National Cupcake Day

Today is National Cupcake Day! Who doesn’t love cupcakes?! They are the perfect sized treat that people of all ages love. The earliest known documentation of the term cupcake shows up in 1828 in Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats. The cookbook was by Eliza Leslie. What is great about cupcakes is that they are the perfect size – a single portion that is not too big and not too small. When eating a healthy diet, there is absolutely room for sweets, but portion size is key. Cupcakes are so much fun to celebrate a special occasion with. What is more, you can pick out many different flavors, instead of just having 1 flavor with a large cake. Cupcakes are adorable, fun, and deserve to be celebrated today on National Cupcake Day!

Cupcakes evoke sweet childhood memories – bringing cupcakes into school on your birthday was a highlight of the year! Studies have shown that eating sweets can actually help with memory, especially when consuming baked goods that were your childhood favorites. Taste and scent are both interconnected and they are strongly linked to long term memory, which remains largely intact despite cognitive decline. Not only eating them but making them with loved ones also evokes special moments in life.

Lately we have explored stress relief. There is the cute saying ‘you can’t spell ‘stressed’ without ‘desserts’! This is certainly true, and desserts can be a great stress reliever – in moderation of course. Stress causes increased cortisol levels in the body, and when you experience chronic stress, your cortisol levels become too high and lead to inflammation. Inflammation is essentially the root cause of illness and disease because it undermines your body’s immune system. In addition, when you eat a dessert with antioxidants such as a double dark chocolate cupcake, it helps combat inflammation as well! Because cupcakes are so customizable, you can make them healthy as well! Swap out white flour for wheat or an alternative such as oat flour, white sugar for coconut sugar or banana, and butter for olive oil or applesauce. You can even add JuicePlus Complete to up the amount of protein and nutrients in your cupcakes. Check out this delicious (healthy!) chocolate cupcake recipe!

So eat cupcakes for your health and join Private Home Health Care with celebrating National Cupcake Day!