was like, yeah.

Baylee: 18:47

Or it's like you can take a bite and then you just walk away you're like,

Brianna: 18:51

Yeah. She said that. She's like, I used to have a friend that was like one or two bites of dessert, and like, that's super rich. I'm done. She was like, I thought she was crazy. And she's oh, it's me. And I was like, yeah. Weird. It's weird how that works. Mm-hmm.

Baylee: 19:03

Yes. So we want you to normalize that. We're not trying to raise kids that never eat sugar. We're trying to raise kids who can walk into a birthday party, enjoy a cupcake, and move on without guilt or obsession. That is what real balance is, and as adults. Again, these are things that we sometimes need to relearn too, is how to have this balance and not feel so off and on. And I think especially if you have been working on weight loss for a long time, you've probably gone through programs that say donate, add sugars, and yes, like through our programs and our teachings, like I don't tell you like, oh yeah, go eat a brownie tonight. No one needs to be told to eat added sugar. It's like, is providing health benefits? No, but it's okay. I'm not gonna scrutinize you for

Brianna: 19:55

Yeah. I'm not gonna yell at you because I've had a brownie myself

Baylee: 19:59

Yes.

Brianna: 19:59

and I get it. Yeah.

Baylee: 20:02

This, I think Cgn could be helpful here too because just to build awareness around added sugars, because maybe you have like a little something at work and then maybe have a little something at dinner, and then maybe something at night. You're like, oh, three blood sugar spikes within a day. So

Brianna: 20:16

realize why you're having those constant cravings all day and feeling great.

Baylee: 20:22

you're not sleeping. Yep.

Brianna: 20:23

Mm-hmm.

Baylee: 20:25

So awareness, create balance. Don't be weird with your sugar.

Brianna: 20:29

Yeah. Don't be weird. I like that. Don't make it weird,

Baylee: 20:32

Don't be weird. Maybe that to be our new merch.

Brianna: 20:35

Yeah. Don't be weird.

Baylee: 20:37

New merch. We haven't even started our first

Brianna: 20:39

New Mer, new merch idea to go with our past merch idea that we still have not done.

Baylee: 20:45

Yep.

Brianna: 20:46

Go us. Go us. Go.

Baylee: 20:48

This episode.