Guidelines for healthy dessert makeovers

Everyone likes dessert — but nowhere else do the evils of white flour, sugar and saturated fat converge in such a perfect storm, making your blood sugar surge. But that doesn't mean dessert in general is off-limits. Here are some helpful hints to makeover your dessert options.

• Think fruit, fruit, fruit. It's sweet and refreshing and easily transformed into an almost endless variety of attractive, easy-to-make desserts.
• Watch portion sizes. The truth is, you can eat whatever you like if the portion is small enough. Use a small plate, such as a saucer, or a child-size cereal bowl for ice cream to help make smaller portions look more substantial. Or, to make your dessert fill up a big plate or bowl, add fruit such as pineapple, blueberries or banana.
• Hunt for whole grains. Most baked goods are made with white flour, but they don't have to be. In fact, you can cut down the amount of white flour in dessert recipes but substituting some for friendly oats, whole wheat flour, and so on.
• Go low fat. Whether it's the ice cream you buy or the cream cheese you put in your cheesecake, make it reduced fat to avoid the nasty saturated fats that hamper your body's ability to handle blood sugar.
• Finally, think of dessert as a treat — not a daily habit. Indulge twice a week to keep your sweet tooth happy. The rest of the week, top off dinner with an evening stroll instead.

Here are two specific desserts and their healthier options:

Hot fudge sundae: Instead of one large scoop (250 millilitres/1 cup) of vanilla ice cream with 75 millilitres (1/3 cup) hot fudge sauce, dish out one small scoop (125 millilitres/1/2 cup) of vanilla ice cream with 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) strawberries and five toasted walnut halves. This helps in 3 ways:

• It decreased the portion of ice cream since it has a lot of sugar and a high glycemic load, not to mention saturated fat, which hampers insulin sensitivity.
• Scrapped the sugar-laden hot fudge, along with its glycemic load.
• Added walnuts and strawberries to fill up the bowl and provide fibre, nutrients and healthy fats (from the walnuts) to help improve insulin sensitivity.

Chocolate cake: The makeover for one large piece chocolate cake with frosting is to have just one small piece of unfrosted chocolate cake dusted with confectioner's sugar, with 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) mixed blueberries and raspberries. This change:

• Decreased the portion size of the cake to cut refined carbohydrates and therefore the glycemic load.
• Eliminated the frosting, which has a high GL.
• Added berries to increase the nutritional value of the dessert and make the smaller portion of cake more satisfying.

Trying to eat healthy doesn't mean you have to always cut back on the treats. Just take smaller portions and include healthier options like fruits.