I’ve been samping chocolates for quite a long time, and I’ve always found that the darker the chocolate, the better. Right now, I enjoy 85% Lindt and 86% Ghirardelli chocolates, the precentage referring to the amount of cacao in each bar. I find that this is my upper limit for chocolates and my lower limit for tolerance when it comes to taste is around 70%. Anything lower is no longer palatable for me. And the dark chocolate feels so nutritious to me that it fills me up with a mere 2 squares daily. I figure the closer I can get to the real cacao nib, the better quality and nutrient-dense chocolate I’m going to have. I know many people like the creaminess of milk chocolate, but I find it to be too bland and not bitter enough. When chocolate is stripped down as far as I go, you can taste the actual cacao nibs and the flavor is explosive…and addictive, but in moderation should cause no harm.
It’s great as an after meal snack. One to two squares will satiate the need for anything else. The cacao nib is really a nut, so it works to the same philosophy that less is more. When you eat a handful of almonds or cashews, doesn’t it fill you up and satiate you more than a handful of pretzels? Sure, the fat content is high in all these foods, but they are mostly good fats, and chocolate with minimal sweetness is almost like eating a batch of honey roasted peanuts, only with less sugar. The chocolate I eat has slightly more than 1 gram of sugar per square. It does, however, have 4.5 grams of fat per square, but that’s why it’s not wise to eat a whole bar in one sitting. Besides, the flavor is so intense that you couldn’t possibly eat a whole bar in one day, never mind in one sitting.
Chocolate has antioxidants and healthy oils, especially in its natural state. It is a tasty treat that I thought I would remind everyone about for the holidays. But stick with the high-quality chocolate, no lower than 60% cacao. Otherwise, you’re paying for milk and soy lecithin and a little bit of chocolate.
My personal favorite is the Lindt 85% cacao. Then it goes Ghrardelli 72%, then Grhardelli 86%. After that, I can’t remember, but I encourage you to try this semi-healthy food in moderation and no guilt because you’re doing your body a favor when you eat a few squares a day.
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