What Nutritionists Make When They Want A Treat - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

BRANDY: Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's “Ask a Nutritionist” podcast brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. My name is Brandy Buro. I'm a Licensed and Registered Dietitian here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Let's get started with today's question. Today's question is, “What do nutritionists like to make when they want a treat?”

So, if you've been following along with us, you've probably learned that sugar is pretty damaging to our heart health, so we want to make an effort to limit our sugar intake as much as possible. And that can be pretty tricky, especially around any kind of special holiday, when sugary treats are either gifted to you or they're shared with each other as a way to show appreciation.

And really these sugary treats are just everywhere in stores. It's just easier to access them than ever, and because of it you might be experiencing more sugar cravings than normal because sugar triggers cravings for sugar, so I hope this episode gives you some ideas for how to satisfy your sweet tooth without letting those cravings get out of control.

And I thought a really great compliment to this episode would be an episode that aired about a year ago, January 4th of 2024, “Why You're Craving Sweets”. So this is going to give you a deeper dive into the biochemical reasons why you might be experiencing sugar cravings and a few strategies to help address them.

And even if you're not somebody that struggles with sugar cravings on a daily basis, it's still important to know what to have if you want a special little treat every now and then. So today I'm going to share some ideas of what I like to do when I'm in the mood for something a little sweet without straying too far from my values of eating real food in balance.

So all of these ideas will utilize real food ingredients without using any sweeteners or very little sweeteners, and it will include a balance of carbohydrates with a little natural fat and some ideas even include some protein. So treats that can accomplish this are going to be more satiating and satisfy that need for something sweet without throwing off your blood sugar balance.

So those blood sugar imbalances are something that can trigger more serious or chronic sugar cravings, and that's what we want to avoid. So the quickest fix for me when I want something sweet is a piece of fruit with a little bit of healthy fat and sometimes a little bit of protein. I have quite a few examples of what this looks like, and I really like to get creative with different combinations.

Fruit dessert ideas

I'll often use whatever fruit is in season to keep things interesting and experiment with different types of healthy fats just to see what combinations are the best to me. And I do recommend that you pair any fruit that you choose with at least a little bit of fat and maybe a little bit of protein because eating carbohydrates, even if they're real carbohydrates, could potentially spike your blood sugar and that could lead to more serious sugar cravings down the line.

So yes, add a little bit of fat, add a little bit of protein. It is going to be more satisfying. It's going to satiate you a little bit more than carbohydrates all by themselves, and this can prevent the desire to go back for more, more, more. So it can prevent overeating in the end.

So some classic and simple combinations: the apple with peanut butter. I mean everybody knows that one, but I think it's a good one. You could also make a bit of an apple dip by mixing some Greek yogurt with some peanut butter and maybe a little bit of cinnamon. And that would kind of check all the boxes of a completely balanced snack: protein from the yogurt, fat from the peanut butter, and your real food carb from that apple.

Berries and cream is another great classic combination. You could also use canned coconut milk if you are sensitive to dairy. That is a very easy swap, but just as satisfying. My go to most of the time is actually half of a banana with about a tablespoon or two of peanut butter or tahini, and I'll just sprinkle some unsweetened coconut flakes on that.

Sometimes I'll even add a couple, like two or three dark chocolate chips on top; really satisfying. I always have bananas around so this is a pretty reliable option for me. When pears are in season, sometimes I'll like to sauté half of a pear with a little bit of butter or coconut oil and then sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on top, maybe with a couple of crushed pecans or walnuts, and that's almost like a very on the fly, fruit crisp.

Really good. Another fun way to use pears, and I just kind of discovered this combination, was slice up a pear and then top that with ricotta cheese. And add a little bit of balsamic vinegar on top. It's surprisingly good. It might sound kind of unusual, but it is very tasty and you're getting a little bit of fat and protein from that ricotta cheese.

I do something similar with fresh figs and fresh strawberries, but instead of ricotta cheese, I'll use goat cheese. So again, you're getting a little bit of fat and a little bit of protein from that cheese. And then I will drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar on there just for something a little more interesting.

So try those out. I found that they're really easy to make, but they're kind of impressive. It's kind of an impressive, unexpected combination. I like to bring this to social events, or if I have people over, I'll serve that as kind of a little appetizer for the evening. Pretty fun.

And another fun twist a friend just shared with me this past weekend was a fresh orange with half of an avocado and a sprinkling of cardamom. So think about how you can use some of those spices to sort of jazz up these combinations. So that one was surprisingly good too.

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“No sugar Snickers bar”

I'm going to share one more, combination of fruit and fat. This one is a really special treat for me when I feel like something a little more decadent. I like to call it the no sugar Snickers bar. So basically what it is, you slice a date in half and fill it with peanut butter and, if you don't have peanut butter, you could do almond butter or sun butter. I've even done tahini and then maybe some coconut flakes or crushed peanuts and then drizzle that with some melted dark chocolate.

It is surprising how much this tastes like a Snickers bar, but there's absolutely no added sugar. Another variation of this idea where you're combining fruit and fat would be a homemade sorbet or, quote, “nice cream”. This is where you simply blend some frozen fruit, like berries or bananas or mango with a little bit of canned coconut milk or heavy whipping cream.

Mango dole whip

So you have your carb and your fat and it's kind of like a soft serve ice cream or a sorbet. There are a few recipes on our website, weightandwellness.com, for you to try. I would look for the mango dole whip. That one is really good and refreshing. Very simple to make.

Peanut butter banana cottage cheese ice cream

Another favorite of this concept is the peanut butter banana cottage cheese ice cream. It sounds kind of weird, but it is really tasty and it checks all the boxes of a balanced snack. So there's protein from cottage cheese, a little healthy carbohydrate from a banana, and peanut butter for natural fat; unusual sounding, but it is really good.

There are a few other recipes on our website that I think kind of fit that bill of something sweet, but also very balanced where they're including protein, some fat and some natural carbs. They're all real food ingredients. They don't use any added sugar or maybe minimal amount of honey or maple syrup.

Peach crisp

So one of my go tos, especially in the summer is a fruit crisp. I love making peach crisp in the summer. That's my all time favorite fruit. And this is just one of my favorite ways to make it. The peaches are just naturally sweet, so I don't really have to add any sugar, and the crumbly topping just adds that really satisfying crunch.

There's some almond meal in there. I like to add pecans, a little cinnamon, butter. It's truly very delicious. Everybody loves this one, and I feel good about enjoying it. You know, there's no guilt in real food with some almonds.

Protein shake

A protein shake I think is also a great way to get some good nutrition, but it almost feels like a dessert. If you make it right, it could almost taste like a milkshake. So there's a few recipes on our website that I really enjoy. There's the chocolate covered berry smoothie. The pina colada is another one that I love. Around this time of year when it's really cold, I'll try the hot chocolate smoothie where you're still getting all the benefits of a smoothie, but it's just warm and comforting.

Another recipe to watch for on the website is the mocha mousse. This is kind of a riff on a chia seed pudding where you combine chia seeds with some healthy fat, either heavy whipping cream or canned coconut milk. In the mocha mousse, they are also including some chocolate protein powder and espresso flavored Key Greens & Fruit.

So it has that kind of chocolate coffee combination; really delicious. I like to put some fresh raspberries on mine just to kind of round that out, for the carbohydrates with that protein and fat. This one does take some advanced planning because you do have to let that mixture set for one, one or two hours just so those chia seeds can absorb the liquid and make that pudding texture, but it's worth the wait. So really satisfying, but tastes like a dessert.

Peanut butter protein balls

The peanut butter protein balls are another great option. Tastes just like a peanut butter cup, but it is completely balanced with some protein powder, some real fat from peanut butter or almond butter, and I believe there's some oat flour in there for some carbohydrate.

Protein muffins

Protein muffins are another great balanced recipe. There are several variations of a healthy muffin on our website, weightandwellness.com. One of my favorites is the carrot cake muffin with cream cheese frosting. I made these for an Easter potluck last year. Nobody realized that they were “healthy”, just delicious and a crowd pleaser, and really great for sort of a midday snack or even as a breakfast option.

Yogurt parfait

One more idea that doesn't really require a recipe, but it's really simple to make is a yogurt parfait. Basically just combining some full fat yogurt with some fresh berries or fruit, whatever fruit you like, and then some crunchy nuts or some nut butter. There's a nut granola recipe on our website that I think would work really well in this recipe or like in a yogurt parfait.

You can make a big batch of that and sprinkle it on some yogurt or even any of the fruits we just talked about for a little bit of healthy fat and a little bit of crunch. So again, all of these recipes that I just mentioned are all considered balanced, which means they have some protein, real carbohydrates from fruit, and some natural fat. So we're incorporating all of those macronutrients to provide a more satiating treat and control your blood sugar.

Dark chocolate

One last suggestion for you, if all else fails, one of my go to sweet treats is just a little bit of dark chocolate. The darker the better. I like to do at least 70 percent dark or darker because the darker the chocolate the less sugar they use and we are not talking about the types of chocolate bars that have the caramel added or the cookies mixed in.

Just plain dark chocolate with minimal sugar added. A small piece of dark chocolate, I find, could be very satisfying. Even just a half an ounce kind of does the trick for me. Sometimes I'll add some pecans or some almonds for a little extra healthy fat. And it does pay to get good quality chocolate. I find that the better the quality, the better it tastes, and the less you need to sort of scratch that itch. So look for organic brands and fair trade brands.

Well, I hope you are feeling inspired to try some of these ideas the next time you're craving a sweet treat. Remember, always combine your real food carbohydrates, like fruit, with at least some healthy fat, and better yet, a little bit of protein, to create the most satisfying treat you can.

And try to lean into those seasonal fruits just to keep things interesting and get the best tasting fruit possible and get creative with different types of healthy fats so that you can experience surprising combinations that will become new favorites.

Well, thank you so much for listening to Dishing Up Nutrition's “Ask a Nutritionist”. Let us know if you like today's episode so we can help even more people make that connection between what they eat and how they feel. And if there's a question that you'd like us to answer, you can join our Dishing Up Nutrition Facebook community.

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