Eat cake and STILL detox! The low sugar treats that you'll never notice are healthy Over the past few weeks, the Mail revealed a ground-breaking sugar detox Experts Dr Brooke Alpert & Dr Patricia Farris now explain how you can still eat sugar and be healthy So, can you ever eat sugar and be healthy? If you've been reading the Mail's ground-breaking Sugar Detox over the past few days, this is a question you're bound to be asking yourself right now. As we've shown, sugar is highly addictive, and can take its toll on your waistline and your skin. And what makes it so pernicious is that it's very difficult to avoid, as manufacturers have hidden it in so many foods to make their products more appealing. But don't worry. There is a way to enjoy cakes, biscuits and other treats without jeopardising your health or appearance. Balancing act: As modern diets are mostly made up of refined carbohydrates, we end up with a constant flow of sugar Sweet treats: But it is still possible to enjoy cakes and sugar while maintaining a healthy diet Just follow our Detox guide, with its simple dietary rules for a three-day blitz that will give your body a complete break from all forms of sugar, and end your cravings, before slowly reintroducing otherwise healthy foods, such as wholegrains, that form sugar when digested (missed the plan? Go to dailymail.co.uk/quitsugar). After our four-week Sugar Detox, you should be free from cravings, energy dips and mood swings. And, even better news, you can then resume a normal, healthy diet - with cakes, treats and puddings - as long as you follow one easy rule each time. The key to living in harmony with sugar in your life without risk of addiction is understanding how foods interact in your body. You can then minimise the impact that sugar might have on your body and your skin. The foods you should avoid: These seemingly healthy snacks actually contain a substantial amount of sugar Say you haven't eaten in more than three hours and you grab a piece of fruit to keep you going. As it's been so long since you had a proper meal, your system is unable to break down the fruit and utilise the best parts of it - its antioxidants, fibre, vitamin C, and more. Instead, your body is much more likely to say "feed me!" and go straight for the sugar contained in the fruit. But this process can be stopped if you make a conscious effort to only ever eat sugar (whether in the form of pastries, or fruit or refined carbohydrates like bread) in combination with protein foods (such as meat, fish or vegetarian forms of protein like beans and lentils) and/or healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil). Eating something sugary, whether it's a clementine or a chocolate bar, on an empty stomach with no protein or fats to slow its absorption, means that the sugar will be swept up into your bloodstream very quickly. But you can enjoy: Homemade low GI oat blueberry pancakes with bananas and strawberries This hit of sugar then tells your pancreas to release insulin to help absorb it, thereby telling your body to convert the extra sugar to fat. So beware. If you're eating anything containing sugar, refined flour or even starchy vegetables on an empty stomach, it will almost immediately be converted into fat. So by all means enjoy berries for breakfast, but make sure you have eggs and yogurt, too. Grabbing an apple? Then take a handful of nuts as well. It's a simple rule that could change your health - and waistline - for good. A tasty, low-sugar treat: This take on rice pudding is made from wholegrain Basmati rice, almond milk, cardamom pods and vanilla essence How to keep to your Sugar Detox for ever Once the four-week sugar detox is over, you can happily return to a healthy diet, as long as you remember to combine sugar (whether in the form of biscuits, potatoes or pasta) with protein and healthy fats whenever you can to minimise its negative impact on your body. But if you love how the Sugar Detox makes you feel - and how your skin now looks - you can continue on our specially designed maintenance plan. This allows flexibility for special occasions, while building on the astonishing effect of your initial detox. The plan below limits fruit choices and serving sizes, while optimising the health benefits of fruit without letting your sugar intake get out of hand. You can still have (sugar-free) ice cream: Homemade ice cream made with fresh fruit, nuts and Greek yoghurt offers a a healthy alternative to more traditional recipes Here's what you can eat PROTEIN: Minimum of 3 servings per day (1 protein serving is 3 eggs or 6oz/170g lean meat, fish - equivalent to a small chicken breast). DAIRY: 2 servings, plus the milk in coffee or tea (1 serving of dairy is equivalent to 1oz/30g cheese, 5floz/150ml yogurt or cottage cheese, or 4 floz/100ml milk). VEGETABLES: Unlimited quantities of approved low-carbohydrate vegetables. Bake a cake and eat it: This version of a pineapple and carrot cake has absolutely no sugar FRUIT: 1 apple plus 1.5 portions of other low-carb fruit. fat: Minimum of 3 servings of healthy fats (such as 1 oz/30g nuts or seeds or a tablespoon of coconut/olive oil, 1/2 avocado or a handful of olives). CARBOHYDRATES: 2 servings per day of approved carbohydrates plus 2 x high-fibre crackers (a serving = 1 slice of bread, 2oz/ 60g barley, buckwheat, oatmeal, uncooked wholemeal pasta, quinoa or brown rice). WINE: Up to a maximum of 5 glasses of red wine per week. Fruit remedies: The natural sweetness of the blueberries, apple and even parsnip help compensate for the lack of sugar DESSERT: 1oz/30g dark chocolate daily (or same portion of any other chocolate, but only twice a week) During this maintenance plan, it is ok to throw caution to the wind and enjoy a dessert up to twice a week. Simply use one of your carbohydrate portion allowances for the extra dessert. So if you know there's a birthday in the office and you'll be offered a slice of cake, plan ahead and forgo that multigrain roll with your lunchtime salad. Or, if it comes upon you as a surprise - say, an impossible to resist pudding trolley at a celebration dinner - just skip one carbohydrate portion during the next 24 hours. Have a slice: These date and ginger slices will be digested slowly - making you feel fuller for longer Extracted from The Sugar Detox: Lose Weight, Feel Great And Look Years Younger by Brooke Alpert and Dr Patricia Farris, published by Bantam Press at £8.99.