We all need to be aware of the effects of sugar on our health. If you read my Blog on the 3rd November 2020 you will see a deeper dive into the negative effects of over consumption of sugar.

Two teaspoon rule

It is worth re-caping though that our body can only process 2 teaspoons of processed sugar in a sitting. Beyond 2 teaspoons, negative health effects can begin such as weight gain, inflammation and insulin resistance contributing to pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.

Shop bought processed foods often have large amounts of sugar and you might be surprised to hear that even savoury foods are loaded with sugar by manufacturers.

When checking food ingredients look at the amount of sugar in grams that are added. 4grams = 1 teaspoon. Ideally, we do not want to go over 4gms in any one food. 8gms and over is tipping into too much sugar for the body to comfortably deal with and process.

Low sugar fruits are the best to snack on and fruits high in fibre such as apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc.

Try home baking

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, then why not try a bit of home baking?

You will be able to gauge how much or how little sugar goes into a batch of biscuits or a homemade sweet loaf like banana bread. And rather than going to the shop for your fix, you can always make a batch for the week.

Fibre and protein

Adding fibre and protein to a sugary snack can help buffer the speed at which the glucose enters the blood. This can aid in the prevention against potential harm to the body.

Fibre is mostly found in vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds.

Protein sources such as eggs, nuts, seeds, cottage cheese, cream cheese, meat, and fish – and now protein powders – are often added to sweet treats and snacks.

Oreo Bites Recipe

Here is a protein rich sweet recipe by one of our Nellsar Chefs, Kay Smith, The Catering Manager at Hengist Field Care Home. Kay makes these for her residents and they go down a treat!

Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Servings: 42

Ingredients

• 1 packet of OREO cookies
• 1 tub of soft cream cheese
• 2 x 150-200gm bars of baking chocolate

Method

1. Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in a food processor or crushed in a bag with a rolling pin. Put to one side for later.
2. Melt the chocolate until completely smooth and runny.
3. Crush the remaining cookies to fine crumbs, put in a medium bowl.
4. Add the cream cheese to the cookies that have just been crushed; mix until well blended.
5. Roll the cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
6. Dip the balls in chocolate; place on baking paper.
7. Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
8. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
9. Serve and enjoy!