Are You Addicted To Chocolate- Is it a bad thing ?
Do you feel wired up all the time ? But at the same time your moods are up and down ? Have the kilos been creeping up ?
Along with the other caffeine in your diet maybe your chocolate consumption is a little too much.
Are eating too much of a good thing ? Is it a good thing at all ?
Sure we have all read the benefits of dark chocolate. Lots of fancy words like polyphenol, resveratrol, anti oxidants are used to describe the benefits. But most of us aren’t eating the dark chocolate- the one that’s good for you.
One could argue that majority like the sugar in the chocolate and the numbers who like dark chocolate would be drastically less. The 80% dark variety is supposed to be high in antioxidants and therefore a square a day considered to be like a vitamin of sorts. The first time you eat the dark variety you maybe forgiven for wanting to spit it straight out. It’s bitter and doesn't have the nice warm fuzzy feeling that you get after eating regular milk chocolate. However once you brave up and try the dark one again something happens.
Your taste buds long to claim every feeling of chocolate you can get and you tend to take smaller bites and savor away. One square can be more satisfying than half a slab. In fact it’s so dense that you do not feel like eating more than a square. It satisfies that craving for something sweet and is light on calories compared to the high sugar laden varieties.
Lindt and Cadbury are my favorites in the dark chocolate category though Cadbury has a slightly higher sugar content. They are slightly more expensive than the chocolates with sugar. Makes you wonder why? What about the cost of sugar ? Did that come free to the manufacturer or is because those volumes produced are much higher and they get the benefit of economies of scale.
At our local supermarket all brands are marked down from time to time and the Lindt brand does have some other flavor combinations like orange , raspberries and salted caramel, which make the dark variety more palatable to the novice. But beware, these are automatically higher in sugar and wont have the full health benefits of the 80–90% dark chocolate.
I recently started using cacao as a replacement of cocoa in my baking.
Why do you ask ? Apparently it is less processed than cocoa so its higher in the good stuff.
Giving up chocolate is really hard for me to do. Even in cakes I usually like the chocolate ones love my fudgy brownies and my double choc chip gelato. Cutting down the sugar content is the key to keep enjoying these treats.
So at the end of the day is it good for us or not ? Well the jury is divided on it like almost every other food we eat.
Is moderation the key ? Possibly true as long as you don't overeat or become addicted to it. Of course a banana split or a hot fudge sundae should be a once in a month treat provided you are making healthy choices the remaining 80% of the time.
Oh and by the way resveratrol is a natural food ingredient known for it’s super food capabilities. It has many benefits like protecting the heart and circulatory system, reducing inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity. Red wine, grapes , peanuts, pistachios and blueberries are some other foods that are high in it.
So go ahead, maybe check with your doctor and get addicted to right type of chocolate.
