A nutritionist has named the sweets that are allowed even if you eat right

“Dessert and proper nutrition” – sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Chocolate, candy, and other similar foods are always associated with “unhealthy” eating habits.

In fact, there are many different delicious options that can satisfy your sweet tooth cravings while still contributing to your healthy lifestyle goals.

Sports physician, nutritionist, and chair of the FBFR medical board

Leading the list of healthy sweets are nuts, berries, fruits and bitter chocolate. It’s the perfect mix for a dessert packed with vitamins, minerals and bioactive substances (antioxidants and flavonoids).

A slice of bitter chocolate every day can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease. This is due to cocoa flavonoids, which strengthen the cardiovascular system, reduce cholesterol and improve brain function. In addition, such a product improves memory, reaction speed, speed of information processing.

Flavonoids are often destroyed in the process of chocolate production, so do not rely on the beneficial properties of white chocolate, and milk chocolate too, especially from little-known companies and dubious manufacturers.

Dark chocolate contains twice as many useful substances as other types of chocolate – on average 100-200 mg of flavonoids per 100 g of the product.

Nevertheless, do not abuse even such a useful dessert, a slice of dessert a day will be quite enough. Despite the low glycemic index (20-25 units), the caloric content remains high: for bitter chocolate – it is 535 kcal, and for milk chocolate – 550 kcal and higher.

Nutritionist and instructor at the Ben Vader College of Fitness and Bodybuilding.

Harmless in small quantities are also desserts containing pectin, in particular apple pectin: marshmallows, marshmallows, jellies, marmalade, jams. The calories you spend on digesting and assimilating these sweets will significantly reduce the total calorie content of the product.

Leaders in pectin content among fruits – peel and pulp of apples. Then the list continues with plums, quince, grapes, blueberries, gooseberries.

Products that contain such natural substances reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduce bad cholesterol and improve the gastrointestinal tract. Apple pectin, for example, helps control body weight, blood sugar and triglycerides (simple fats).

Pectin is a preventative for ulcers, diarrhea, constipation, colitis and diabetes. The substance helps in the fight against lung, prostate and colon cancer, as well as the effects of radiation. But despite the high adsorbing effect, in the process of production of sweet products, the useful properties can be reduced.

In order not to give up sweets, it is necessary to adhere to the following rules

1. move more and take every opportunity to take an extra step. And if at the end of such an active, eventful and moving day you eat a square of bitter chocolate, marshmallow or marmalade – it will not harm your figure.

2. Don’t keep dessert in plain sight. Separate your portion and put the rest out of sight. That’s the whole trick with sweets – volume matters.

3- Eat mindfully and slowly. Satiety comes faster if sips and chewing movements are counted. Savor and lose weight!

4. Think and calculate your diet in advance. Meals should be balanced in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins.

In these calculations, dessert can only be part of your plan for proper, balanced body wellness and weight loss or maintenance.

5. Don’t limit yourself. Avoiding and depriving yourself of sweets is definitely not worth it, it will only make it harder to get used to the intended proper diet.

6. Try to choose healthy analogues to your favorite desserts. Bitter chocolate will replace milk chocolate, marshmallow is quite suitable for marmalade dragee, and dried fruit – a great alternative to candy.

7. Cook at home. Store-bought desserts tend to be high in calories, sugar and fat. It is worth replacing these ingredients with less harmless ones (sweetener, natural sweeteners), and you can eat sweets without hesitation.

8. Enjoy yourself with sweets in the first half of the day. In the remaining time until the evening, you will have time to spend the extra calories.

You can consume desserts regularly if they have healthy properties (in small quantities and preferably prepared by yourself).