A strong sweet tooth has the potential to sabotage any diet or weight loss plan, but there are plenty of ways around it. Although a healthy diet does not allow for many desserts and sweet treats, naturally sweet foods can stand in as substitutes for unhealthier alternatives, and natural sweeteners can also help enhance the taste of blander diet foods.
Benefits
Sweets almost never come with major nutritional benefits, but some naturally sweet diet items are exceptions. Fruit is the best known and the most common. According to MyPyramid from the USDA, regular servings of fruit have the potential to reduce risks of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, kidney stones and bone loss. In less healthy desserts and baked goods, a little sugar can go a long way, and eating just a small serving of a sweet treat can help satisfy a craving without adding too many calories.
Foods
Some of the sweetest fruits that work well in healthy diets include grapes, watermelon, berries and peaches. Because of fruits' natural sweetness, Help Guide recommends using them as a substitute for calorie-laden desserts, such as doughnuts and chocolate ice cream. Natural sweeteners, such as honey and maple syrup, don't add many calories in small amounts, can make a big difference in taste and are unprocessed, unlike refined white sugar. Small servings of dark chocolate, cacao nibs, hot chocolate or low-fat desserts made with natural ingredients can also be wise diet indulgences.
Nutrition
Nutritional information varies among sweet diet foods. Fresh and frozen fruits are low in calories and free of fat, cholesterol and sodium, but prepared desserts are not and may make a serious dent in a calorie or fat allowance for a single day. Thus, it's always helpful to carefully study nutrition labels and ingredient lists before eating a sweet treat to get a better idea of how it will fit in to your eating plan.
Risks
Fruits are a notable exception, but the rule with sweet foods is that they come with calories and fat. Including too many sweets in any diet plan can result in weight gain and negative health effects. Even if a diet plan's rules allows for some desserts, going overboard on added sugar can cause nutritional deficiencies, tooth decay and a higher risk of heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. CNN's physician nutrition specialist, Dr. Melina Jampolis, adds that eating more than three servings of fruit per day can hinder a diet's progress.
Considerations
The healthiest diet plans feature a foundation of nutritious food groups such as those that MyPyramid recommends: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and nonfat dairy items. While sweets can fit in healthfully, they do not work as a foundation or main part of any safe eating plan. Before beginning any new diet, talk with a doctor about its implications and safety.
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