Can Chocolate Be Part of a Healthy, Balanced Diet?

Chocolate, seen as the enemy for those of us with weight loss goals, can be included in a healthy, balanced diet - here's how...

Research into Chocolate

Research, still ongoing, has pointed out that chocolate contains "catechins" which can help prevent cancers and heart disease. Different types of chocolate have different amounts of catechins - dark chocolate has 53.5mg of catechins per 100g, milk 15.9mg.

Some scepticism regarding the research into the health benefits of chocolate could be forgiven - Mars, US confectionary giant, has been pouring money for research to some of the world's leading Universities to try to prove that cocoa beans, the source of pure chocolate, contain enough of the good chemicals to help the heart stay healthy. The debate is complicated by how much pure cocoa bean is used to make the chocolate confectionary on offer; which also contains high levels of fat and sugar. 

Don't Deny Yourself Chocolate

Chocolate, in moderation, can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. If chocolate is one of your "favourite" foods, make allowances for it in your daily calorie quota. Totally denying yourself chocolate, can lead to bingeing and eating far too much of it. The feel good factor of a little chocolate has a positive psychological effect. 

Here’s a suggestion from one of the readers:

"Try setting a few days during the week that you can have chocolate and go without it for a few days in between? Then you get to have maybe 1 bar 2- 3 times a week? At least then you will know that when you are craving it you will be able to have some the next day - so you won't feel totally deprived"

Make An Allowance In Your Calorie Quota

Build chocolate treats into your daily / weekly calorie quota, and enjoy a guilt free treat. Make chocolate a reward for doing some extra activity - then you can doubly enjoy it, virtuous in the knowledge of how good you have been!  

Simple activities that will provide you with 100 extra calories*:

15 mins Mowing Lawn

20 mins Weeding Garden

20 mins Walking (moderate)

30 mins Hoovering / Dusting / Mopping Floors

30 mins Cleaning Windows

30 mins Car Washing (do inside the rims too!)

30 mins Dancing around the house to favourite music

*Based on a 40 year old female of 5’5" tall who weighs 12st 7lb and is moderately sedentary.

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Check Out Chocolate This Easter

Easter might conjure up images of fluffy chicks, daffodils and hot cross buns. But for slimmers, chocolate is likely to be the first thing that springs to mind. With numerous opportunities for indulging in the odd egg, Easter is a time of temptation, especially for dieters who’ve avoided chocolate in an effort to lose weight.

According to Jason Vale (@juicemaster), author of Chocolate Busters The Easy Way to Kick Your Addiction (Amazon, £10.99), in the UK we spend a massive £4 billion a year on chocolate. This averages at £65 per person and 53,000 extra calories – enough to help us gain 15lb in a year!

With figures like these, it’s clear that many of us have a real love affair with the dark stuff. Indeed, some surveys reveal that many women would choose a chunk over a hunk any day, opting for chocolate rather than sex!

Surprisingly, there may be a good reason for this. Chocolate contains a naturally occurring chemical called phenylethylamine, which allegedly stimulates the same reaction in the body as falling in love does.

Meanwhile, the second chemical in chocolate called theobromine is thought to trigger the release of ‘feel good’ endorphins, giving us a sense of pleasure. And of course, the caffeine in chocolate can act as a stimulant, potentially providing the ‘lift’ in mood that many chocolate lovers claim to experience. However, there’s little evidence that chocolate truly has any physical effect on our emotions and most health experts agree it’s a psychological effect. In other words, it tastes and feels good in our mouths!

Chocolate Nutrition

It’s not just our emotions that appear to be affected by chocolate. Research shows chocolate may not be as bad for our health as we once thought – and small amounts may even be good for us!

First off, the cocoa bean – a major component of chocolate – is a good source of naturally occurring plant compounds called flavonoids, which may keep the heart healthy and reduce our risk of diseases like cancer. Flavonoids act as antioxidants and help to mop up an excess of free radicals that if left unchecked, can damage cells, increasing the risk of health problems like heart disease and cancer.

But before grabbing a huge bar of Dairy Milk, it’s worth bearing in mind that plain chocolate is a richer source of flavonoids than milk or white chocolate, as it’s less processed.

There’s even evidence that the fat in chocolate may not be too bad for our heart! There’s no doubt that chocolate is high in fat – a 50g bar contains around 15g fat. However, around a third of the fat in chocolate is oleic acid – a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat that’s also found in olive oil. The remaining fats in chocolate are predominantly saturates, risk factors for heart disease. But research shows that one of the main saturated fats in chocolate – stearic acid – appears to have no impact on ‘bad’ or LDL cholesterol levels, neither raising nor lowering it.

Meanwhile, chocolate is a reasonable source of some nutrients, including bone-building calcium and magnesium. But bear in mind you’d need to eat large amounts to make any significant contribution to your diet. Ultimately you’d be better off getting these nutrients from lower-calorie foods such as skimmed milk or low-fat yogurt.

However, it’s calories that count when it comes to losing weight – and chocolate calories are high! Just 50g provides around 265 calories – that’s more than a fifth of the calories recommended for someone on a daily allowance of 1,250 calories!

Having said that, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy chocolate at Easter – or any other time of year – when you’re trying to lose weight. Okay, we’re not talking about munching your way through the biggest chocolate Easter egg you can find. But a small piece can give your taste buds a sweet treat and may even help you stick to your diet. This is because chocolate has a low glycemic index, which means it doesn’t cause the massive highs and lows in blood sugar that are linked with cravings and constant snacking!

Ultimately, it’s fine to enjoy a little bit of what you fancy – just remember to count the calories.

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Chocolate Lovers' Tips for Easter

• Down size your eggs – if someone is planning to buy you an Easter egg, ask for one designed for small children – it will be smaller, so you’ll be less likely to overindulge,

• Enjoy the accompanying chocolates or bars and give the egg to someone else. It’s an easier way to control the amount of chocolate you eat and you’ll be more likely to have easy access to calorie information,

• Ask for an Easter egg that’s filled with fruit sweets such as jelly babies rather than more chocolate – they’re virtually fat free and so lower in calories,

• Go for plain chocolate – as well as containing more heart-healthy flavonoids, the more intense flavour will satisfy your taste buds more easily so you won’t want to eat as much,

• Don’t ‘guestimate’ the number of calories in a chocolate egg. Instead, try to work it out. Many eggs now give calorie information per 100g and the weight of the egg itself, 

• To calculate the calories in the whole item, multiply the calories per 100g by the weight and then divide by 100. For example, the calculation for an egg that contains 530 calories per 100g and weighs 175g is as follows: 530/100 = 5.3 cal/g; multiply this by 175 = 927.5 calories,

• Beware of constantly nibbling at chocolate eggs – you’ll find it easy to polish off the whole egg. Instead, break off a piece and put the rest out of reach,

• Keep chocolate in the fridge – as well as keeping it out of sight, chilled chocolate will last longer in your mouth,

• If you do overindulge, cut down the next day or up your exercise intake to compensate,

• And, if you really want to be good, ask people to buy you flowers instead of chocolate.

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