Health and Medicine

Healthy Dessert Ideas for People in Recovery

While recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction, you’re encouraged to make healthy lifestyle choices.

But who doesn’t like to treat themselves with a little dessert every now and then? These ideas can give you some ideas for desserts that won’t add excessive calories and may even help you receive the nutrition you need.

Why Healthy Eating Is Important for Recovery

If you’re in recovery, you want to take the best possible care of yourself. When you were using, you may have consumed less food or may have chosen to eat less nutritious foods.

During your addiction, you may have used substances that killed your appetite or produced cravings for sugar. You may have opted for food that wasn’t healthy.

Unfortunately, such choices could have led to nutrient deficiencies. For instance, if you had an alcohol problem, you may have developed a thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency.

Drugs or alcohol can also alter the levels of neurotransmitters in your brain, specifically serotonin. Your brain relies on drugs or alcohol to maintain those serotonin levels. Without those substances, your serotonin level may drop as you go through recovery.

When your serotonin levels dip, you might experience anxiety or depression. Adequate nutrition can help your brain to increase your serotonin levels. This is another reason why a drug or alcohol treatment program will advise you to eat healthily.

Examples of Healthy Desserts for People in Recovery

There are healthy desserts that you can feel good about consuming while you’re in a drug or alcohol recovery program:

Peanut Butter and Jelly Acai Bowl

This dessert combines protein-rich peanut butter powder, potassium- and vitamin C-rich bananas, unsweetened almond milk, along with an acai packet. You may also want to add unsweetened almond milk and various other ingredients, such as spinach, mixed berries, and shredded coconut.

Your bananas slices and acai will need to go in the freezer before you can make this dessert. Once frozen, you’ll want to place them in a blender along with your unsweetened almond milk and peanut butter powder. You may also add spinach at this point. Blend the ingredients on low until your mixture is smooth and thick.

Add any toppings that you want at this point, such as berries, shredded coconut, or even sunflower seeds. Feel free to get creative and add other fruits and nuts to enhance both the nutrient level and flavor.

Dark Chocolate-Covered Protein Pretzels

These pretzels are a snack that’s low in calories. They’re packed with added protein and satisfy your sweet tooth and salty cravings while being fun to eat.

Dark chocolate-covered protein pretzels contain vanilla whey protein powder, coconut flour, coconut oil, almond milk, dark chocolate, and any toppings you want to add, such as sprinkles. For this particular recipe, you’ll also need a pretzel cutter, which is like a cookie cutter that cuts pretzel shapes.

This recipe is interesting because you actually make pretzels from scratch, which is an excellent way to keep your mind occupied while you’re in an alcohol recovery program. For making pretzels, this particular recipe isn’t nearly as difficult as you might think, either.

Start by melting the coconut oil in the microwave, which only takes a few seconds. Combine this coconut oil with the vanilla whey protein powder, coconut flour, and milk to form the dough.

Once you mix your dough completely, roll it out on a nonstick surface. Use your pretzel-shaped cutter to cut as many pretzels as you can from the dough.

Place the pretzels on a nonstick cookie sheet or a tray lined with parchment paper. Bake the pretzels at 320 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Keep in mind that you don’t want to let your pretzels brown.

Melt the dark chocolate by placing it in a double boiler or in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Dip each pretzel into the dark chocolate. You can add sprinkles or other toppings to your pretzels for color, texture, and flavor. After you cover the pretzels, place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Homemade Healthy Ice Pops

An ice pop is an excellent treat for the end of a long, hard day. These pops use fresh watermelon and lime juice. Watermelon is a refreshing ingredient that has vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium. Plus, these pops have no added sugar.

Ice pops are cold treats that are simple to make. Cut watermelon into chunks and then puree the chunks in a food processor or blender. Mix in lime juice as you puree the watermelon. Then, pour the contents into an ice pop tray or even a cup with an ice pop stick.

You can also add apple juice for a hint of sweetness. Moreover, if you’re not a fan of watermelon, you can opt to blend strawberries or another fleshy fruit for your ice pops.

The above desserts are so delicious that you’ll forget that you’re eating healthy foods. Plus, they’re all low in calories and rich in the nutrition you require for a solid recovery.

Sources

medlineplus.gov – Substance Use Recovery and Diet

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov – Neurotransmitters in Alcoholism: A Review of Neurobiological and Genetic Studies

healthline.com – Bananas 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

bodybuilding.com – Chocolate-Covered Protein Pretzelshealthline.com – Top 9 Health Benefits of Eating Watermelon