Snack Smart: Five Smart Ways Of Snacking On Chocolates

By Teresa Cheong, RightEatingHabits.com

dark chocolate THOUGH snacking on chocolates is strictly off limits for anyone on a weight loss diet because of the high saturated fats and high calorie count, I don’t see why you should deprive yourself of an occasional chocolate snack. The trick is to snack smart.

I admit I do have occasional cravings for chocolate.

In the past, I would automatically grab a white chocolate bar or a caramel sweetened Mars chocolate. Now that I’m more mindful of my eating habits, I only go for dark chocolates with at least 70% cocoa content or organic raw chocolates. Organic raw chocolates are chocolate in its purest form.

Five Smart Ways Of Snacking On Chocolates

Choose dark bitter chocolates or Organic Raw Chocolates. Their bitter taste comes from the flavonoids in the cocao. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants beneficial for the heart. Organic raw chocolates are super-loaded with flavonoids.

Look for the least processed dark chocolates. Processing destroys much of the flavonoids in cocao. Look out for processing agent, alkali on the food label.

Eat a grapefruit or have a cup of lemonade before taking your first bite at that piece of dark chocolate or organic raw chocolate. Grapefruit and lemons are natural fat burners.

Drink a cup of hot green tea after eating your dark or organic raw chocolates. The mild caffeine and antioxidant catechins in green tea increase the body’s metabolism and speed up the digestion of fats.

Set a mental limit to have one bite size of chocolate. An ounce or about 28.5 grams of chocolate is all you need for the brain to increase the serotonine levels and release the “feel good” chemicals into the body. Wait for the “feel good” effect to take place before reaching out for the second piece of chocolate.

By mindfully practising these five smart eating habits, you can snack smart and enjoy an occasional flavanol-rich chocolate snack without guilt.

Recommended Resource:

I enjoy browsing through the wide selection of naturally grown and certified organic seeds, nuts and healthy snacks at David Wolfe’s Sunfood Nutrition.

See Organic Raw Chocolate.

Note: All sales of Sunfood Nutrition Cacao products support the indigenous farmers in Ecuador.