Acıbadem Kozyatağı Hospital Nutrition and Diet Specialist Ayşe Sena Binöz “One must be cautious about desserts, which are indispensable for Ramadan Holiday. Especially syrupy and pastry desserts; The glycemic index (the rate of raising blood sugar) and energy density are high, causing blood sugar balance disorders, increasing fat storage, and causing many negative health problems such as heartburn and intestinal system disorders.
People who think that they do not have any systemic disease should not exceed one serving per day. Nutrition and Diet Specialist Ayşe Sena Binöz explained the 5 tips of making and consuming healthy desserts, gave important warnings and suggestions, and gave two dessert recipes…
PREFER MILK DESSERTS
Heavy, syrupy holiday desserts can pose a risk for your metabolism, which slows down and blood sugar imbalances occur during Ramadan. Such sweets can create negative situations such as imbalance in blood sugar, increase in body weight, sudden hunger attacks, irritability, headache, increased thirst. Milk desserts, on the other hand, will not cause blood sugar imbalances and body weight gain when consumed with portion control, since they have a relatively lower energy value. Therefore, prefer milky desserts.
CONSUME TASTE
If you can’t resist dessert and you are going to consume it, you can choose desserts instead of treats such as Turkish delight, candy and chocolate, which are offered first as guests. If desserts with syrup are indispensable, take care to consume half of the portion amount as much as possible during the feast or to offer half portions to your guests who come to the house. Thus, you can reduce the amount of sugar by taking your dessert for taste, not satiety.
SWEET WITH FRUITS
Fruits are an important food group that provides vitamins, minerals, fiber and many functional nutritional components. Many fruits have a much lower energy content compared to other foods. Fruit consumption is known to be protective against chronic diseases such as heart diseases, stroke and some types of cancer. Therefore, the fruits are positive; Considering the negative health effects of sugar, you can satisfy your sweet cravings in a healthy way by sweetening your holiday desserts with fresh or dried fruits instead of sugar. Fruit desserts; There will be delicious choices with lower energy content, both in terms of energy intake and because they do not contain fat during preparation. But of course, on condition that you pay attention to portion control!
REVIEW THE CONTENTS OF THE DESSERT
While preparing your holiday dessert treats, if there is a dessert you cannot give up, you can reduce the energy content of the dessert by making changes in the ingredients. For example; You can use the type of flour you will use for fiber-rich whole wheat and rye flours. Thus, you can prevent sudden blood sugar spikes after consumption. You can also provide the necessary sweetening by reducing the amount of sugar you use by half or alternatively by using honey, molasses, fresh and dried fruits. If you are going to consume dessert, balance your meals by reducing the amount of bread, pasta, rice, pastry, pastry derivatives, which are other carbohydrate sources.
CHOOSE HEALTHY OILS
It should not be forgotten that holiday desserts contain high amounts of fat as well as high sugar content. Fats such as margarine and butter, which are included in most traditional holiday desserts, are high in cholesterol and saturated fatty acids. These oils, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer, etc. cause many diseases, including diseases.
Therefore, while preparing your treats, you can benefit from healthy oil varieties such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, avocados, olive oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, which have positive health effects with their unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E and flavonoid contents. However, even if these fats are healthy, it should not be ignored that their energy density is high. At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the fried dessert varieties have high fat content; should not be included in the alternatives.