Do you have sweet cravings? Me too!

Let’s face the truth, we eat too much sugar in our diet. Sugar has managed to sneak into so many products causing us to consume it in excess (even if we don’t realize it) and in turn create havoc in our health.

Did you know that excess sugar can cause:

• Inflammation- Which in turn causes a lot of the diseases of modern age

• Impaired memory- Feeling confused or disorganized and finding it hard to focus or put your thoughts into words (like your memory and brain are not as sharp as they used to be)

• Skin issues- Like acne and eczema

• Cardiovascular disease

• Liver damage (as bad as alcohol)

• Digestive issues- Such as stomach aches, gas, heartburn, and other digestion issues.

• Pre-diabetes and eventually type-2 diabetes

• An overall feeling of tiredness or lack of energy

• Sleep issues- Finding it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or you wake up too early and can’t seem to be able to get back to sleep. You may even still feel tired when you wake up.

• Bloating, irritability, hair loss, palpitations, mood swings, infertility.

The good news is that if you reduce your sugar intake you can prevent the avoid issues and experience:

• Increased energy levels

• Improved mental clarity

• Weight loss 

• Reduced inflammation

• Glowing skin

If you want to learn more about my top tips for reducing sugar cravings, check this post:

Every now and again the need for a treat will still be there, so I developed this Sugar-Free Salted Chocolate Walnut Cookie recipe for those occasions.

The combination of salt, chocolate and walnut is amazing! And you won’t miss the sugar.

Nutrition Tips:

Before we dive into the recipe (which by the way is a super easy and a sugar-free recipe to make), here are some nutrition tips on the benefits of some of the ingredients that I used:

Walnuts

High in antioxidants and a great source of omega-3, this amazing ingredient can help to balance hormones, maintain brain health, and decrease inflammation. Among other benefits, eating walnuts not only nourishes you but also the beneficial bacteria that live in your gut. This promotes the health of your gut and may help reduce disease risk.

Monk fruit

Monk fruit is a small, green gourd that resembles a melon. It’s grown in Southeast Asia. The fruit was first used by Buddhist monks in the 13th century, hence the fruit’s unusual name.

Fresh monk fruit doesn’t store well and isn’t appealing. Monk fruit is usually dried and used to make medicinal teas. Monk fruit sweeteners are made from the fruit’s extract. They may be blended with dextrose or other ingredients to balance sweetness.

Monk fruit extract is 150 to 200 times sweeter than sugar. The extract contains zero calories, zero carbohydrates, zero sodium, and zero fat. This makes it a popular sweetener alternative. Unlike some artificial sweeteners, there’s no evidence to date showing that monk fruit has negative side effects.

Cocoa Powder or Raw Cacao Powder

It contains a wide variety of powerful antioxidants and the potential to improve several important risk factors for disease (heart disease, improve brain function and blood flow, etc). And it tastes sooo good too!