Healthy Sweets and How They Stimulate Your Brain |ADDICTED

Over the last couple of years, people have started taking a genuine interest in fitness, nutrition, and healthy living. But whenever some trend starts taking root, what follows are misconceptions, half-truths, and a great deal of generalisation.

That is how sweets ended up as the poster boy for all bad habits related to healthy nutrition. Of course, this reputation is largely unwarranted.

Sure, the world of food is filled with bad sweets that will only undermine your health and get you a couple of pounds. But on the other hand, you also have a whole slew of sweets that, if used properly, can only improve your wellbeing and boost brain activity.

Let’s see how this works and why you should always keep healthy carbs on your table.

Positive effects of sugar on brain activity

As we mentioned, sugar and sweets are often singled out as the principal offender for a variety of medical issues ranging from high blood pressure and heart problems to obesity. Most of us fail to remember that sweets are also the primary source of glucose, which essentially serves as fuel for the brain.

When your brain lacks glucose, the connections between neurotransmitters are shattered, and your brain doesn’t work at 100% capacity.

So, the regular intake of glucose is not only beneficial but also necessary for efficient brain activity. But, how can you leverage the benefits of this essential nutrient without exposing yourself to all the health risks that come with it?

Choosing between different sources of glucose

One of the solutions to this problem can be using low-calorie dessert recipes. Cutting the number of calories is always a good way to maintain a healthy diet.

But, you have another, even better alternative – choosing the healthy sources of sweets. Most of the sugar you consume during your life comes from artificial sweeteners, brown sugar, and agave that pack very low amounts of glucose, to begin with, and do absolutely nothing beneficial for your body.

What are the healthiest sources of sugar

So, leveraging the benefits of glucose is impossible if the sweets don’t pack enough of this helpful carbohydrate and, even worse, feature a high caloric count. What you should do instead is to aim for the sweets that paint the opposite picture – low in calories, rich in beneficial nutrients.

Here are some of the most notable examples.

Dark chocolate snacks

This is probably the easiest fix for your short-term carbohydrate and glucose deficiencies. Present-day healthy chocolate snacks present a perfect blend of protein, carbohydrates, and all other nutrients necessary for a healthy diet while using exclusively healthy sugar sources like cacao. The market is also stacked with various keto-friendly and vegan-friendly varieties, so you will always be able to find a pick that suits your specific dietary regimen.

Fruit salads

Most fruits you can find in the stores are very versatile when it comes to nutritional content. Aside from natural sugars, they tend to pack a whole bunch of vitamins, minerals, fibres, and even protein. Mixing a couple of these health bombs together can only improve the quality of the meal and supply you need to stay productive during a long shift at home. Grapefruit, avocado, pineapple, berries, and mango are some of the healthiest picks that can get to your plate.

Greek yoghurt

Greek yoghurt is yet another super-food that tries to pack as many healthy components in one small package as possible, and for the most part, it succeeds. So, aside from a reasonable amount of healthy carbs necessary for seamless brain function, you also get a great deal of protein, healthy fats, bone-building calcium, and gut-friendly probiotics—an excellent meal for a healthy and well-balanced diet.

Raw veggies

Yeah, although they are not the first thing that crosses your mind when you think of a rich sugar source, veggies tend to pack plenty of healthy carbs. Of course, not all veggies are made the same, and some offer nothing but dangerous starch. But on the other hand, you also have the likes of broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, parsnips, and zucchini that keep their carbs in the healthy zone and sometimes even offer high amounts of fibre that make the whole package even more wholesome.

We hope this short breakdown gave you some idea about the importance of sugar in our nutrition and showed you the best sources you can get it. Sweets tend to have quite a bad rep in the world of health. But, they are necessary to keep your body, and your brain fired up. As long as you choose healthy sources and use them in moderation, they can do nothing but improve your wellbeing.