Nimeet K 00:11
It's time to be well with your health, I'm Nimeet!
Shanna M 00:13
I'm Shanna.
Nimeet K 00:14
Welcome to Adventist HealthCare & You podcast. How are you doing Shanna?
Shanna M 00:17
I'm good. We have a good topic today and an excellent special guest.
Nimeet K 00:21
You know, as someone with the sweet tooth, I was not surprised to find out that the National Confectioners Association found that 85% of Americans enjoy chocolate and other sweet treats, and many even consider that as an essential part of their diet. More than that, I think.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 00:35
85%
Shanna M 00:38
Yeah. Well, Patricia, you are the best person to come talk to us about this. Patricia is a registered dietitian here at Adventist HealthCare in the Center for Fitness and Health in our Cardiac Rehabilitation at Shady Grove Medical Center. So welcome. We're gonna step right into sweet treats.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 00:56
All right
Nimeet K 00:56
It's an exciting topic, because we all love sweets, but how do we control it, and how do we eat in a manner that we are maintaining our body, but also not awarding the guilty pleasures we may have? So let's look right into it. Why do certain food go on the, you know, trendy food snack category, and whereas others don't, and mainly it's on the unhealthy types that go more popular?
Shanna M 00:57
I love, I love my Instagram. Every post I see these days is a big cookie, yeah, just all these new and fun and exciting things, and they look delicious and we want to try them.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 01:30
Yeah, absolutely, I haven't seen as many goodies. I've actually been seeing more like healthier options.
Shanna M 01:38
Oh, the tides turning.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 01:39
Yeah, I guess it depends on the different platform that you're on. In terms of becoming a trend. I think that foods, once they're seen on a popular platform, like Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, I think once they've made their appearance there, then people start to, you know, kind of wonder about it, or may want to try it, you know, kind of going along with the masses, and they may like it, they may not, but I think that's honestly how certain food becomes trendy.
Shanna M 02:08
You can do so much with making things look so delicious. What strategies do you have Patricia to help us enjoy these types of treats guilt free?
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 02:19
I hate to hear that people are telling me they feel guilty. Okay, you know, yes, I mean, I mean, I absolutely do too, but that's also if I've eaten something not so stellar prior to the decadent food I'm about to consume.
Shanna M 02:32
Ok Okay, I like what you said there that you don't like it when people say they feel guilty. It's okay to have a little bit as long as you're balancing it out.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 02:33
I sort of feel guilty about, but it's all in like, hindsight. You know, it's like if you generally eat pretty well for the most part, and you want a goodie or a dessert or maybe an entree that's not so heart healthy, it's okay to go for it, as long as it doesn't become something that's habitual. If it's not something you're eating or the way you're eating every single meal, then it's okay to enjoy something that might not be on the heart healthy spectrum. But making sure, again, not to overindulge, because then you may end up feeling ill or sluggish, kind of lethargic, and you may end up feeling sort of guilty and like as if you've made a poor decision. Yeah, too. And even if you, if you did, like, overindulge, like you might have eaten the entire bar of chocolate, then the next meal or the next day is a new opportunity to do better.
Shanna M 03:34
Okay
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 03:34
Yeah
Nimeet K 03:35
You do the fun size bar, not the entire bar.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 03:37
Absolutely.
Shanna M 03:38
That's why Halloween is so bad, it's all the fun size. So you know, I gotta practice moderation on that one.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 03:45
Yeah
Nimeet K 03:46
So if I'm looking for healthier options, I know there's some plant- based options, maybe some keto desserts. What are some nutritional benefits for these products? Or if there are other snacks that you recommend for a healthier choice.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 03:56
I think that some of the trendy snacks or foods that I do see popping up, like, let's say, oatmeal versus overnight oats. The overnight oats became so trendy a few years ago, and I thought that was a really great option. In terms of the plant-based or keto snacks or desserts. I think that they are good options because they do tend to have less saturated fat and trans fats than some of the other animal based products. I did note that overnight oats became popular a few years ago, and there's so many fun options that you can do with that kind of warm or cold cereal. You can put fruit in it. You can even put like, maybe some chocolate nibs, peanut butter, a variety of things to make it the way you like.
Shanna M 04:45
Even different kinds of milk can go in.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 04:46
Oh, absolutely, yeah.
Shanna M 04:48
Milk alternatives
Nimeet K 04:49
Making a come back even now. I think people are loving it even now. So like, it's still a good healthy option,
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 04:54
Yeah, for sure. And I also just discovered that you can still make overnight oats with steel cut oatmeal.
Shanna M 04:59
Okay.
Nimeet K 04:59
Oh.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 04:59
Which I had no idea. I'd been telling my patients, you couldn't because it was too hard of a grain, but you just have to warm it up in the morning to soften up the grain a little bit. But yeah, trying like different types of maybe, like milk alternatives, if you, if you decide to go from a cow milk to maybe almond milk or some other kind of plant-based milk, would be a good option if if you are lactose intolerant, or maybe looking just for a more plant-based
Shanna M 05:25
or lower sugar alternative
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 05:27
Right, exactly. I did want to mention too, I saw some high protein muffins during the Olympics.
Shanna M 05:35
Okay
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 05:35
That were, that are still trending. I see them pop up on my search engine. So I thought those are really cool because they are lower in sugar and higher in protein. They don't have a whole lot of
Nimeet K 05:46
I've seen those high protein ice creams too. I'm not sure if they're good or not, but i've seen them in the grocery stores as well.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 05:50
Yes, yes, they're, some of them are, it's a hit or miss, yeah, but I think for the most part, if you go into it like trying with no expectation, then you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Shanna M 06:02
But there are some healthier alternatives than you know, the cookies that are as big as my head. Ok
Nimeet K 06:02
But, don't supplement ice cream for my protein shake. But supplement that with other ice creams as need be.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 06:13
Oh, yeah, I still don't understand that trend. I did. I did discover this one place that has humongous cookies. And, I don't understand where or how that trend came about, but maybe that could be something fun that you share with friends or family.
Shanna M 06:31
Okay, sure. Share it. Well, you mentioned a couple alternate, we talked a little bit about milk alternatives and overnight oats. What are some other ingredients that we can swap out for maybe, that are a little healthier, in some of our favorite treats, like I've heard swapping out instead of sugar, like unsweetened apple sauce or something like that. So what are some alternatives to traditional ingredients in sweet treats?
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 06:58
There's a bunch of different ones you can try, one that sticks out in my head is, I did a chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I took the butter out and replaced it with black beans. And yeah, and my family, did not realize that I had done it, and so I was just snickering in the background.
Shanna M 07:17
yeah
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 07:19
because I had not put in the butter, it the texture was not crispy, but it was still a great option for reducing the fat and increasing the fiber of the of the chocolate chip cookie.
Shanna M 07:30
Okay
Nimeet K 07:30
It's good to know that, because your family didn't realize it, so i'm gonna try that one.
Shanna M 07:34
That's a good one.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 07:35
Yeah, no, absolutely you can also try now, this one isn't sweet, but more savory. If you wanted to try, like something replacing mayonnaise for avocado, because the avocado has such a creamy consistency and it spreads right? And so you could always try that instead of doing like a mayo spread. So there's a bunch of things, like maybe trying different oils for the butter.
Nimeet K 07:59
Would you recommend avocado oil?
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 08:01
Yeah, actually, Avocado oil is a good one. Yeah, avocado, olive oil.
Shanna M 08:07
Well, those are some great, those are some great little swaps there. So well, you can find the healthy alternatives, you just have to maybe do one step further to find it.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 08:17
Think out of the box,
Shanna M 08:18
yeah, ok.
Nimeet K 08:19
and see what fits in your lifestyle, right? So, if you wanted those cookies, like, maybe look at creative ways to make that healthier. Or if you want ice cream, to find those supplements for that ice cream as well.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 08:27
Yeah, right. Or you could just do a smaller portion,
Nimeet K 08:29
a smaller portion?
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 08:30
yeah! I mean, we don't have to. I do tell patients, like, when they go to serve ice cream and they really, truly want ice cream, don't serve it in a big old cereal bowl, because you'll have that one scoop of ice cream that's so sad in the middle of that gigantic bowl. That scoop of ice cream is going to need friends, so instead, serve your treat in a small container, and so it doesn't seem as
Shanna M 08:49
lonely or dissatisfying. I love that tip of just adjusting how you serve something
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 08:55
exactly
Shanna M 08:56
to make it more, it might be your favorite treat, and you might be used to having so much, but if you just change up how you're serving it, that can make all the difference
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 09:05
Exactly.
Shanna M 09:06
I love that
Nimeet K 09:07
You've got a lot of great tidbits for us Patricia. We appreciate you coming.
Shanna M 09:10
I'm inspired to be more forceful when my son says, Where's my dessert?
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 09:20
It's okay to have dessert after meals, as long as it's not too big. And fruit can be a dessert too!
Shanna M 09:25
Yes, I do try to push the fruit.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 09:27
Yeah. I think sometimes too, though, kids might look at the fruit and think, Oh, it's just fruit! But if you maybe cut it up into fun shapes, like you, I made a swan out of my apple one time. There's a way you can cut it. It's not, it's not like that big of a deal. Soit looks very eye catching. And so it was like something really cool for my son to eat, or I can if you cut up like a strawberry into like little slivers.
Shanna M 09:55
Yeah
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 09:55
It looks like a sort of open flower petal.
Shanna M 09:57
Okay
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 09:58
Yeah, it's, there's just fun little. Tips, and tricks.
Shanna M 10:00
I love that to, you know, you could have fun with your food, like you can have fun with food and still be creative and still show your love through food.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 10:10
Absolutely, and being healthy too!
Shanna M 10:11
And being healthy at the same time.So I love that.
Nimeet K 10:15
Yeah, I think that's great.
Shanna M 10:17
Thank You, Patricia.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 10:18
Your Welcome
Nimeet K 10:18
Well, thank you for joining us today.
Patricia Hertz, RD, LDN 10:20
Yeah
Nimeet K 10:20
To learn more about Patricia and the services offered at cardiac rehab, please visit AdventistHealthCare.com. We would also love to hear from you. You can let us know if you like the podcast, by leaving us a rating, or you can email us at Podcast@AdventistHealthCare.com and let us know what other healthcare topics you will want to know about in the future. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you can get new episodes. Thank you and be well!
