Anthony Williams - The sugar-free cookbook for children: Simply delicious & healthy

While I was breastfeeding, I honestly didn't think too much about the time afterwards and assumed that Ludwig would simply eat the same as me or his dad. Keyword "role model" and so on. What I did not take into account is that children have a very special preference for sweets and that they do not like many things that we think are great.

Sweet means "not poisonous"

We actually have an innate love of sweets. You don't have to learn to like sweet things - in contrast to sour, very salty and bitter foods. You only get used to these flavors over the years - by trying them out again and again (for which we have to offer them to the children again and again). Scientists suspect that the genetic preference is based on the fact that there is nothing in nature that tastes sweet and is toxic. For millennia, people had to decide with their tongue whether to swallow something or spit it out again. Sweet was a "security taste". That shapes.

In addition, unborn babies are programmed to be sweet. In the last trimester of pregnancy, they constantly swallow amniotic fluid and it tastes sweet - just like breast milk or formula milk (infant formula) that they drink in the first few months of life.

Sweet makes you strong

In the first years of life, children do one thing above all else: grow and learn. To do this, they need an enormous amount of energy. And it is especially in sugar. That's why they intuitively want more of it. This is also biologically based. In the past there were neither supermarkets nor delivery services when you were hungry. Instead, strategic planning was required. If there was honey or fresh fruit, it was time to strike. In principle, bears and marmots still do it that way and in autumn eat a real extra layer of fat for hibernation with lots of ripe fruits.

For me the best sweets in the world: fresh berries. They have the right snack size, are beautifully sweet and super healthy.

Do children need "own" food?

Ever since Ludwig was born, I have noticed labels like with extra milk, with valuable vitamins or for healthy bones everywhere. The advertising departments of the large food companies play with the parents' wish to give their children only the best. On closer inspection, however, the supposed health benefits are not that great. The plus of vitamins, minerals or other ingredients considered healthy is negligible in most cases with regard to the actual daily requirement of a child. In addition, added vital substances are not as healthy as those in fresh, natural foods. And many, such as vitamin C, are eliminated by the body immediately when the daily dose is covered.

Colorful breakfast cereals are often not muesli, but real sugar bombs and therefore basically just as sweets as gummy bears. Fruit yoghurt does not contain more calcium than natural yoghurt - but it does contain many other ingredients that no one needs. The main task of the miracle ingredients is rather to successfully hide the fact that the products also contain a lot of salt and fat, flavors and colorings - and of course sugar. It is clear, after all that is above, one could now think: Children simply need a lot of it.

The problem, however, is that sugar consumption no longer regulates itself somehow. There used to be sweets only in summer and autumn, now all the time. The organization foodwatch has calculated that our children and adolescents will have reached the sugar target for the whole year after just 224 days - that's how much sugar they eat. In theory, they shouldn't eat sugar for a third of the year to make up for this. However, it is quite unlikely that someone will do this ...

Conditioned on sugar

Children need energy. But you definitely don't need industrial sugar! Although it makes you full, it does not contain any vitamins or minerals, so it only provides empty calories. In addition, the feeling of satiety does not last long - you will have your appetite again a short time later. First of all, this means that you quickly consume too many calories. And secondly, the body sometimes needs breaks to eat so that the metabolism works optimally and the body has the opportunity to purify itself. That's why I've been doing intermittent fasting for some time and it makes me feel much better. All the foods specially recommended for children are therefore by no means as valuable as the manufacturers claim. And not only do I see it that way, but also nutritionists and doctors. Above all, children get used to the intense taste very quickly and are literally conditioned to sugar. The result is that they will soon no longer be able to gain much from real foods. But they would be really valuable. By the way, the highlight of the absurd for me are candies "with healthy vitamins". How about some fresh berries instead?