How to indulge over Easter without the guilt
With Easter upon us, many people will be treating themselves to a few chocolate eggs and perhaps a hot cross bun or two over the long weekend. If you’re feeling especially indulgent, you may even go out for a hot breakfast at a favourite café (or whip up something special at home). While Easter indulging tends to be less plentiful than at Christmas, it’s still important to think about what eat and how it can affect your body.
Hot cross buns
Despite the fact that they’re filled with dried fruit and some nutritious spices (like cinnamon), hot cross buns tend to sit on the less-than-great side of nourishment. Typically made with refined white flour, these traditional symbols of good luck may ward off evil, but they’re basically filled with empty calories.
While we’re not saying you should never ever eat them, we think it’s a good idea to moderate when you indulge in one. Perhaps go halves with a friend or family member, or go for a brisk walk afterwards.
Chocolate eggs
Over Easter, Australians will spend more than $185 million on chocolate. And while there’s no definitive conclusion either way, there are some studies that show the numerous health benefits to eating chocolate in various forms. Granted, the studies do tend to be limited in their scope, and findings can be fuzzy, but most find some kind of minor boon when consuming chocolate regularly.
The most common result is significant but small improvements in blood flow after consuming chocolate. Some results have also shown a reduction in blood pressure.
So while we aren’t going to tell you to gorge on chocolate eggs until you can’t stand, we think it’d be okay for you to treat yourself to a few morsels if the Easter Bunny leaves them. After all, it’s about everything in moderation, right? Just be sure to have balanced Easter lunch (with protein, lots of veggies and a nutritious portion of carbs) before indulging with any treats.
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