Still Think of Chocolate As Health Food?

This is not exactly news as it was highlighted a few years ago, but chocolate is not a health food that was declared, say, 5 years ago.

But people still think it is - so they eat and tell themselves it's good for them.

Why did they do that? Well, they like it; it's easy to like.

Chocolate is also an easy answer to many problems as it is a mood changer. Various chemicals include theobromine (caffeine-like) and phenylethylamine (equated with love). It also triggers endorphin (beta-endorphin) and serotonin, two mood-related brain chemicals.

Are You Trapped in a Chocolate Trap?

I didn't, and here's why.

Chocolate - even 70 percent dark chocolate - contains sugar, and I am very anti-sugar. In fact, I've been anti-sugar for over 25 years, long before anyone ever talks about its negative effects on their health or addiction.

Some customers call me The Nazi Sugar. What can I say? I'm wearing a label proudly.

When my health teacher rejected chocolate, I opposed it because I was convinced that the lack of sugar in chocolate would override any benefits we would later hear about cocoa itself.

Did the Chocolate Story Turn On?

Basically, this is a shocking story. Chocolate producers and the cocoa industry are funding a scientific study to "prove" the benefits of chocolate. One company, Mars, makers of Snickers, M & Ms, Milky Way and many other candies, actually funded hundreds of such studies.

It doesn't feel right to me to hash through the benefits of chocolate, but here is a partial list. It is said to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, increase weight, reduce diabetes risk, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure, and reduce immune disorders.

Gee, does that make my brown eyes blue too?

Such claims continue to grow even in the current article - and still influence my friends' eating habits in the fitness industry.

My suggestion is to release chocolate because of sugar. If you must take cocoa or cocoa, make sure it is not sugar. Problems with sugar affect your health, appetite, food choices, mood disorders, hormones, brain chemistry, and more.

The negative effects of sugar cannot be ignored. Chocolate cannot and will not affect them.

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