If you don’t know that jelly bean season is in full swing, you have not left your home or entered a store. I love jelly beans, always have! I couldn’t wait till we got our Easter basket when I was a kid, because for a short time we’d get jelly beans and “balk” things. Balk things are Cadbury eggs to my family and I. When we were little there were commercials for them all the time. Do you remember the one with the lion and the bunnies trying to cluck? It sounded like this: “balk, balk…” Ok, well that’s what my sister and I heard so we named them balk things. As a matter of fact, my whole family still calls them that. Some things we should just never outgrow! 
Ok, back to jelly beans, I like them all, but my favorite are the starburst or lifesaver kinds. Since I’m a huge fan of these I decided… “what the heck, why not get a bag, it only happens once a year” … Yeah, once a year for like 4 months! sigh – Anyway, what happened after I ate some shocked me!
See, I don’t eat sugar too often, it’s not good for any of us and we should all stop now!!
So, when I had a small handful..or three, ok six… yeah, six handfuls! It’s so easy – they are small and before you know it the whole bag is gone and you’re groaning on the floor in pain… or is that just me? Well, after my six handfuls of jelly beans, the next day brought about a kind of hunger and craving for food I could hardly control! I was constantly hungry, nothing satisfied me and I felt completely out of control.
It actually took me about 20 hours of fasting (dinner Saturday till dinner Sunday) to reset my body and get it back on track. I know sugar impacts us, but wow, I had no idea it could last for days after consuming it. Our bodies crave more of the instant gratification that sugar provides so it continues to tell us – “give me more..” and won’t back off till we give in. Seems like our bodies can be like stubborn 2-year olds throwing a temper tantrum when cravings kick in.
No, I’m not telling you to never eat sugar…ok, that would be the best, however, I know that’s not completely realistic… What I am telling you though is sugar has very powerful impacts on our bodies – on our children’s bodies. Childhood obesity is alarmingly high and I think it’s because sugar is being put in EVERYTHING! Look at your food labels…it’s everywhere – why? Because the food industry knows that sugar keeps us coming back for more time after time. They know that, once we have some, our cravings will take over so powerfully that overcoming them will be nearly impossible.
So, read your food labels, cut back on sugar. Please, cut your kids back. Everything is good in moderation…
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. – 1 Corinthians 6:12
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