Nutrition - Healthy Desserts On A Budget

Eating a healthy dessert doesn't have to break the bank. While it's true that Twinkies and Ding-Dongs do cost less (in dollars) than quality healthy foods, the cost to our health is truly frightening!

Follow these tips for low-cost healthy desserts:

1) Try fruit. Full of natural sugars, and naturally fat free, fruit is a great dessert choice. Fresh kiwi, apples, pears, plums and oranges can all be found for about 50 cents per serving.

2) Fat-free pudding costs only 79 cents per box and is quite low in calories.

3) Mix one cup of fat-free yogurt with 1/2 cup of frozen berries for an inexpensive and healthy dessert alternative. A cup of yogurt is usually about 45 cents, while a 1 pound bag of frozen berries sells for only $2 (that's 33 cents per serving).

4) Fat-free and sugar-free Jell-O is very inexpensive (about 40 cents per box) and boasts only 5 calories per serving.

5) Mix it up! Combine the healthy Jell-O with some canned fruit, or top with non-fat dairy whipped topping (about 99 cents per 16 oz. container).

6) Fat-free and/or sugar-free frozen yogurt tastes quite good, and with only a fraction of the calories you'll find in ice cream. Remember that a "serving size" is only a 1/2 cup.

7) If you choose to skip dessert altogether, try brushing your teeth immediately after the meal. This will help eliminate the craving for sweets.

8) Try sugar-free chewing gum for dessert. This option will satisfy your sweet tooth while protecting your waistline.

9) If dining in a restaurant, try ordering just one dessert and splitting it. You'll save 1/2 the calories, 1/2 the fat, and 1/2 the money.

10) As a last ditch attempt to resist dessert, tell yourself that you WILL have that dessert - right after you complete a 1/2 hour walk. Right after dinner go out for a 1/2 hour walk. If you still feel like eating dessert when you return, then you can do so knowing that at least you've had some good exercise.

By Pick_Up_The_Pace | This article was posted on 2007-10-03 05:09:35

About The Author:

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Definition:

Dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food but sometimes of a strongly-flavored one, such as some cheeses. The word comes from the Old French desservir, "to clear the table." Some common desserts are cakes, cookies, fruits, and candies.

The word dessert is most commonly used for this course in U.S., Canada, Australia, and Ireland, while sweet, pudding or afters would be more typical terms in the UK and some other Commonwealth countries. According to Debrett's, pudding is the proper term, dessert is only to be used if the course consists of fruit, and sweet is colloquial.

Although the custom of eating fruits and nuts after a meal may be very old, dessert as a standard part of a Western meal is a relatively recent development. Before the rise of the middle class in the 19th-century, and the mechanization of the sugar industry, sweets were a privilege of the aristocracy, or a rare holiday treat. As sugar became cheaper and more readily available, the development and popularity of desserts spread accordingly.

Some cultures do not have a separate final sweet course but mix sweet and savoury dishes throughout the meal as in Chinese cuisine, or reserve elaborate dessert concoctions for special occasions. Often, the dessert is seen as a separate meal or snack rather than a course, and may be eaten apart from the meal (usually in less formal settings). Some restaurants specialize in dessert. In colloquial American usage "dessert" has a broader meaning and can refer to anything sweet that follows a meal, including milkshakes and other beverages.

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