Christmas is a time of year when everything is allowed on a diet level. It is true that at this time we tend to have wider sleeves and we relax. Many are the family lunches and dinners in which sweets are present. At the end of the day, if we add the calories that they provide us, in addition to those that we include with excessive food and drink, the global calculation is very high. Therefore in this post we want to give some healthy alternatives to the Christmas sweets to avoid adding calories further.
Mainly the Christmas sweets are made with high amounts of refined sugars. Therefore they contain high amounts of glucose. To this we must add the fats that are used in their preparation, which make them a food that hardly provides us with nutrients and yes many empty calories. For this reason, it is much better to opt for other more nutritious and perhaps just as tasty desserts.
The fruit as the star of the Christmas table
One of the healthiest desserts out there is Fruit. At Christmas we cannot banish it from our diet. Fruit can be a perfect and healthy substitute for the traditional sweets that are consumed during these holidays. Pineapple is a good alternative to take our mouths after eating. It will help us with digestion and will hardly provide us with calories. The same happens with red fruits such as pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries … We can all find them in any supermarket on these dates.
Roasted apples with cinnamon, a good way to sweeten the palate
Another healthy alternative to fruit are roasted apples. A very simple and very healthy recipe. It simply consists of roasting apples in the oven and once cooked add cinnamon. This dessert will hardly give us calories, in addition to being a sweet and delicious dessert. To this must be added its high fiber content that makes roasted apple one of the best ways to have a perfect intestinal transit. That is why it is a very good alternative for these Christmas dates.
Homemade cakes to sweeten the palate and be healthy
Another highly recommended dessert for these dates are the homemade cakes. We can make countless variants, in which we can add raisins, nuts … All these ingredients are nutritious and will provide benefits to the body. It is true that sugars and flours are added, but being homemade, all the ingredients will be much healthier. Of course, it is not advisable to use cakes of industrial origin, since their contribution of trans fats is high.
Fresh cheese with jam or honey
The fresh cheese with honey or fruit jam It is another healthy alternative that we can put on the Christmas table to sweeten our palate. It goes without saying that fresh cheese is a good alternative, low in calories and with a healthy fat content. Especially if we opt for a variety of goat, since it contains CLA, a nutrient that will help us to better manage body fats and their use when obtaining energy. Jam and honey are a healthy source of energy, as they are healthy sugars.
Nuts, dates or raisins, a classic of Christmas
Of course they could not miss the nuts, dates, raisins … These are foods with a high caloric value, but of good quality. If we weigh the calories they provide us and the nutrients, the latter win the battle. Do not forget that nuts provide us with essential fatty acids that are beneficial to health. In the case of dates or raisins, the vitamin and mineral contribution is very high. Of course, we should not abuse any of them, because their sugar content is high.
This article was originally published by Diego Delgado in December 2016 and has been revised for republication.
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Images | Direct to the Palate, Unsplash