Go gnaw on a carrot then!

I chewed away the last bite of my Twix, ready to go for a lap around the supermarket. Grocery shopping without being hungry, fine preparation, I figured. Stick to the shopping list, don't let myself be tempted by tasty impulse buys. But as it happened, I passed the shelf with all the St. Martin's shizzle. "Oh shoot, St. Martin's, that's tonight." I really did need to have something in the house for the sweet but oh so out of tune singing kiddos who might come by the door later.

A little girl of about 8(?) standing next to me was also looking at all the sweets. "What would you choose?" I asked her kindly. Well, seriously. I have never gotten such a disdainful look from such a tiny mini human. She answered, "Sweets?" "That's sugar. That's really not on anymore, you know." After which madam walked off resolutely, somewhat haughtily. Okay, didn't see that one coming. A quick glance at her mother, but she really did look perfectly normal and nice. With a quasi apologetic look she shrugged her shoulders.

My first reaction was: "ridiculous, get a grip you twit, sad child, go gnaw on a carrot then." My second reaction: "Gosh. This little girl at least knows what she doesn't want and is very clear about it, already." Actually, I found it rather funny.

But fair is fair, the little girl did get me thinking. No idea what her non relationship with sugar or sweets is, but she does have a point, of course. There really is sugar in absolutely everything these days, either for the flavor or for the shelf life. But sugar is super addictive. More and more studies and research show that sugar can not only cause excess weight, but is also disastrous for your noggin and your mental health. It harms your memory and learning ability. Forgetfulness is the first thing lying in wait anyway. It makes you less able to cope with stress and it affects your mood in a negative way. On top of that, too much sugar has an effect on the chemicals in your brain, and that in turn is linked to depression. The amount of information is truly enormous and super interesting, just google it. Or ask ChatGPT.

Thanks to the little girl I've been "re inspired" to take a more critical look again at what I buy and what food I put on the table. I was already doing that, but there's certainly room for improvement. What did I end up buying for St. Martin's? Nothing. It wasn't on my list. And so I forgot it. But now I know that was because of that Twix. And not because of age.