Change Your Dessert Improve Your Health

We most recently talked about upgrading your beverage. How did you do with that? I’m confident that most of you did well, but some of you may have struggled. Whether it was easy for you or not, you are now aware. Awareness is key. How do you know to change if you are unaware that change is required? Exactly. You can’t.

Since we know how to upgrade beverages, let’s now talk about dessert.

Dessert is very near and dear to my heart. We love dessert in my family. I had a great aunt who was more interested in what was for dessert than dinner. In her mind, she would get through dinner, whatever it was so that she could have dessert. My great grandmother would make dessert almost every evening. It was nothing to see her in the kitchen whipping up another cake or some other sweet treat and putting it in the oven so everyone could enjoy it later. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of dessert myself, and I’m not at all ashamed to admit it!

Sweet things are found in abundance in nature and have been consumed since the beginning of time. A quick internet search tells that the Bible mentions honey 61 times, so the sweet flavor is nothing new.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the sweet flavor correlates with the stomach, spleen, and pancreas. It is said to tone and strengthen digestive function. When done properly, sweets can be part of a healthy diet and can prove beneficial for digestive system balance and overall well-being.

There are some sweets, though, that I do not recommend- candy, soda, cakes, cookies, pies, and pastries made with highly refined white flour and sugar, commercial ice cream, and the like. While these items are sweet, they are quite unhealthy and devoid of nutrients. Outside of a pleasing taste and satisfying mouthfeel, these foods add nothing beneficial to the body. They can make you crave more and can easily be over consumed.

You can upgrade your dessert to make it healthy, nutrient-dense, and satisfying. Fruit-based desserts are a great place to start.

If this is new to you and you want to start simple, I recommend berries and whipped cream, fresh whipped if possible. Your most common berries like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries contain vitamin C, manganese, and antioxidants. They are readily available and require no preparation, except to wash, remove the green stem from the strawberries if you choose, and slice.

Really, you can pair any fruit with whipped cream to make an irresistible dessert. Melon, apples, oranges, grapes, kiwi, mango, or any other fruit of choice can be put with whipped cream or even yogurt with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup to make a simple upgraded dessert.

Apples or peaches can be cut in half (remove the core and pit of course), dusted with cinnamon, topped with maple syrup and butter, and baked in the oven. When done, they can be eaten alone or served with cream; you can add walnuts or pecans for added flavor and crunch.

Ice cream can be part of the upgrade. You don’t have to give it up. Look for the simplest ingredients you can find. It is possible that an upgraded ice cream only come in smaller containers and not a half-gallon carton. It may cost more than you are used to paying for that size container, but it’s your health, and you are worth it!

If you are up for it, you can make homemade ice cream. This is the best choice because you can control all of your ingredients. You can find a lot of resources online for homemade ice cream. The good news is, you don’t even need an ice cream maker to do it!

Truthfully, you can have cookies, cakes, and pastries too! Just make them yourself using healthier ingredients or find a brand that uses simple, quality ingredients. Look for something that has ingredients that you can easily read, identify, and purchase if necessary. If the product you are considering has ingredients that you do not recognize, cannot pronounce, or cannot find at your local market, then this may not be an upgraded option.

There are many other ways to upgrade your dessert; this is just a small sampling. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of how to start making tiny steps toward a healthier diet. Eating healthy food is not bland, boring, tasteless, and awful. Eating healthy is consuming flavorful, well prepared, enticing, nourishing foods that thrill and excite the taste buds. It should not be tasteless and bland; neither should it be a chore to eat.

An upgraded diet is nourishing, satisfying, delicious, and abundant! What do you think?