Be Wise With Easter Candy
Easter is the second most candy filled holiday of the year.
Chances are you'll have some Easter candy before the holidays out.
While I generally don't eat candy, a few peanut butter eggs are irresistible.
So does this fit in with good nutrition? With each person receiving about 1 pound of chocolate this Easter, we need to look at the rationale of eating that much candy.
Studies have shown that the majority of chocolate eaten at Easter is milk chocolate.
We already discussed before that dark chocolate is the healthier variety, and milk chocolate being higher in sugar.
And with one milk chocolate Easter Bunny having an astounding 75 to 100 g of sugar, we really need to be careful.
To put that in perspective, that one Easter Bunny is like feeding your child 20 to 25 teaspoons of sugar.
Each Peep is about 2 teaspoons of sugar and each jellybean is about 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Just so you know, we are only supposed to have around 90 g of total carbohydrates a day.
It's no wonder teachers really hate the couple days after Easter.
Their kids are running around on a perpetual sugar rush.
There are much healthier ways to treat your kids this Easter.
Traditionally, fruits and shiny coins were given that Easter rather than chocolate.
Flowers, especially potted plants, were given by many families during Easter.
The symbolism of new life resonates across many religions.
I really think we should get back to giving our kids traditional gifts, rather than commercialized chocolate.
A lot of the chocolate found in the grocery store is not even good quality chocolate.
Some of it is very high in wax, which isn't even digestible, or over loaded with sugar.
Since cocoa is an expensive ingredient, many manufacturers skimp on this and load up with fillers.
If you're going to give chocolates, give a higher quality chocolate, preferably of the dark variety.
The better chocolates will be appreciated.
And ration what candy your children eat.
There is absolutely no reason your child should have more than one or two pieces of candy.
Candy should be an occasional treat, not a mainstay snack.
It should also not be eaten quickly.
We are supposed to chew our food more than 20 times or allow food to melt in our mouth.
Since chocolate easily melts our mouth, we should really savor it.
As for my peanut butter egg, I eat a very healthy diet of mostly vegetables with high quality meat.
A small indulgence of a pb egg just 3 or 4 times a year is negligible.
If your kids eat a diet that is mostly vegetables and high quality meats, then an occasional piece of candy is not going to disrupt their diet.
Chances are you'll have some Easter candy before the holidays out.
While I generally don't eat candy, a few peanut butter eggs are irresistible.
So does this fit in with good nutrition? With each person receiving about 1 pound of chocolate this Easter, we need to look at the rationale of eating that much candy.
Studies have shown that the majority of chocolate eaten at Easter is milk chocolate.
We already discussed before that dark chocolate is the healthier variety, and milk chocolate being higher in sugar.
And with one milk chocolate Easter Bunny having an astounding 75 to 100 g of sugar, we really need to be careful.
To put that in perspective, that one Easter Bunny is like feeding your child 20 to 25 teaspoons of sugar.
Each Peep is about 2 teaspoons of sugar and each jellybean is about 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Just so you know, we are only supposed to have around 90 g of total carbohydrates a day.
It's no wonder teachers really hate the couple days after Easter.
Their kids are running around on a perpetual sugar rush.
There are much healthier ways to treat your kids this Easter.
Traditionally, fruits and shiny coins were given that Easter rather than chocolate.
Flowers, especially potted plants, were given by many families during Easter.
The symbolism of new life resonates across many religions.
I really think we should get back to giving our kids traditional gifts, rather than commercialized chocolate.
A lot of the chocolate found in the grocery store is not even good quality chocolate.
Some of it is very high in wax, which isn't even digestible, or over loaded with sugar.
Since cocoa is an expensive ingredient, many manufacturers skimp on this and load up with fillers.
If you're going to give chocolates, give a higher quality chocolate, preferably of the dark variety.
The better chocolates will be appreciated.
And ration what candy your children eat.
There is absolutely no reason your child should have more than one or two pieces of candy.
Candy should be an occasional treat, not a mainstay snack.
It should also not be eaten quickly.
We are supposed to chew our food more than 20 times or allow food to melt in our mouth.
Since chocolate easily melts our mouth, we should really savor it.
As for my peanut butter egg, I eat a very healthy diet of mostly vegetables with high quality meat.
A small indulgence of a pb egg just 3 or 4 times a year is negligible.
If your kids eat a diet that is mostly vegetables and high quality meats, then an occasional piece of candy is not going to disrupt their diet.
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