4 Healthy Dessert Makeovers
Keep dessert on the menu with these recipes designed to keep your blood sugar steady and aid in weight loss while simultaneously satisfying your sweet tooth.
from Magic Foods
From Magic Foods
Typical Dessert 1 slice apple pie with 1/2 cup ice cream
Total Glycemic Load (GL): 29
Total calories: 363
Magic Dessert
1 Maple-Walnut Roasted Apple with ice cream
Total GL: 17
Total calories: 207
The Fixes
●Kept the apple but got rid of the piecrust and the extra sugar used for the filling. Both of these ingredients are responsible for increasing the GL of this dessert (plus, the piecrust is high in calories and full of saturated fat).
●Added walnuts for protein and “good” fat to help fill you up and further lower the dessert’s GL.
●Cut the ice cream down to one small scoop and switched to reduced-fat ice cream to lower the saturated fat.
Typical Dessert
1 cup vanilla ice cream with 1/3 cup hot fudge sauce
Total GL: 39
Total calories: 329
Magic Dessert
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream with:
1/2 cup strawberries
5 toasted walnut halves
Total GL: 12
Total calories: 224
The Fixes
●Decreased the portion of ice cream since it has a lot of sugar and a high GL, not to mention saturated fat, which hampers insulin sensitivity.
●Scrapped the sugar-laden hot fudge, along with its glycemic load.
●Added walnuts and strawberries to fill up the bowl and provide fiber, nutrients, and healthy fats (from the walnuts) to help improve insulin sensitivity.
Typical Dessert
1 large piece chocolate cake with frosting
Total GL: 23
Total calories: 439
Magic Dessert
1 small piece unfrosted chocolate cake dusted with confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup mixed blueberries and raspberries
Total GL: 12
Total calories: 309
The Fixes
●Decreased the portion size of the cake to cut refined carbohydrates and therefore the GL.
●Eliminated the frosting, which has a high GL.
●Added berries to increase the nutritional value of the dessert and make the smaller portion of cake more satisfying.
Typical Dessert
1 large chocolate chip cookie
Total GL: 19
Total calories: 196
Magic Dessert
1 Oatmeal–Peanut Butter Trail Bar
Total GL: 13
Total calories: 175
The Fix
●Swapped the cookie, made with the triple evils of sugar, butter, and white flour, for an even more delicious trail bar made with whole grains (full of fiber) and peanut butter (full of protein and “good” fat) to lower the GL and keep you fuller longer. The bar also provides extra nutrition from dried fruit.
