“Anything is good if it's made of chocolate”. “Dessert is like a fairy tale in the kitchen – a blissful time after dinner”. You must have heard these quotes often. Sweets and desserts symbolize love and we often express our love with chocolate or our favorite desserts. Indians traditionally end a meal with dessert, which can be ice cream, halwa or kheer. But along with happiness and joy, desserts also pack a ton of calories. Any dessert, whether it's cake, pudding, pie, ice cream, pastry or brownies, is loaded with sugar and fat, so it can provide 250 to 400 calories per serving. Even Indian sweets like laddus, burfis, jalebi, jamun, halwas etc. also contain a lot of calories.
Dr. Meghana Pasi, Nutritional Advisor, ArogyaWorld MyThali Programme, said: “We all know that refined white sugar, refined wheat flour (maida) and fat are the main ingredients in sweets. Eating a lot of these foods can lead to weight gain, which in turn increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, etc. Risk of non-communicable diseases. Instead of embarking on a guilt trip after swallowing a tub of ice cream, be mindful and take your time. This will help you stay healthy and enjoy them on your 90th birthday!”
Here are a few ways to balance your calories when you've had dessert or plan to eat it:
