The Healthy Way to Eat Chocolate
You’ve probably heard it mentioned thousands of times that chocolate is good for your health. That’s all well and good, but is all chocolate healthy and are there better ways to consume it if we would like it to be healthier?
As it turns out, there is a way to eat chocolate that is better and healthier. In fact, there is more than one way to do this, and that is what we are going to look at today. Chuachocolatier has some great tips to help you make sure every bite of chocolate is good for you.
Be Choosy
Anything with significant enough amounts of cacao in it is chocolate. However, that does not mean that all types of chocolate have just the right amount of cacao to deliver all of the great benefits we have come to know about. The healthiest form of chocolate is dark chocolate, which contains at least 70 percent cacao.
Be Organic
You should always go for organic chocolate. If it has cacao nibs, then they should come directly from the cacao bean. If it’s powder, then it should also be processed directly from cacao beans.
Consider Going for Raw Cacao
This is the best way to have chocolate altogether if you can manage. Raw cacao has all of the healthy fatty acids that you need from chocolate and also comes with extra antioxidants and minerals like flavonols and magnesium.
Go Dark if Choosing Heated Cacao
You can still get plenty of high-quality nutrients from heated cacao, provided you go for the dark cocoa. The darker the cocoa, then more nutrients are retained throughout the heating process.
Good Chocolate Is Bitter
Cacao and even the processed cocoa itself can be quite bitter. If you’re going to go for pure cocoa or cacao, then you should be prepared to tolerate the bitter taste. These are usually used for baking, with the extra ingredients added later. Be ready for that bitter taste if you want to get the most out of your chocolate.
Don’t Choose Dutch-processed Chocolate
When chocolate is Dutch-processed, it is done so with an alkaline base, which makes it a little less acidic. On the one hand, this is not bad for you. Some people may even argue that it is good for you because the human body tends to favor alkaline foods over acidic ones. However, it is not the healthiest form of chocolate. The processing causes the chocolate to lose a lot of flavonols, which are part of the reason why chocolate is so good for your health.
No Milk or Sugar-added for Bar Chocolates
If you’re going for bar chocolate, then you should avoid any chocolate with butterfat or milk added to it. Sugar is not good, either. These turn chocolate into a huge reserve of calories. Instead, chose chocolate where cocoa butter and cacao have been added. You do not want the benefits of chocolate to be outweighed by the negative effects of too much added sugar, milk and artificial ingredients.