19 May 2012 ASK THE DIETITIAN: The cake pop dilemma

by Kellie Dye

There are cake pops in my refrigerator. They were left over from a dinner party at my house last night. My guests were supposed to eat them all. If not, I had a plan to send them home with everyone, but when the time came, I forgot (or did I?). There are eight cake pops in my refrigerator, and they keep calling my name. I move them to the “garage refrigerator” thinking I wouldn’t be able to hear them call to me. I try to distract myself with laundry and various other household chores. I even decide to cut up all of the fresh strawberries and other fruit to make a nice fruit salad that I can easily graze on throughout the day. The cake pops continue to taunt me even louder from the garage. Did I mention that they are in assorted flavors?  

I inform my son that there are delicious cake pops for him to eat up. He says “maybe tomorrow.” What? Who says that? So I decide to give in to the craving. I have one delectable, amazing, coconut cake pop. I try to savor it and make it last, but it is so darn small. It was gone before I knew it. Then I remember that I had two last night and one today, which means that there are two other flavors that I have not tried yet. So, they continue to call my name.

Does this ever happen to you? Have you ever heard that sweets are addictive? I do know that the more you eat sweets, the more you want them. In other words, the more they call your name. 

We are all born loving the taste of sweets. Studies have shown that eating sweets produces endorphins in our brain, which makes us happy but also makes us want more. When people habitually over consume sweets, it takes more and more sweets to produce that endorphin effect. In other words, if I ate a lot of sweets all the time, then one to two cake pops wouldn’t do it for me. I would need at least four or five or more. Eating sweets on an empty stomach or first thing in the morning also increases sweet cravings throughout the day.

Researchers have linked a high sugar diet to a host of diseases such as metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, heart disease and some types of cancers. Sugar is hidden in so many of our foods. A hamburger bun from a fast food restaurant has up to 15 times the sugar as a bun you would buy from the grocery store. 

Sugar is everywhere, and our disease rates keep increasing. Be on the lookout for hidden sugars. Look for words that end in “-ose” such as sucrose. Also look for words such as syrup, cane juice and sweetener. 

Naturally occurring sugar in fruits, vegetables and dairy products are acceptable. It’s the added, hidden sugars that can do damage to our health.

The sugars in these cake pops are anything but natural. My husband and I have been eating one cake pop every evening. There are three left. Unless I can get my son to eat one, I might have to eat two tonight just to be done with them!