Chocolate pudding reimagined in the health department all without cooking

In the more than 25 years I've been writing this column the diet world has turned upside-down. Here's how.

When this column began in 1992 low-fat food plans were hot; white hot. Those low-fat food plans were supposed to not only help us lose weight, but they were also supposed to be heart-healthy since some studies appeared to show a link between saturated fats, cholesterol and heart disease.

Sugars were OK since they were fat-free.

Flash forward 25 years and today it appears that a high sugars food plan can cause heart disease (along with other adverse health issues) and the right cholesterol (like from previously vilified egg yolks) is an integral part of a healthy food plan.

Do you remember when an egg yolk was considered so unhealthy due to its saturated fat and cholesterol content that it was considered a smart move to throw it away and consume and cook with only egg whites? I sure do.

Yes, the world turned upside down.

Do we now know, based on solid science, what is a healthy food plan? That's a good and somewhat unanswerable question. Experts are still arguing those points, and I'm no scientific expert.

25 years ago, a low-fat food plan meant getting less than 30-percent of your daily calories from fat. Today, the popular keto (short for ketogenic) diet is supposed to be the best and healthiest.

Women's Health magazine states: " ... this eating plan is all about minimizing your carbs and upping your fats to get your body to use fat as a form of energy." That means you'll get: "60-75 percent of your calories from fat, 15-30 percent of your calories from protein, and 5-10 percent of your calories from carbs." See, upside down.

In my effort to cut carbs as part of my ongoing OMAD food plan; full-sugar sweets have gone away. Since I've always enjoyed a bit of chocolate after dinner, usually later in the evening, my new food plan nearly took that and all chocolate desserts off my table.

I've been a huge fan of real chocolate pudding; not instant pudding, all my life. My maternal grandmother used to make real chocolate pudding for little Donny whenever he came over for a visit. Lucky me.

While losing 150 pounds from 2005 to 2007, I figured out how to make "cook and serve" chocolate pudding with nearly zero fat and no added sugars. It was OK; not great.

Today, my hunger for a chocolate dessert that fits my newish food plan and my history with chocolate pudding led me to no-sugar-added chia seed puddings.

If you search Google for chocolate, chia seed pudding recipes, you'll get 1.5 plus million hits. I found one I liked, reworked it with my ingredients, like an organic stevia/erythritol blend sugar substitute and organic chia seeds.

There are lots of good things about my chia seed pudding. It's got a decent chocolate flavor a clean vanilla note and half of your fiber for the day. And, it's a dessert.

To bump-up the chocolate flavor I grate a tablespoon of 85-percent-cocoa chocolate on top. Plus, there's no cooking required. Love it.

Give it a try.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at don@ theleanwizard.com.