Too much sugar in our diets may actually complicate the grief process

do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1Coriinthians 6:19

When a famed Pastry chef traveled to the United States to start a restaurant she was encouraged to double the amount of sugar in her recipes because 'American's like their pastries sweet.

Sugar seems to be in so much of what we eat. For example, before my wife and I had kids we went out for breakfast with another couple with two boys and I will never forget watching consume the chocolate chip pancakes with lavish amounts of syrup on top.

When we celebrate we do so with style with a large sundae from DQ, or a free pie from a restaurant that offers this when you order a meal. The rallying cry at most restaurants became, " have you save room for any dessert!?" They know if they can get you to order the dessert and beverages it will help pad the bill and hence the profitability of the restaurant. Fast food restaurants, for example, make their most profit by the soft drinks they sell. The problem with this picture is that all of these items are loaded with sugar.

When we are grieving and prone to feelings of sadness for the one we lost, we do not need help from the beverage and dessert industry.  Sadness just happens. Yet, it has become ingrained in all of us that when we are sad to just reach for a sweet cookie. The Minnesota State Fair is presently open and one of the more popular stands is the Sweet Martha's Chocolate Cookies. Most families will end their trip to the fair by bringing home a huge container of cookies.

I admit I have a very sweet tooth. I love the pies on free pie nights and the chocolate chip cookies from the local Rainbow store and I even love the diet soda's in the big cups from the Super America, but after I did some reading on the effects of sugar in our diets I decided to modify my diet to eliminate those sugars..

 The biggest change I noticed as I did this was the elimination of the lethargy I often felt after lunch, my moods were more stabilize,my thinking was more clearer, and I was able to arise in the morning no longer wishing I could sleep a couple more hours.

Don't get me wrong because I am not even remotely suggesting for more government regulation in this area, but only suggesting that we consider modifying our diets by reducing the amount of sugar and consuming water instead of the usual soft drinks and adult beverages.

As I look at Scripture I am struck how God uses water as a cleansing force in our lives. When Jesus was baptized by John the baptist he went under the water (the cleansing) and when he came up the holy spirit was upon him. To this day water continues to be both a cleansing and life giving ingredient we all need to survive .

Daily decisions to drink more water and reduce the sugar in our diets will likely lead to an easier time managing the sad feelings that are often present in our grief.