Surprising Sweet Food Swaps

By Bianca Maree Harrington
Accredited Practising Dietitian and Microba Microbiome Coach

Got a Sweet Tooth? Here’s How to Get Your Fix (in a Healthy Way)

If you are like most Australians, it’s now March and you still haven’t managed a solid run on those New Year’s resolutions. After three months of indulging over summer, it can be difficult to shake the habit of reaching for the sugar-sweetened beverages, putting on decadent spreads when entertaining, and eating out all weekend with your overflowing social calendar.Whilst there’s no harm in enjoying treat foods in moderation, there is a downside to having an extended break from your usual eating habits. The beneficial bacteria in our guts love fibre, and if we start ditching fibre-rich foods for highly refined low fibre, high-saturated fat choices, your beneficial gut bugs won’t be having much fun.

So how do we shift our sights to healthier options whilst still enjoying ourselves?

Here are some healthy, simple and gut-friendly holiday alternatives that are inexpensive and will keep your beneficial gut bugs thriving.

Sweet swap #1:

When craving a sweet treat, snack on a stone fruit. Fruits like peaches, plums and nectarines are abundantly available during the warm weather and are excellent sources of fibre. Specifically, these foods contain the prebiotic fibres pectin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) which help to promote the growth and activity of several beneficial bacterial species in the gut.

Eating in season also means you are eating fruits (and vegetables) when their vitamin and mineral content is the highest and most bioavailable. This is better for your health as it means you’re getting more nutrition out of the foods you’re eating. These foods are generally on sale at most greengrocers and local farmer’s markets where you can pick up seasonal fruits each weekend.

Sweet swap #2:

Looking for a fresh dessert or topping that your gut bugs (and waistline) will thank you for? Berries make for excellent dessert ingredients (think pavlova!) as they are lower in calories when compared to other toppings such as whipped cream or syrups. Most berries are in season over the spring and summer months. 

Sweet swap #3:

With so many of us loving that tempting treat of chocolate, it can be hard to stop at one or two pieces! I recommend choosing dark chocolate over milk or white chocolate. 80% cacao chocolate is an excellent source of a beneficial plant chemical and prebiotic called proanthocyanidins. This type of dark chocolate is also less likely to contain unhealthy ingredients like palm oil which is commonly disguised as ‘vegetable oil’ in the food label.

Sweet swap #4:

Are you a nut fiend? If so, walnuts, pecans, cashews and almonds are excellent sources of prebiotics for your gut microbiome. Try not to choose the roasted, salted or chocolate coated ones as these tend to add unnecessary calories and ingredients which reduce the nutritional quality of these foods. 

Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, phytochemicals and antioxidants which make them great additions to the diet to improve overall health. One study which looked at the changes to the microbiome after the addition of walnuts to the diet, found an increase to the levels of beneficial species of bacteria in the microbiome, and a simultaneous reduction to some of the more pro-inflammatory bacteria.

So, now you can enjoy sweet treats without impacting your gut bugs or your waistline by making four sweet swaps!

To explore more about your unique gut bugs, check out Microba who are world leaders in gut microbiome analysis.