We have bought into the idea that sugar is a part of childhood. Almost everywhere we go – to school, church, the bank, the grocery store, sporting events, friends' and relatives' – our kids are offered some sweet treat. It's all with good intention, but it's easy to lose track of just how much sugar our children consume everyday. Toss out processed sugars: white sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and agave nectar/syrup. Most processed sugar in the American diet comes from soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, fruit drinks/juice, as well as dairy and grain products/desserts. 

Read more: Sugar

Toss out High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Don't be fooled by manipulative marketing touting HFCS is natural. HFCS is a processed sugar substitute found most often in baked goods, canned fruits, and soft drinks. Studies published in peer reviewed journals have linked HFCS with a host of adverse health effects including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.[1,2,3] Leave products with HFCS on the shelf!

Read more: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Sodium is an essential nutrient, but very little is needed in the diet. Up to 75 percent of sodium in the average American diet comes from salt added to processed or restaurant foods. The food industry uses salt to preserve food, modify flavor, affect food texture and food color.[1] You may not realize you're even eating it! But it all adds up - to a whopping daily 3,436 milligrams of sodium for the average American, which is over double the American Heart Association's recommended limit of 1,500 milligrams.[1] 

Read more: Table Salt

MSG is a flavor enhancer used in many processed foods. It is the salt of the amino acid called glutamic acid (glutamate). Think: one (mono) sodium atom stuck to the amino acid glutamate. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that triggers nerve cells to fire and also triggers the pancreas to produce insulin which can lead to diabetes and obesity. Excess glutamate in the body can trigger asthma, headaches, and more.

Read more: MSG

Chlorine bleach - a household staple - is actually a health hazard. Listed as a hazardous air pollutant in the 1990 Clean Air Act, exposure to chlorine in the workplace is now regulated by the federal government. In addition to your laundry room bleach, many household cleaners contain chlorine, though it often masquerades behind aliases such as "sodium hypochlorite" or "hypochlorite." Chlorine is a highly corrosive substance, capable of damaging skin, eyes, and other membranes. Breathing in the fumes of cleaners containing a high concentration of chlorine can irritate the lungs. This is particularly dangerous for people suffering from heart conditions and/or chronic respiratory problems such as asthma or emphysema. And the risks are compounded when the cleaners are used in small, poorly ventilated rooms, such as bathrooms. 

Read more: Chlorine Bleach

We so often associate sugar with celebration, joy, social events, and even reward for ourselves and our children. Such a celebratory treat is hard to imagine as actually being harmful. It's easier to admit that, sure, sugar doesn't offer us anything – nutritionally, that is. But to commit to the idea that it is hurting our bodies each time we eat it is rather hard to swallow. But, hurt us it does.
 

Read more: Sugar - The Dirty Details

Canned Foods.  They may be easy and inexpensive, but they are nutrient depleted, loaded with processed salt and the cans are lined with toxic BPA. The chemical BPA is an endocrine disruptor and has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animal studies and connected to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity in humans.  Yuck. 

Read more: Canned Foods

Agave Syrup or Agave Nectar fooled us for a while. We probably knew on some level - it had to be too good to be true - but just didn't want to believe it. How could something so sweet be good for us, right? Agave Syrup/Nectar is not a natural sweetener - it's highly processed and has more concentrated fructose than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). It's actually processed in a similar way. According to Sally Fallon Morel and Rami Nagel of the Weston A. Price Foundation, here's the Big Dirty Secret About Agave[1]:

Read more: Agave Syrup

The amount of enriched wheat flour children are eating today is staggering! It's everywhere - in bread, cookies, cakes, muffins, crackers, and pretzels. Just what our kids LOVE to eat! The problem? They are eating this nutrient depleted food - not occasionally as a treat - but daily as a staple! Over 20 vitamins and minerals are lost along with natural fiber in these "enriched" goods. Adding back thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron and folic acid - doesn't come close to making up for what's been stripped away!

Read more: Processed Grains

You may be seeing 'health-oriented' products with Crystalline Fructose listed on the label.  Our advice:  stay clear of this ultra-sweet sweetener that may be worse for your health than high fructose corn syrup.  "Roger Clemens, a professor at the USC School of Pharmacy whose research has focused on functional foods, food processing and nutrition. The two ingredients are chemically distinct, Clemens says, but their nutritional ramifications vary only slightly. High fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose are made from the same starting material: corn. In the U.S., this is an abundant and cheap source of fructose, the plant-sugar responsible for making many fruits so naturally sweet. But though high fructose corn syrup often contains about 55% fructose (the rest is glucose), crystalline fructose is the result of several extra processing steps which yield a product that is close to 100% fructose." 

Read more: Crystalline Fructose

Sports drinks are sugar, water, and salt. Originally designed for athletes, the largest growing segment of the sports drink market are non-athletes, including children. Most sports drinks have between 13 and 19 grams of sugar [equivalent to 3 to 5 packets of sugar] per 8 oz serving! That means for the average 20 oz Gatorade, your child will drink 40 grams of sugar (or 10 sugar packets), along with some artificial colors and flavors. So most sports drinks are far from REAL.

Read more: Sports Drinks

Artificial Colors!The word artificial clues us into the fact that the food or drink is not REAL. If a company is using artificial ingredients they are not committed to making high quality food products that support your child's health. Basic research on artificial colors and flavors have shown just that.[1]

Read more: Artificial Colors, Flavors and Additives

What about 100% REAL fruit juice [no added sugar, no high-fructose corn syrup, colorings, or dyes]? Even 100% REAL fruit juice is sugar water, void of nutrients except a splash of vitamin C. The enzymes have been destroyed in the pasteurization process, and the fiber and phytonutrients [the apple peel] have been removed. Not much is left! "But I water down the juice, is that okay?" Nope, not in our book. Why?

Read more: Fruit Juice

When you toss out sugar, be sure you toss out all the names sugar hides behind as well! Sugar sneaks into your child's diet in many different forms. Food manufacturers often use several types of sugar so it appears on the ingredient list under different names in hopes you won't recognize it. But you will!
 

Read more: Sugar - The Names It Hides Behind

It is pretty common to see young children and teenagers drinking coffee, pop and energy drinks these days. Some are addicted to caffeine and can't seem to get through the day without their 'buzz'. Many of the energy drinks are a blend of caffeine, sugar and herbs. The Medical Director from the Center of Integrative Medicine at the Encino-Tarzan Regional Medical Center says, "It just becomes more of a witches brew. You're playing with things we don't really understand and the long-term consequences are unclear."

Read more: Caffeine Buzz

Since my early days as a health care practitioner, I have believed in the motto "Show me the science." In September of 1984, I along with twelve others formed the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. The organization was formed primarily to scientifically evaluate the bio-compatibility of dental materials. Fluoride is one of those substances we have been able to evaluate quite extensively.Coming to the conclusion that fluoridation, whether by oral ingestion or application should be stopped.

Read more: Fluoride

Processed vegetable oils such as corn, soy, canola, safflower, sunflower, and cottonseed oils are found in many packaged foods including crackers, cookies, chips, and "health" bars. Heat during processing oxidizes these oils, forming damaging free radicals and trans fats. But that's not all!

Read more: Processed Vegetable Oils

Giving artificial sweeteners to kids is a REAL problem when it takes 10 years or more to publish potential health risks. Take for example, Aspartame - originally released as NutraSweet. Over 10 years after being approved by the FDA, despite serious safety concerns from scientists, the Center for Disease Control finally published its first list of consumer health complaints from aspartame use. Over 33 years after FDA approval, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reversed it's previous statements supporting the safety of Aspartame, and in 2007 published that aspartame is indeed a health threat![1] As Janet Starr Hull (author of Sweet Poison) says, "Well, it just goes to show how the "truth and publicity" about aspartame has been grossly manipulated by the "system.""

Read more: Artificial Sweeteners

Parabens are a group of artificial preservatives widely used in cosmetics and body care products to prevent bacterial and fungal growth, which increases the shelf life of the product. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution and toothpaste. They are also used as food additives. 

Read more: Parabens