Eat Sweet Food as You Find Them in Nature

Eat Sweet Foods as You Find Them in Nature
By Brittany Kelley, R.D., L.D.N

Sweets and desserts are two of the most commonly craved foods due to the fact that they are what they sound like; SWEET. Table sugar or sucrose is a substance in food that when consumed creates a dopamine response in the brain. Dopamine is the “feel good” hormone that gives us a sense of pleasure when we eat foods that contain a high amount of sugar, salt, or fat. This hormone being released over time begins to create a positive relationship with high sugar foods and makes us always go back wanting more. After all, why wouldn’t the body want to continue to give itself something that makes it feel good? That’s just human nature. The problem with this is that it can create an addiction to these types of foods and leave us reliant on sugar sweetened foods and beverages. This matters because over consumption of added sugars in our diet can lead to increased risk of becoming overweight or obese, developing type two diabetes, and high triglyceride levels.  For any of you that feel stuck in the pattern of consuming high sugar foods, changing the source of where you are getting your sweet treats from might be the best method of breaking this habit.

In order to alter any behavior it is important to find a substitute to replace it. This is why choosing to get your sweets from naturally occurring sugar found in fruits or vegetables is the way to go.  Many people fear fruit because it’s “high in sugar” but what they don’t realize is fructose or fruit sugar is not the same as table sugar added into food. The sugar found in fruit does not become metabolized the same way in the body that sucrose or table sugar does.  Plus,  whole fruits contain other nutritious benefits like fiber and various vitamins and minerals that we need to perform everyday functions.  Regular sucrose does not have any of those added benefits. So next time you want to reach for that chocolate bar or slice of cake, use one of these healthy alternatives to make a better decision:

• Trail mix with added dried fruit like raisins and craisins
• Fruit salad; taking seasonal fruits and making a big batch for snacks throughout the day
• Adding fruit to your water: instead of soda, sweetened iced tea, or fruit juice adding fresh cuts of lemon, limes, or berries to plain water helps give you that sweet taste without ten packages of sugar.
• Making your own sorbet/smoothie: instead of creamy sugar filled ice cream, blending your own mixture of fresh fruit and yogurt could make a yummy alternative to ice crea