6 Healthy and Delicious Alternatives to Candy

We all are guilty of harbouring an insatiable sweet tooth, and particularly when this time of the year arrives, it can be extremely hard to avoid those monster candy cravings that make us want to load our bodies with sugar.

Naturally, candy consumption never sits well with our weight loss goals, and in fact, they end up eliminating all our weight loss gains by raising our calorie consumption with just a few bars of candy. It should come as no surprise that candy is the unhealthiest choice for your body and the worst food to sabotage your weight loss diet for it packs up a ridiculously high amount of sugar.

So, forget about munching on candies this Halloween, and instead, satiate your sweet with healthy and natural desserts made with fresh fruits, honey and other natural sweeteners that provide multiple nutritional benefits.

This article lists the 9 healthy and delicious alternatives to candy. #healthyfood #health #healthysnacks

Image: HealthyVogue

We’ve picked out 6 incredibly healthy desserts that you need to add to your weight loss immediately. Here, take a look:

1. Dried Fruit

Forget about those processed jellies, gummy bears and candies, who needs those empty calories when you can satiate your sweet tooth by munching on a handful of dried fruits. They are not only deliciously savoury and indulgent, but they also pack up much lesser calories and refined sugar as compared to those artificially flavoured coloured alphabets and bears.

Dried fruits are loaded with dietary fiber, essential minerals and vitamin C, however, be sure to pick out mindfully moderate servings because dried fruits tend to pack up much more calories as compared to fruits and vegetables. For instance, a cup of grapes will provide you 60 calories, while 2 tablespoons of raisins pack up an 80 calories.

Here’s a terrific idea for a savoury and satiating snack loaded with nutrients: mix some dried blueberries and cranberries with mixed nuts to reduce your sugar intake, and promote greater satiation by consuming protein and fiber.

Dry Fruits and Nuts Benefits

2. Greek Yogurt Topped with Fruits & Honey

Treat yourself to an indulgently savoury dessert that is powered with energising protein and heaps of fiber. Greek yogurt topped with fresh berries, apples, bananas and a few dribbles of honey for a sweet taste is the ultimate low-calorie dessert to indulge your taste buds without feeling guilty or bloated. It’s rich and creamy, cold consistency makes up for the lack of rich-textured desserts that we miss so much.

This is an incredibly healthy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth and pack up a rich dose of nutritional benefits. Greek yogurt is one of the richest sources of protein, while fruits pack up heaps of antioxidants and fiber, and honey boosts powerful antimicrobial and antioxidant properties to keep us healthy, sharp and energized.

Honey Yogurt Dressing

3. Cinnamon-sugar Popcorn

Cinnamon sugar popcorn is an indulgently sweet snack that packs up very few calories and several nutritional benefits. Even if you devour three cups of this incredibly light snack you will only be consuming no more than 90 calories. However, just be sure to pick out popcorn that does not contain any butter, oil or added salts, and prepare it just the way the instructions are written down.

Then, you simply have to sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar to create a scrumptiously filling low-calorie dessert. Just be sure not to add too much sugar even though you can add generous amounts of cinnamon to make up for the lack of sugar.

Research reveals that the consumption of cinnamon helps patients of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes by naturally reducing their glucose levels.

Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn Sweet Healthy Food

4. Dark Chocolate

Here’s some good news for chocolate addicts: dark chocolate is your ultimate saving grace and the answer to all your sugar cravings with a healthy punch of powerful nutrients and antioxidants. Research reveals that dark chocolate is immensely healthy for it aids in cutting down the risk factors that lead to the development of cardiovascular disease, along with reducing blood pressure levels.

The regular consumption of dark chocolate also aids in reducing stress hormones amongst people suffering from anxiety. However, in order to reap all these health benefits, you must pick out dark chocolate that contains at least 70% or more cocoa concentration.

Also, limit your consumption to mindful bite-size pieces that are no more than on ounce. Even though it reaps up heaps of benefits, dark chocolate also packs up 150 calories in every ounce, so be sure to eat moderately.

Best Healthy Chocolate

5. Almonds Sprinkled with Cocoa Powder

Instead of gorging down heaps of peanut M&Ms or bars of Snickers, treat yourself to sweet and salty combination of a crunchy snack consisting of almonds, sprinkled with cocoa powder to slash away all the fat and calories, and give your body a powerful fix of nutrients. You can even pick out Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds, which provide 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of dietary fiber with a quarter cup serving at the cost of no more than 150 calories.

It’s always beneficial to make your own homemade variety in order to reap all the benefits heart-healthy almonds have to offer, such as reducing the harmful LDL cholesterol and fortifying the strength of the heart.

Almond Milk Cocoa

6. Hot Cocoa

Natural cocoa powder is an extremely health staple to store in your kitchen pantry for it packs up a rich concentration of flavonoids, powerful antioxidant that aid in boosting the health of the heart, reducing the risk factors that lead to heart strokes and cutting down blood pressure levels.

One tablespoon of natural cocoa powder is all you need to pack up 2 grams of fiber at the cost of no more than 12 calories.

However, be sure to pick out natural cocoa powder to reap these nutritional benefits because alkalized cocoa powder does more harm than good. The process of alkalization eliminates some of the bitterness present in cocoa and improves its colour and solubility, however, it destroys and changes many of its beneficial nutritional concentrations and protective phytonutrients.

Best Cocoa For Hot Chocolate

Be sure to scan the ingredients label for words such as Dutch-processed, alkali, alkalized or European-style, for these are the labels you need to avoid. If the cocoa powder is not alkalized, the label will say natural or nonalkalized.

Fix yourself a low-calorie sweet treat that packs up heaps of protein and calcium by mixing some cocoa powder with skimmed milk, almond milk or even soy milk.

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