If I’m invited to dinner the chances are I’ll buy a bar of ‘healthy’ organic dark chocolate for my hosts. But just how healthy is chocolate, even the dark 70% cacao organic brands? I decided to investigate.
Firstly, dark chocolate does tend to have less sugar than milk chocolate and more cacao which, as you’ll see, has some very interesting health benefits. I decided to home in on higher (eg 60 to75%) cacao dark chocolates, some containing nuts others cherries or dried fruits. (Why these criteria, you might wonder? Because I’ve set myself a target – to make the tastiest, healthiest ever chocolate, working with chocolatier Cheryl Ellis from Just Chocolate. More on this in a minute.)
Most ‘healthy’ chocolates are 30% sugar
I picked the best organic and or high cacao ‘dark dozen’ that I could find in my local health store and supermarket to analyse their sugar content. The average was over 29% sugar!
The best in regards to sugar content was Divine’s organic dark chocolate with almonds, with 21% sugar, the worst Green & Black’s organic dark hazelnut & raisin with 40%. Bog standard Cadbury’s Bournville dark chocolate, by comparison, is 58% sugar.
Remember the big announcement by the WHO, backed up (after year’s of resistance) by governments to cut sugar intake to 5% of calories or roughly 5 heaped teaspoons of sugar a day? Well, the average of these organic dark chocolate bars equates to 26 grams of sugar in a standard 100gram bar, or 6.5 teaspoons of sugar.
Why Choose GLTY® Super Chocolate?
Are you following Patrick Holford’s Low GL diet principles? Looking for a deliciously sweet, but GL friendly snack? Now you can enjoy the pleasure of organic dark chocolate, without the guilt!
NEW GLTY® Super Chocolate is designed with your health in mind! It supports Patrick’s GL diet principles by combining organic, unroasted Peruvian dark chocolate with a souce of protein from nuts and seeds.
This chocolate is free from gluten and dairy products and is sweetened with Montmorency cherries and chicory root fibre, giving you just 4% sugar.
Helpful information:
Now you know what to look for in your Easter egg, and if a bar of ‘healthy’ chocolate appeals you will find more information at https://www.holfordirect.com/glty-super-chocolate-with-cherry-almond-and-chia.html
Good chocolate in moderation has many health benefits, but it’s the ‘in moderation’ that counts. If you need some help with losing weight then three of the best are below, particularly if you are dealing with oestrogen dominance.
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2015/06/12/the-diet-to-help-beat-oestrogen-dominance/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2016/08/01/the-dash-diet-is-no-1-for-weight-loss/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/12/30/more-energy-and-less-weight-on-a-g-i-diet/