There’s been a media storm this week about a study that was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which makes an association between more frequent chocolate consumption and a lower body mass index. The media spun this complicated and inconclusive research to mean that eating chocolate can make you thinner – what a load of nonsense!
If you care to read the study, some interesting correlations were made, however, in no way does it suggest that actually eating more chocolate will help you to lose weight! The point that almost everyone seems to be missing is that it’s not the amount of chocolate you do or don’t eat, it’s the kind of chocolate. There’s a vast difference between chomping through a huge bar of Hershey’s milk chocolate as opposed to an organic dark 70% cacao-content bar. Although neither are diet foods, the high cacao dark chocolate bar is actually very beneficial to your health, and if eaten in moderation, will not pack on extra pounds.
With Easter this weekend, and lots of chocs coming our way, what is the best kind of chocolate to look for? The darker the chocolate the better it is for you because it contains antioxidants and compounds which are good for your heart and your overall general health.
Chocolate comes from the seeds of the South American cacao tree. The nibs at the hearts of the seeds are ground and liquefied into chocolate liquor. The liquor is separated into two components: cocoa solids (the nonfatty component) and cocoa butter (the fatty part). The form of chocolate you can buy depends on the relative amounts of cocoa solids and butter, as well as how much sugar and milk are added:
Unsweetened, or baking chocolate is pure chocolate liquor; dark chocolate has a little fat and a little sugar; milk chocolate has milk added as well as the fat and quite a lot of sugar; white chocolate has only the cocoa butter, and sometimes not even that, with vegetable oils added instead, which isn’t really chocolate at all.
The healthiest chocolate you can eat is one with less milk and sugar in it. It will be more bitter, but if you just stick to dark chocolate, you’ll begin to appreciate the taste. I have eaten milk chocolate for years and if I ever do, it tastes way to sweet and sickly
Dark chocolate contains antioxidants called polyphenols that help to fight chronic inflammation of tissues in the circulatory system, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Studies have also shown that chocolate, like aspirin, makes blood platelets less likely to clump together into dangerous blood vessel-blocking clots by reducing their stickiness.
I find dark chocolate to be more filling and satisfying than milk chocolate. New research by scientists at the University of Copenhagen suggest that dark chocolate can reduce your cravings for other snacks or sweets. I eat a couple of squares of dark chocolate almost every night and that completely satisfies my sweet tooth.
So, if you’re out and about looking for some Easter Chocolate goodies, look for:
1. 65% cacao content or above
2. Organic chocolate
3. Fair-trade
BTW: One of my favorite chocolates of the moment is the Coco Polo Cadenza Bar. I LOVE it because it’s completely sugar-free. It’s made with stevia, but doesn’t have that awful aftertaste that so many stevia products have. It’s creamy, delicious, and healthy – what more could a chocolate lover want. The only downside is that you need to order a whole box of bars (it’s the only way it’s sold right now,) but I promise you’ll get through the box quicker than you think!
Finally, the purest form of chocolate for you to eat, and thus the kind with the most health benefits, is pure cacao powder and/or cacao nibs. I buy mine from Navitas Naturals. I cook and make smoothies with the powder and snack on the nibs – yummy!
