The medicinal power behind the ‘Sweet Swaps’
We’ve all heard the wise words of Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”. I’ve been reminding my patients of this since I started practicing medicine in 2009 and Detox Desserts is rooted in that simple philosophy. Detox Desserts wasn’t created overnight, it is built on a solid foundation of integrity, attention to detail and rigorous research. Each ingredient and product is responsibly sourced and clinically tested to function well in your body and in the kitchen. This system of baking makes healthy desserts not only taste delicious, but safe and inclusive for almost everyone. Detox Desserts is a line I created in my own kitchen and have confidently fed my family and friends for years.
This blog post will help you to understand the science and medicine behind the Swaps.
Why “Detox Desserts”?
I call my baking line Detox Desserts for 2 reasons. First, we are essentially detoxifying desserts by replacing unhealthy, inflammatory ingredients with functional superfoods. These ingredients prevent blood sugar and insulin elevation, reduce cholesterol, improve digestion and boost the metabolism.
The 2nd reason is that Detox Desserts actually detoxify the body. I’ve packed both of the Flour Swaps with a massive amount of whole psyllium husk which binds with the waste and toxins in your intestines and moves them out of your body. Don’t worry, this is not the dreaded colon blowout type of detox reaction you might think of when you hear the term ‘colon detox’! This is a very gentle, yet effective way of clearing toxins from the body. Your digestion should improve overall and your morning BM should be the big beautiful “log” we all hope for!
How do Detox Desserts help prevent overeating?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had trouble limiting my intake of sweets. One cookie can easily turn into an entire dozen leaving me feeling horrible both mentally and physically. I’ve gone out of my way to make Detox Desserts very difficult to over-eat.
When the psyllium husk in the Flour Swaps mixes with fluids in your intestines, it creates a bulking effect which increases a hormone in your brain that says you're full and it’s time to stop eating. There are also no empty calories in Detox Desserts. Every ingredient is designed to deeply nourish your body and stabilize blood sugar. When you combine the bulking effect, the deep cellular nourishment and stable blood sugar, these detoxed desserts become very hard to over-eat.
Even though the detoxed desserts have about ⅓ fewer calories per serving, the clinical trial participants reported feeling extremely satisfied after just 1 serving of detoxed cookies versus the empty/unsatisfied sensation they reported experiencing with the regular sugar cookies. The deeper satisfaction reduces food cravings and helps to prevent overeating so you can reclaim balance and authority over your food choices and the quantity in which you consume them.
How will Detox Desserts help my metabolism and help me achieve a healthy weight?
Eating white flour and sugar causes a huge spike in blood sugar, prompting your pancreas to release a big dose of insulin. This large amount of insulin tells your body to store the food you eat as fat versus using that food as fuel. The clinical trial proved that detoxed desserts eliminate blood sugar and insulin spikes. Keeping insulin low is key to boosting the metabolism and achieving a healthy weight.
When you combine all 4 ‘Sweet Swaps’ for flour, sugar, eggs and butter, your desserts become perfectly balanced with protein, healthy fat and a small amount of slowly digesting carbs. This combination of macronutrients creates what I call “metabolic balance” because they reduce stress in the body. Cortisol is a hormone released when your body is under physical, mental or metabolic stress. Chronically high cortisol levels cause weight gain, so it’s important to keep all forms of stress to a minimum.
Studies show psyllium husk reduces weight and total body fat percentage when combined with a generally healthy diet. You’ll also notice almonds are a dominant ingredient in the Swaps. Even though nuts are a calorie-dense food, studies find that eating nuts does not lead to weight gain and actually helps with weight control.
How will Detox Desserts help my digestion?
I have found in both my clinical experience as a doctor and in my personal relationships with friends and family that digestive problems like gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea affect most people. That is why when I formulated these products, I went out of my way to make sure I focused on including ingredients that improve digestion.
First, I eliminated the most common food sensitivities like gluten, dairy and eggs which can cause a lot of bowel problems and digestive upset.
Next, I maximized the soluble fiber content. The type of soluble fiber contained in the whole psyllium husk is unique because it both bulks up the stool and absorbs excess fluid which helps prevent both constipation AND diarrhea.
Finally, I added a hefty dose of inulin to the Sugar and Egg Swaps. Inulin is a prebiotic that feeds and increases the number of friendly bacteria in your intestines. Inulin both improves and slows digestion allowing maximum vitamin and mineral absorption from your food. It also provides this unique “2nd meal effect” where eating inulin at one meal actually prevents a blood sugar spike at your next meal.
Can Detox Desserts reduce cholesterol?
As we get older, our cholesterol usually starts creeping up and so does our risk for heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the USA. For this reason, I eliminated cholesterol-containing ingredients like eggs and butter and added ingredients proven to reduce cholesterol.
Psyllium husk is well-researched to provide big reductions in total cholesterol and the artery-clogging, LDL-cholesterol. The oats and buckwheat in the Whole-Grain Flour Swap and the coconut and almonds in the Grain-Free Flour Swap are all high in soluble fiber, which further reduces cholesterol. Did you know people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks or die from heart disease than those who rarely eat them? Just another reason almonds are a dominant ingredient in the Swaps!
Why don't Detox Desserts use eggs? I thought they were healthy.
I love this question and yes, eggs are nutritious. However, each egg contains 185 mg of cholesterol, which is too much for anyone with heart disease. Eggs are also a common food allergen, causing anything from skin rashes and asthma to major digestive upset. Egg sensitivity is an increasing phenomenon I’ve observed in many of my patients.
There are zero compromises in nutrition with the Egg Swap because it contains 40% more protein than an egg without the cholesterol, along with the inflammation-reducing properties of turmeric. For all my healthy egg-tolerant friends out there, my advice is to continue to eat eggs! However we’re keeping them out of our detoxed desserts to make them safe for our parents, grandparents and anyone else who struggles with heart disease or egg sensitivity.
Which Flour Swap is right for me?
Selecting the correct Flour Swap for your body is very important!
The Grain-Free Flour Swap only has 3 net carbs per ¼ cup. It’s a mixture of almond flour, psyllium husk, and coconut flour. Coconut flour was chosen for its naturally sweet flavor and ability to decrease the glycemic index of all foods it is combined with. This means coconut flour actually slows down carbohydrate absorption, making the Grain-Free Flour Swap the Swap to use if you’re following a very low carbohydrate diet like a diabetic or ketogenic diet. The clinical trial showed no elevation in blood sugar when eating the desserts made with Grain Free Flour Swap. There was also no difference when eating Grain-Free desserts vs. eating a purely keto meal.
The Whole-Grain Flour Swap is loaded up with heart-healthy whole grains, seeds and fiber so it has more healthy carbs than its Grain-Free counterpart. The combination of oats, buckwheat and psyllium husk makes it soothing to the digestive system and maximally nourishing to the body. The clinical trial showed minimal elevation in blood sugar (only 5 points vs. the 30 points in regular sugar cookies at 1 hour after eating) and overall blood sugar response with Whole-Grain detoxed desserts was very similar to a healthy, balanced macros meal. The 5-point elevation isn’t much, but if you’re a brittle diabetic or need to stay in ketosis for some reason, then there are just a few too many healthy carbs.
Personally, I select my flour based on the macronutrient make up of my meal. If my meal consists of just protein and veggies, then I’ll use a Whole-Grain detoxed dessert to count as my healthy carb for that meal. If my meal contains carbs, then I’ll use a Grain-Free detoxed dessert to round out my macros and avoid overeating carbs. I talk a lot about the importance of eating balanced macros on my social media, so if you’re interested in learning more about that and other healthy baking, nutrition and metabolism tips, make sure to follow me on your favorite platform.
If you want a deeper dive into the science and nutrition behind my products I invite you to read the entire Detox Desserts Blood Sugar and Insulin Response Trial where you’ll find in depth ingredient research and results from the 3rd party, independent data analysis.
Thanks for reading, for baking and being a part of this Sweet Transformation!
Yours in health,
Dr. Alexis
