As a functional medicine practitioner, I’m a huge advocate for choosing foods that benefit your health. But I also know that the cravings for sweets happen and total restriction is not realistic or beneficial to your healing journey.

Food isn’t the only thing that impacts your health and if you are constantly feeding your body a slice of stress every time you eat, chances are you aren’t going to feel the best no matter how clean your diet is.

That’s why I believe it’s important to choose sweets made without unnecessary, inflammatory ingredients. In order to help you make the best choices, here are a few ingredients worth staying away from:

1. Inflammatory oils

Most prepackaged candy, baked goods, and other sweets are made with inflammatory oils like soybean, canola, corn, and vegetable oil that are high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats that lead to inflammation, heart disease, and diabetes.

2. Sugar substitutions

“Sugar-free” treats might sound healthier, but it’s a misleading term for chemicals that happen to taste like sugar. Although these substitutions lack calories, studies have shown that they can harm your gut by altering your microbiome and contribute to weight gain.

3. Natural flavors

Natural flavors are usually anything but natural. Since the word “natural” isn’t regulated, brands capitalize on this by using toxic chemicals to mimic and enhance certain flavors for minimal cost. Whenever a brand uses this term without explanation, just be aware that it is probably best to avoid the products.

4. Emulsifiers and gums

These are often used to bind ingredients together to ensure a uniform texture throughout a product. However, these can trigger inflammation and contribute to digestive distress. Even though these aren’t necessarily the worst for you, high amounts of these can be triggering for those who are more sensitive.

What To Look For Instead

It can be difficult to find sweets that don’t use these harmful ingredients. And it can be even harder to find options that facilitate healing with quality superfood ingredients. But once I found dalci Brownies and Blondies, I knew I could never go back.

They offer simple and delicious treats formulated with clean, functional ingredients like avocado oil, almond butter, dark chocolate, apple, lemon, almond flour, coconut sugar, and cinnamon. These ingredients not only taste great, but they are packed with nutrients like prebiotics and probiotics that help support healthy inflammation levels for less bloating, IBS, SIBO, stomach cramps, and hormone problems.

Since every brownie is made without hydrogenated and refined oils, sugar alcohols, and gut-irritating additives, gums, and emulsifiers and are gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, soy-free, and are preservative free, I often recommend them to my patients.

They come in 4 yummy flavors - Dark Chocolate Brownie, Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Blondie, Apple Spice Blondie, and Lemon Coconut Blondie - and are prepackaged so you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen baking.

So next time you are shopping, make sure to read labels to avoid these unnecessary ingredients and reach for dalci instead to curb your sweet tooth. To stay updated on dalci and their gut-friendly treats, you can follow them on Instagram @dalciyourself.

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