Too Much Easter Candy? How Excess Sugar Can Damage Your Child’s Gut Health

Easter Sunday is just around the corner, which means eggs full of candy are too. While treating your little one to PEEPS® and REESE'S Peanut Butter Eggs is a fun tradition, it’s important to be cautious of your child’s sugar intake. Added sugars have an extremely negative impact on gut health. Since the gut affects digestion, the immune system, mood, heart health, brain functions, quality of sleep and more, limiting your child’s sugar intake is in his or her best interest. 

The Sugar-Gut Relationship 

We think gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz said it best, "When it comes to added sugar and gut health, there's still a lot we don't know. But scientific studies do suggest that it promotes an inflammatory profile in the gut and damages the microbiome. It makes sense that what we eat determines the makeup of our gut bacteria." 

In addition to inflammation, excess sugar has the potential to block the production of certain proteins, reduce beneficial bacteria leading to leaky gut syndrome, and detour the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels increasing the risk of diabetes, reported Sydney Gastroenterologist. 

Restoring Your Child’s Gut Health 

You may be thinking, “Great...my child’s gut health is probably destroyed!” Don’t worry mama. Restoring your child’s gut health can be done through a few simple changes, the most effective being diet tweaks and supplementing with an effective probiotic. 

Diet 

Diet is a major contributing factor. According to Well + Good, reducing added sugars can balance the gut and help good bacteria thrive, decreasing the chances of digestive problems down the road. If your child is a fan of sweets, offer more fruits throughout the day to satisfy their sweet tooth and curb cravings. You can also replace refined sugar with more nutrient-rich, all-natural sweeteners like raw organic honey, agave, or pure maple syrup. 

Probiotics 

A daily probiotic supplement, such as CalmCo Probiotic Drops, adds an extra layer of gut and digestive health support. CalmCo’s Probiotic is specifically designed for infants and children with a clinically backed, 5-strain formulation. Ironically, many kids’ probiotics contain sugar. However, the CalmCo Probiotic is completely sugar-free.  

For more information on our probiotic’s clinically backed formula, please visit our blog detailing the clinical study results.  

With a stable low-sugar diet and administering a probiotic regularly, you can help nurture your child’s gut microbiome. Have a happy and gut-healthy Easter!