Many people still choose to eat desserts despite health warnings about the negative effects of sugar-laden foods. But a new study suggests that eating high-calorie treats may not be so bad for your health – as long as you eat them before a meal. In fact, you may find that starting with your dessert first can even help you lose weight.

Nutritionists have traditionally branded desserts as “junk” food, but this perception is slowly changing. New evidence points to some treats as a harmless part of a healthy diet, provided that they are made from whole foods. This means that it’s okay if you can’t do without desserts: Replacing processed foods with foods made from real ingredients and eating sweets in moderation won’t compromise your health.

Switch the order of your meal courses

Eating a high-calorie dessert first can help you eat less, says a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. In it, researchers investigated how different dessert options (i.e. lemon cheesecake and fresh fruit) can influence a person’s meal choices overall.

Using a university cafeteria as setting, the researchers first placed the desserts at the front of the cafeteria line. They found that students who chose cheesecake opted for healthier options for the rest of their meal, which led to them consuming fewer calories overall. Meanwhile, those who chose fresh fruit did the opposite. The researchers reported that those who picked the healthier dessert chose not-so-healthy foods as part of their meal, resulting in a higher calorie intake.

However, this effect was not replicated when dessert options were placed at the end of the serving line.

Co-lead study author Martin Reimann, PhD, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arizona, said that the team believes choosing the more decadent dessert prompted diners into making healthier entree choices.

“We believe diners who chose the indulgent dessert first then picked healthier main and side dishes to make up for their high-calorie dessert,” Reinmann said.

“Diners who picked the healthier dessert may have thought they already had done a good deed for their bodies so they deserved higher-calorie food further down the cafeteria line,” he continued.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be a challenge

The research team conducted multiple rounds of testing and found that the results remained true across the board. Even when the options were changed to healthy or less healthy entrees, the team found that people who chose the less-healthy item first were more likely to make better choices in the rest of their meal.

However, in one survey, the team found that people experiencing “high cognitive load,” or a lot of stress, were more likely to choose high-calorie main and side dishes after choosing a high-calorie dessert. Reinmann posits that people should be aware of how their mindset can affect food choices.

This study also shows that awareness works. People who knowingly chose a higher-calorie dessert intentionally selected lower-calorie sides and main dishes — because they know that the food they wanted was pretty decadent. Indeed, it appears that eating dessert first may actually help dieters cut calories overall.

While no one would argue that cutting down overall sugar consumption is important for long-term health, it is great news that people are trying to make healthier choices (even if they are just making room for dessert).

Sources:

ScienceDaily.com

PsycNet.APA.org