I think dessert is standard after dinner in the U.S., especially at restaurants. Even if you don’t eat one, they give you the dessert menu to think about it.

I read that only a generation ago dessert tended to be just a piece of fruit, and not every day.

Less dessert seems like less sweets, but more overall appreciation of sweetness. That is, I think eating less or fewer sweets will improve my life—less physical pleasure but more emotional reward. That’s my style.

So I decided to make dessert the occasional piece of fruit, avoiding things with sugar added. Maybe a glass of wine or scotch sometimes. Once you stop having sugar, you don’t sweat the decision. You just don’t eat it. Much easier.

I haven’t been avoiding desserts long, but I can feel sugar becoming less appetizing.

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