Hand over the CHOCOLATE and no one gets hurt!

in , by sarahmfry, May 18, 2011
May 18, 2011

Green and Black's Dark 70%

Organic (no added toxins and junk!) Whole ingredients, Intense flavor but still creamy
Wanna know why dark chocolate (in moderation, of course) is good for you?  Organic Nature News tells us:
"A chocolate bar contains as much antioxidant power as a glass of red wine. The phenols in chocolate are known to help the immune system, reduce the risk of cancer, and promote heart health. Dark chocolate, pound for pound, has higher levels of antioxidants than blueberries! Dark chocolate also contains more flavanoids than green tea.For centuries, chocolate has been known to soothe the soul. That’s because chocolate boosts the brain chemicals serotonin and endorphin. These chemicals produce a feeling of euphoria. Another compound called anandamide has known calming properties."  There's more!  Read the rest here.

It is also reported to have some other positive, unmentionable affects.....

I am a big fan of blueberries as a delicious power-food-cancer-fighter.  But dark chocolate even gives blueberries a run for their money!  (well, sorta..except for the whole fat-and-sugar thing....) 

A Green and Black's bar is admittedly  more expensive than, say, a snickers bar. But does Snickers really satisfy?  Quality is worth it!   You only have to eat a small amount to be satisfied.  It contains fiber, too!  Six squares (1/5 of a large 3.5 oz bar) is only 3 WW points!  So if you eat one 3 point serving a day, that bar will last you for 5 days - or even a week if you skip a couple days!  What are the chances of a snickers bar satisfying for 5 days?

I'm not saying that after I have a small portion of dark chocolate that I don't WANT more.  My "fullness" brain trigger is very slow in registering "enough chocolate." Hahahaha....AS IF.   But I definitely think that quality dark chocolate satisfies much, much more than sweeter, cheaper chocolate. (Hint:  to keep yourself from un-doing the awesome health benefits of the chocolate by eating the WHOLE ENTIRE BAR in one setting....break it into an appropriate portions (heeheeheee...whatever that may be.  I've never tried it, but I bet you could fit the whole bar) and put it in snack baggies.  If you still can't help eating it all,  tell your husband to hide them and give you one a day. I find that my ability to eat healthy portions of this correlates to my current tiredness and strength level in my overall diet and healthy eating.  There are some weeks when I have no business having chocolate of any kind in my house.  Because I will eat. it. ALL!  Other weeks, when I am on a roll and in control, it is just the ticket to take the edge off my sweet tooth, get me through the 4 o'clock slump, or as a substitute when others are eating dessert.

I find that dark chocolate is especially satisfying with milk. (Have you ever studied the "mouth feel" and "fullness" attributes of foods?  There are lots of reasons we crave the foods we love!)  I like to have about 4-5 ounces of skim milk (1 point) with my chocolate allotment.  But I am experimenting with Coconut milk.  It's sweet and light and very good - with more flavor and creaminess than skim milk (less watery) - but with the same points.

The closer a food is to its natural state, the healthier it is and the better your body can use it.  As a general rule, the shorter the ingredients list on a packaged food, the better!  Check this out:

Green and Black's Organic 70% Dark Chocolate


  1. Organic Chocolate Liquor
  2. Organic Raw Cane Sugar
  3. Organic Cocoa Butter
  4. Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier)
  5. Organic Vanilla Extract
  6. Organic Whole Milk Powder

Hershey's chocolate bar Ingredients:
  1. SUGAR, 
  5. MILK FAT, 
  6. LACTOSE, 
  8. PGPR, (my note:  This stands for  "polyglycerol polyricinoleate" ......Sound healthy and close-to-nature?)  Read more here if you're curious.
  11. AND MILK
Don't get me wrong...I actually LOVE Snickers bars!  I'm not above consuming a "normal" candy bar now-and-again (If I were willing to spend the whopping amount of points!)  And I am not an organic eater...I definitely do think that the fewer chemicals and pesticides and additives the better, but organic is really expensive!  But this is a conversation for another health post.  I just think it's interesting to know what's in what I'm eating.

And this is really just a blatant, apology-free commercial for eating dark, healthy CHOCOLATE! Yay!

So...have a little smidge of dark chocolate today, your husband might thank you! (wink, wink)

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