Highly Processed, But Natural?

My husband took my son for a little bit on Sunday night so I had time to enjoy the silence and contemplate important issues.  Was I pondering politics in other districts, specifically Loretta Sanchez and her racist attack against Van Tran and other Vietnamese immigrants?  Was I wondering if life as we know it would be sustainable on another planet?  Did I come up with a way to remove the corruption that keeps world hunger in existence?  No, no, and no. 

I was studying a container of juice.  A heavy topic, to be certain.

You might not think a container of juice would yield any interesting information, but you would be wrong.  I personally classify juice in nearly the same category as cola - it's a rare treat and isn't really good for you.  This particular juice was used in some mock-vodka sunrises I made when we had friends over last month so I didn't really expect it to be a healthy beverage.  After all, I was only going to make cocktails.

The words on the container certainly made it sound like the contents were fabulous and healthy:  Natural, 100% Vitamin C, and Pomegranate were the most prominent words emblazoned on the front label.  Actually, those were the only words that drew my eye at all.  Sounds good so far, right?  Right??

On a lark, I checked out the back label.  That is where the juice's dirty little secrets were exposed.  A total of 160 calories and 38 grams of sugar per 8 fluid ounce serving.   YIKES!  Seriously, you might as well drink a cola because at least you'll get the pep from the caffeine.  Um, that is if you aren't simply making alcoholic beverages for your friends. 

Ingredients:  Filtered water (great), high fructose corn syrup (um, what?!), pomegranate (this word was splashed so prominently across the front label that it would be understandable to assume the contents were only juice of a pomegranate), white grape and concord grape concentrates (uh, okay), citric acid (necessary I suppose), Vitamin C (had to be in there somewhere I guess), and "natural flavors" (what flavors, exactly?  and what do they consider "natural?").

What's my complaint with the ingredients?  Well, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm picking flysh*t out of the pepper, but the ingredients list doesn't really seem to jive with the words on the front label.  Again, I consider juice to be a junk food so I'm not really looking for something nutritious in a bottle of juice.  I'm definitely not a natural-foods-nazi, but I find it misleading to call a juice product "natural" when HFCS is featured more prominently than the fruit juice itself. 

What crazy food labels have you read lately?

Flavored Formula - Really America? Really?

Don't take this post personally if you feed your toddler chocolate (or vanilla!)flavored formula, whiskey, cigarettes, espresso, and a ton of junk food. I have no idea what you feed your child and this isn't about anyone that I know.


I was perusing headlines to come up with a blog post tonight and I am stunned at this item:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diabetes/mead-johnson-drops-chocolate-flavored-emfagrow-parent-uproar/story?id=10876301&page=1

For those who don't want to clicky the linky, it's about flavored formula. Mead Johnson, makers of Enfagrow Premium formula, was offering flavored formula. Loving parents could choose between loading their toddler up with sugary vanilla or sugary chocolate flavored formula. Geez man, let that sink in for a moment: Chocolate flavored formula was marketed as suitable for 12-month old children. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, as they say.

There is so much wrong with this that I just don't know where to start. For starters, why in the world could a toddler possibly require chocolate flavored formula? And what parent would purchase it to feed to their new toddler? To get them hooked on fatty sweets at a tender age?

It reminds me of this story from the other day:

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1276127714233340.xml&coll=1

This item is cautioning parents against giving soda to their offspring as long as the children are under age 5. Say what? Who in the heck gives soda to such a young child? What do they do with it? Put it in the sippy cup? The baby bottle? And what can possibly be their rationale behind feeding their child something that has absolutely zero nutritional value?

Items like these two make me think that we're doomed as a society. Where does the stupidity (perhaps it's ignorance, perhaps it's outright negligence) end? What else will these parents do? Give their kid a belt of whiskey if the little one can't sleep? Set the kid up with a pack of Marlboros to break the little one's thumb-sucking habit? Make the kid take a shot of espresso if the little one is sluggish? Feed the kid french fries and try to claim it's a vegetable because, "It comes from a tater?"

We all know there are certain things that just aren't appropriate for growing bodies and brains. So why do some parents throw that wisdom out the window while shoveling empty calories in their child's maw? Is it just easier than doing your best to make sure that they have the best start in life?

Maybe I'm biased because I was raised a certain way. My parents were the rulers and there could never be an uprising because they stood together in all things. Lest you take that as a complaint, understand that they were firm, but loving.

My parents both worked, but we rarely dined out in restaurants and fast food was virtually never purchased. I'm guessing it was more about cost than nutrition and I think they realized that it was cheaper to make burgers at home and bake some fries (or have potato chips or potato salad) than to buy dinner out for the entire fam. They made one meal, Mom said that she wasn't a short order cook, and that was what you could eat. If you didn't want to eat dinner, well, you weren't going to starve if you missed a meal. I seem to recall being allowed to make a peanut butter sandwich a time or two when dinner was truly awful.

They bought snacks (fruit or raisins) and the occasional packet of Kool-Aid. They would have had our heads if we took their soda, Mom drank Pepsi Light as I recall, so we didn't have soda regularly. I guess they figured that the kids could drink milk or water. Sometimes they had ice cream in the freezer and that was so awesome! I can still remember how delicious those very rare treats tasted on my tongue.

I'm taking a lot of my cues on feeding my son from how I was fed. I include a far wider variety of cuisines and vegetables, but I put the meal in front of him and he typically eats it. If he doesn't like it, or if he isn't hungry, I figure that he won't starve from missing one meal. I certainly wouldn't try to appeal to his sweet tooth by offering crap in place of something nutritious.

A toddler only has so much hunger each day and their appetites can vary wildly from day to day. Make the calories count and don't start them off on eating garbage. Trust me, they will eat plenty of crap when they make their own money and can buy their own food, snacks, and beverages. Until then, be the parent and make healthy choices for them. Kids can't eat crap unless you buy it for them, give it to them, or give them the money to buy it themselves.

I'm sorry if this comes across like I'm a smug jerk who only feeds my child the most nutritious foods because that's definitely not the case. My son has had junk every now and then - granola bars are a particular favorite at the moment. He's had far more french fries than I'd prefer and he loves taquitos & burgers. But I try my best to make the best choices for him because he can't yet make those choices for himself. I hope that, by offering healthy foods and modeling healthy eating habits myself, he makes healthy choices for himself once he's on his own. I realize that I probably overthink the responsibilities of parenthood, but there you go.

Very Few Tater Tots for My Tater Tot

I have always taken my work seriously. I strive to be The Best and jump through any hoops necessary to get an Atta-girl. My position as wife & mother is perhaps my most important job and I take it very seriously. I feel like I earned a long-desired raise while eating dinner with my son this evening.

Even before I had a child, I've always wanted the best for my baby. I waited a long time to start a family so that I could give my child what I consider to be the very best of everything. Prior to getting pregnant, I focused on improving my nutrition so that I could give my baby the very best start. I took care to eat healthfully and avoid behaviors that might be potential risk factors for problems while pregnant. Once he was born, I committed to breastfeeding while trying to maintain a balanced diet. (Note: The first seven weeks of breastfeeding were AWFUL and I only stuck with it because I'm a stubborn old mule and I had made up my mind that this was the best source of nutrition for my baby. I'm glad I persevered though because I ended up with a lovely nursing relationship with my son that lasted until he was just over one-year old.) When my son began eating solids, I was mindful that his tastes could be influenced for better or worse by what I provided for him to eat. With that thought, I focused on vegetables after he had mastered various whole grain cereals. I think it's because I delayed introducing him to fruit, but he actually preferred veggies over fruit until he was around 18-months old. My son is almost 2-years old now and he still loves vegetables and fruit, but he does prefer fruit now. My son has been eating only table food, whatever I eat, since shortly after he turned one.

This is all just part of my job. It's up to me to make sure that my kiddo gets the nutrition he needs to grow healthy and strong. This isn't to say that there isn't room for junk food. He's had french fries plenty of times in the last year, he's had chocolate once or twice, he gets treated to juice now & then, and he has a few tortilla chips every Sunday afternoon. However, the mainstays of our diets (his or mine) aren't fries, chocolate, juice, & chips. We've always eaten reasonably well, but I've really kicked up the produce since starting WW.

I was admiring the design of one of his toddler plates tonight. It's a divided plate with one section being half the plate and the remaining two sections are roughly quarters. I filled the large section with steamed broccoli (seasoned with garlic, pepper, & salt and drizzled with a little flax oil - it was soooo tasty!) and the other two sections contained a romaine lettuce salad and half of a grilled chicken breast. I'm aware that this isn't exactly considered toddler-fare and I realize that most kids would turn up their nose at the broccoli specifically. But this is the meal that I prepared and this is what I set down in front of him.

He. Ate. Every. Bite!

At one point he held up a broccoli floret and asked, "What's this?" I replied that it was, "Wockly Broccoli and it's taaaassssty!" Yeah, I make up silly names for foods to make them cooler to him - you don't want to know what I call Brussels sprouts, but he ate it all!

Now, this is typical in our house. The kid eats chili, curry, pasta with sauce, steak (cut into super-small pieces of course), fish, jambalaya, you name it. If I prepare it, he generally eats it. But, for some reason I can't figure out, he began to shun steamed veggies. I found that he still loved veggies in casseroles, soups, and pasta sauces, but steamed veggies by themselves weren't a big hit for him anymore. I still offered them whenever I prepared them, but knew that he would only take a few bites before focusing on what else was on his plate.

So tonight feels like a victory of sorts. For months I have continued to offer what I knew was healthy & delicious (steamed veggies) and he ultimately came around and enjoyed it. I'd like to say that this was a win for Team Mama, but it really was a win for both of us.