Should You Eat Dessert Every Day? These Dietitians Say Yes

I’m a dietitian. So it may come as a surprise that around my house, dessert is served every day. In fact, eating dessert daily is deemed healthy by many dietitians. While this may have you scratching your head, as long as a small dish of dessert doesn’t fill the belly too full – too full for a healthful meal of protein, carbohydrates and fats along with vitamins and minerals – that dessert might just be what your body is craving. And that’s a mindful way to eat.

Here’s how dieitians fit healthy eating, and something sweet, into their day to day.

Make it really good dessert

Regan Jones, RD, creator of online recipe collection This Baking Life, started eating dessert daily after a major health scare. But not just any dessert. “I’m conscious about my daily dessert. It’s not a make-do, semi-okay, it’ll-do-in-a-pinch dessert, instead, it’s a really yummy dessert. Because honestly, life is too short to avoid dessert like there’s an award for doing so!”

Taking a little time to make an easy dessert for yourself or your family and friends can bring joy and comfort while still honoring balance, says Jones. She created This Baking Life to help people find easy recipes that combine flavor and a thoughtful approach to ingredients.

“Eating desserts that take a little time – like the time it takes to bake up a pan of treats – can be a way to nourish both body and soul,” explains Jones. “This baking time often helps make an indulgence more mindful.”

Create dessert with fruit

Sarah Pflugradt, PhD, RDN, CSCS of SarahPflugradt.com is a firm believer in fruit for dessert. “You don’t have to simply put fruit in a bowl – although that’s really good with a drizzle of honey and fresh mint.” Pflugradt makes a lot of fruit crisps for her family, along with baked pears and baked apples.

“Fruits are not always in abundance when eating away from home, but in your own kitchen … go bananas!” says Pflugradt. Use dessert as a way to eat more nutrient-rich fruits on a daily basis. Think fruit in every form: frozen, dried, canned and fresh and even as a sweetener. Try things like Cantaloupe Shaved Ice, Fudgy Berry Bites and Frozen Yogurt Dots.

Eat satisfying meals

This one might surprise you. But it’s important to consistently nourish your body with enough carbohydrates, fiber, protein and healthy fat to head off sugar cravings say Hillary Wright, MEd, RDN and Elizabeth M. Ward, MS RD, authors of The Menopause Diet Plan: A Natural Guide to Managing Hormones, Health and Happiness. Wright and Ward explain that if you crave sugar, it’s hard to have a reasonable portion of dessert. And of course, that’s the key to eating dessert in a healthy way every day.

“Don’t skimp on food to cut calories. You might end up getting overly hungry, crave sugar and consume excess calories,” say Wright and Ward.

The good news is that if you pair a cookie or a serving of pudding or a small serving of ice cream with your meal, it’s often easier to be satisfied. That’s because a meal includes fiber and protein, so it makes the dessert more filling, explain Wright and Ward. They have one more note: “If you can’t limit the cookies, don’t buy them! There are lots of other satisfying desserts out there.”

Serve dessert first

Dessert is often served first at my house. Here’s why.

Eating dessert first helps you enjoy it when you’re still hungry. It’s mindful eating; you eat when you’re hungry. I started doing dessert first when my children were young because if dessert was served at the end of the meal, they often had full tummies – but they still spooned up every last bite of dessert. Serving dessert first helps us listen to our body’s hunger and full cues.

Serving dessert along with the meal helps us see it as just one component of the meal, not the reward for eating our vegetable. If we choose to eat it first, that’s our choice.

When I come home and everyone in my family is really hungry, if there’s a sweet treat in the house, it will be grabbed first! (Yes, it would be better if we all grabbed vegetables – but I’m being realistic here.) So instead, someone grabs enough of that sweet treat for everyone to have a reasonable portion and we all sit down and enjoy it together. That’s the key, desserts should be savored.

Make it sweet

Lastly, when it comes to dessert, think outside the box. Dessert doesn’t always have to be cookies or cake, but it probably needs to be sweet to be satisfying. If it includes nutrient-rich ingredients, that is certainly a more healthful way to eat dessert. Think fruit smoothies topped with sprinkles, cut fruit topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream or ricotta cheese, luscious chocolate pudding made with sweet potatoes or just a few squares of dark chocolate.