Too much sugar is unhealthy. It’s a given fact that a diet high in sweets can lead to multiple health problems in the long run, including obesity, skin aging, heart disease, diabetes, and much more. Bad news if you have a sweet tooth and are constantly craving to chew on something sweet.
Living a healthy lifestyle, however, doesn’t mean giving up sweet food completely. While it helps to take sugar in moderation and control your urge to grab any candy, chocolate, or pastries you can find, it’s much better if you can replace these sweet treats with alternatives that, although naturally sweet, provide you with health benefits and contain neither sugars nor artificial sweeteners.
Fruit-Infused Water
Infused water is a cold glass of water that has steeped with the natural flavors of fruits, herbs, and vegetables. All you need is a pitcher or water jug (there are even special water containers that make easy, pulp free water infusions), clean drinking water, and a fruit or a combination of fruits, herbs, and vegetables of your preference. Add the water and your produce in the container and let it chill in the fridge for at least four hours.
Because infused water is just water with natural flavor, each drink contains zero calories. Apart from the flavor, you’re also getting the vitamins, minerals, and other benefits you get from consuming that fruit or vegetable. The most popular flavored water for example, lemon water, provides vitamin C to help with blood pressure, indigestion, and weight loss.
If you want to try fruit water, lemon water is a good place to start. Plenty of restaurants offer lemon water, but it’s much better if you make it at home so you know it’s fresh. Once you’re used to the idea of flavored water, you can try to experiment with other fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I personally like peach water made with fresh frozen peaches (that’s peaches that I peel and cut at home before freezing them) because of the taste. Sometimes, I combine peaches with mangoes when they’re in season. It’s up to you to find a combination you want for your flavored water.
Honey Panna Cotta with Fruit Compote
Panna cotta – “cooked cream” in English – is a traditional Italian desert made with dairy, sugar, and gelatin. The other day, I found a recipe that showed it was possible to make the dessert without adding sugar by replacing it with honey. While honey has relatively more carbohydrates than sugar, it is much sweeter and requires less amounts to match the sweetness sugar provides.
This healthy honey panna cotta recipe, taken from Taste.com.au, requires cream, milk, honey, and gelatin to make the base. The recipe uses spiced strawberries as a topping, but feel free to use your own compote, fresh fruit, or even eat panna cotta on its own.
Mocha and Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Chia seeds have a mild nutty flavor that adds a bit of sweetness to your food. So, despite having no sugars and sweeteners, Kale Me Maybe’s layered mocha and vanilla chia seed pudding is sure to be a sweet breakfast.
The recipe is fairly easy, with almond milk, cold brew, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and chia seeds for the mocha layer and the same but without the coffee and cocoa for the vanilla later. After combining the ingredients and letting it sit in the fridge for at least seven hours, you can layer the two puddings and serve with strawberries, cacao nibs, or any healthy topping you prefer.
Are Sugar-Free Sweets Really Sugar Free?
Before you say sugar-free products on the market is a simple solution over making these alternatives at home, let me stop you there.
Technically, they are sugar-free. You won’t find any natural sugar in these products, but don’t believe the packaging if it’s marketed as the healthier alternative. You’re really just trading sugar for a different calorie and carbohydrate-loaded sweetener. It might not legally be sugar, but consuming Splenda, saccharin, aspartame, stevia, and other artificial sweeteners cause their own medical problems. These are just three examples of healthy but sweet alternatives to eating sugar-packed foods. While there’s still plenty of ideas out on the internet, this is just to show you that eating healthy doesn’t have to be bland and boring. By knowing more about substitutions and foods that are naturally sweet, you can still give into your sweet tooth craving – just make sure it’s a healthy treat.
