Hey Kool-Aid!! New title: Are artificial sweeteners safe for children?

Remember those commercials? Life was so simple back then. Our parents didn't know that a ton of sugar was not so good. But then again we probably just burned it all off because we ran around outside all day every day. 

We don't drink soda in our house. I used to be a Diet Pepsi girl but I finally gave that up because I had a friend of a friend who had breast cancer said that her oncologist (spelled right? not sure, anyway...) told her that the aspartame and something else in the D.P. are a extremely bad for you. Yikes. Even if this is a small chance, why would I want to put this stuff in my body every day. 

Steve just has never liked soda. Beer yes. Soda no. And we have never given it to Jumpy Kid. We always gave him Milk or water and then Juice as a treat.  But when it's a hot summer we all wanted something cool and refreshing to drink so I started buying Gatorade. But that's got a lot of sugar too. So then I started buying Propel. Yay! No aspartame, no or little sugar, hardly any calories and we all loved it..... then after consuming tons of propel over most of the summer Steve looks at the label and says did you know that High Fructose Corn Syrup is the FIRST ingredient in this stuff? WHAT?? ugggh. 

Now I am not a crazy organic/whole food/fanatic by any means and I believe that everything is fine in moderation. A propel, Diet Pepsi or Gatorade every now and then will not hurt you but we were not drinking the propels moderately. I realized Big Daddy and Jumpy kid would drink two or three on a hot day. 

So then I started looking at the stores and seriously try finding a flavored water type beverage that does not contain aspartame,high fructose corn syrup,tons of sugar and calories . I know what some of you may be thinking. Just drink water. We do but it's still nice to have something else. 

So I started buying Kool aid packets and using Splenda.... and I only use half the amount of Splenda called for. 

 

I bought the 1 Gallon Mixer Mate Pitcher from Walmart and some Kool-aid packets. The are 22 cents a piece at Walmart. So it costs 44 cents (two packets) plus a cup of splenda for a GALLON. I realize that Splenda may not be all that good for you and there must be some freaky dyes in the Kool-aid since I can't seem to make the stuff with out staining my finger tips but for good lord it's the best I can do. And it's been fun making it and choosing the flavas with Jumpy Kid.

So... I have decided Hot pink is the new black for this fall

.... and I'm kicken it old school and bring'en Kool-Aid back. Holla!

Who's with me?

anyone.... anyone

*******EDITED************

After reading  Jenna Lou's comment I decided to further research Splenda. I knew it wasn't the best choice but thinking it was a lesser evil. It's not. I will no longer be using Splenda or any other artificial sweetener. Even Stevia has some issues. Some say it's safe and it  has finally been FDA approved but some are also saying that the big cola companies will be using it and re-processing it. So I have decided that I will use regular old sugar. Why? because we don't do much sugar at all in this house, my child does not have a weight issue, we eat over all pretty darn healthy with out a ton of processed stuff. So I will make Kool-aid with half the amount of sugar it calls for. Please google "Are artificial Sweetners safe for children" it's scary. That's what I love about these posts when they open up discussions that we can learn from. It seriously FRYS me that this stuff is on the market without warnings. I guess that's why it's best to just stay as close to whole foods as you can.

Leave a comment if you have thoughts on the subject. Also what do you give your children to drink besides water, milk or juice. 

Thanks Jenna Lou for your comment. I wouldn't have looked it up otherwise. 

Now I am off to get a bowl of KIX for Jumpy Kid for breakfast.... please no one tell me there is anything wrong with Kix. :)