For Sweet Teeth Only

Sweets don't have to be sweet nothings. Here's how to get the most out of your sugar fixes.

Sugar lovers, be consoled: We are born with a preference for sweets. Scientists reason that humans evolved this way because ripe fruits and vegetables are safe and nutritious foods, while bitter-tasting plants are often poisonous. Yet our modern-day love of sweets goes far beyond basic survival needs, as Americans average about 20 teaspoons of sugar daily in the form of added sweeteners in baked goods, beverages and many packaged foods. This translates to around 18 percent of our total calorie intake for the day, or about two or three times the 5 to 10 percent suggested by most health organizations and professionals.

Sugar--in such forms as sucrose, corn syrup, turbinado sugar, fructose, honey and dextrose--is a great source of carbohydrate energy. (In fact, sucrose, or table sugar, is 99.9 percent pure carbohydrate that your body can use for fuel.) But that's all it has to offer. Processing that sugar requires a host of vitamins and minerals that you must get from other foods. Yet a diet too filled with sugary treats may mean that other, more nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables or whole grains are being squeezed out.

Nutrition (or lack of it) aside, sugar now has some experts worried for another reason. A recent study showed that people who added sugar to hot beverages such as tea and coffee were at greater risk for colon cancer, a major cause of cancer death in the United States. People who added 3 or more teaspoons per beverage had two times the risk of those who used no sugar. Those who added 1 or 2 spoonfuls were at a 30 to 50 percent increased risk. While the researchers used the addition of sugar to beverages simply as an indicator of a person's "taste" for sugar and didn't actually measure daily sugar intake, the results suggest a role for sugar in colon cancer development.

More definitive research is needed on this sugar/cancer link, but meanwhile, try to keep your sugar intake at 5 to 10 percent of total calories. Depending on your calorie intake, this comes to around 8 to 18 teaspoons of sugar daily, with 1 teaspoon of sugar equaling 4 grams. To keep tabs how much you eat, check food labels for the amount of total sugar per food serving.

Few of us will ever choose to go completely "sweetless," so keep the following tips in mind:

Don't try to forgo sweets entirely. Cutting sweets out altogether, even for one or two days, can set off a sugar binge. It's best to appease your desire with frequent but small servings.

Think small. When buying sweets, look for bite-size or single-serving packages so that if you eat the whole thing, it's not a big deal.

Make your sweets count. Select sweets that have something to offer other than 99.9 percent fast-acting carbohydrate. (See suggestions below.) Try to buy items that are fat-free or that contain fiber or vitamins and minerals.

Eat sweets with your meals. Instead of making a sugary treat a freestanding eating event, combine it with a meal either as a side dish or soon after you finish. This helps keep serving sizes small.

Sweet Somethings
Now let's examine some of the best treats to go for when your sweet tooth is calling.

Fruit
The number-one sweet. It's nature's own sugary delight bursting with nutrients like potassium, vitamin C, beta-carotene, fiber and energizing carbohydrates. Fruit's sweet taste comes from fructose, which is actually sweeter-tasting than table sugar. Riper fruits typically have more sugar, so they may be more satisfying to your sweet tooth. You can also doctor up fruits to make them more enticing. Try dipping strawberries and other bite-size pieces of fruit in vanilla yogurt or chocolate syrup. And remember, for the health benefits they provide, you should eat at least two to four servings of fruit a day.

Candy
When it comes to this category of sweets, go for fat-free types such as hard candy, gum drops and licorice. If only chocolate will do (and I can relate to this one), stick with milk chocolate, as it's lower in fat than dark chocolate. Nougat-filled chocolate bars are lower in fat than solid bars or those packed with nuts. Tootsie Rolls and York peppermint patties are also low in fat. Consider buying smaller "fun-size," pre-packaged candy bars, too.

Sports Bars
These make great candy bar stand-ins with almost none of the fat (1 to 4 grams for sports bars, compared to more than 13 for many candy bars). Most sports bars come fortified with 25 to 35 percent of your daily requirement of many vitamins and minerals--a benefit you'd never get from a chocolate bar. Another advantage of a sports bar is its chewy texture, which makes it longer-lasting than melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bars. And because of their high carbohydrate content, sports bars make good pre- and postworkout snacks. As for taste? I admit a sports bar isn't often mistaken for a Snickers, but some taste surprisingly good. Try a few to see which you like best.

Frozen Treats
Your grocery store's frozen-food aisle overflows with refreshing, ice-cold goodies. Get creative when making a selection. Combine frozen miniwaffles and nonfat frozen yogurt for a tasty "ice cream sandwich." Or spread raspberry sorbet on a thawed-out frozen pancake, drizzle it with chocolate syrup, then roll it up for a heavenly dessert. When you go out for ice cream, opt for nonfat frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit. Each 1-cup serving supplies 25 percent of your calcium and more than 15 percent of your riboflavin needs.

Do-it-yourself Frozen Pops
Bring back memories of your childhood by slurping on a frozen pop. But today's version won't be that sickly sweet grape or orange flavor (I know, it did taste good). Rather, make them from your favorite sports drink. Pour about a half-cup of sports drink into a paper cup and put it in your freezer. After about 45 minutes, when the liquid becomes slushy, place a Popsicle stick in the center and continue freezing. Then after a workout--or anytime--peel away the paper and enjoy.

Cookies
Cookies can range from healthy snacks to nutritional disasters, so go for low-fat varieties such as fig bars, gingersnaps and ladyfingers. When you make your own, keep them simple. Goodies such as chocolate chips, nuts or coconut simply add more fat and sugar to your cookie. Modify your old family recipes by cutting back on margarine, butter and sugar. Also try using molasses instead of brown sugar for added iron. Finally, you may want to leave the salt out altogether.

Trail Mix
This favorite snack of backpackers is nutrient-rich and moderately low in fat if "mixed" wisely. Look for "tropical" versions of trail mix sold in bulk at grocery stores, or make your own with raisins, banana chips, dried papaya and apricots, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. An ounce of this power mix has about 100 calories and is packed with potassium, iron, beta-carotene and a small amount of fiber. Since trail mix keeps well, you can always stash some in your workout bag, glove compartment or office desk.

Granola bars
These candy bar substitutes can be just as fat-laden as the real thing. Some have 10 grams of fat per bar. But the new low-fat versions from Kellogg's and other manufacturers put the health back into granola bars. With less than 2 grams of fat per bar, they make good carbo-packed snacks before or after workouts.