Two times each year, our family takes a drastic leap against the flow of modern society and eliminates all sugar and most flours from our diet. We have done this for the past several years, with and without the children, as a way to hit the “Reset” button on our palates and give our insides a bit of tender, loving care.
As you can imagine, cutting out sugar in today’s world is a bit challenging, especially for children (we went on a dairy farm tour of our favorite ice cream shop yesterday!!) . Obviously, we are not wanting our children to suffer too much or lose any weight during this so they have slightly different “rules” for the sugar detox.
Here are the Sugar Detox guidelines for Children:
*Meat, eggs, and whole milk dairy products (Raw if possible)
*All fruits and veggies are a YES! This includes fruit-only jelly, but not ketchup (Sorry, kids!)
*Only completely whole grain items from the store are ok; bonus points if they are sprouted. We buy 100%whole wheat crackers with 0 added sugars, a sprouted whole grain bread with 1 gram of honey, and old fashion oatmeal that has no other ingredients.
*Up to 1 tsp. of honey per day in the item of their choice (usually it’s in whole- milk yogurt or oatmeal.)
*”Birthday Party Rule” allows the kids to eat/drink 1 sweet item of their choice if invited to a party, wedding, or outing with a group of kids. We do not want them to feel isolated or like an oddball during the detox. Our goal is simply to empower them with healthy choices and a major focus on self-control.
The adults follow the 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilipo, on level 1. It’s not terribly extreme and we can still eat dairy products! Hallelujah!!! Of course, we try for raw, whole dairy in as many cases as possible, but if not, go for the “best” possible choices that fit our budget.
We are currently on day 4 (which feels like day 1000) and we are beginning to detoxify our bodies! Because we have done this detox several times already, we know exactly when each of us will go through the process. For Nathan, it’s spot on days 4-7, and for me, I detox around days 5-7. Our symptoms typically include headaches, irritability, tiredness, and sometimes full body aches. Really, it’s worth it by the time we hit day 15 or so….
This morning I made a yummy breakfast scramble (sorry, Honey, I didn’t have any leftovers..) that was full of spinach, onions, carrots, 1/2 a sweet potato, a homemade “sausage” patty and an egg.
Once it finished cooking, I topped it with hot sauce, counter-marinated red onions and a homemade “ranch” dip.
It was yummy and hit the spot!
I’d love to hear if your family does any type of fast, cleanse or detox! If so, what do you follow and how does it make your family feel?
