There are a lot of chocolate lovers out there who wish they could have chocolate without hurting their diets. Well for all those people there is some good news. There are some ways you can include some chocolate into your healthy diet.
Dark chocolate is soothing and satisfying, and it may have health benefits, including some for heart. But people worry about the added calories when they’re trying to keep their weight down. The truth is you can have your chocolate and keep your weight down by controlling your portions.
Unsweetened cocoa has tons of healthy flavonoids and has only about 12 calories per tablespoon. It makes for a very low-calorie hot chocolate or chocolate milk when blended with fat-free milk and artificial sweetener.
You can add pure cocoa to yogurt to make a chocolatey treat that has far fewer calories than dairy-aisle products which can have a lot more calories than you think. Just sprinkle the cocoa over the yogurt and use a spatula or spoon to fold it in.
You can also add cocoa to homemade gelato. Gelato is a milk-based Italian frozen dessert that’s lower in fat than ice cream. You can experiment with recipes to limit the amount of sugar without sacrificing taste.
Chocolate has an average of 150 calories per ounce (even with less sugar, these blends still have naturally occurring fat). Measure out one ounce per day to savor.
There are many cocoa brands that you can choose from and many are from leading chocolate companies. Most of these chocolates are of good quality but you should still check the labels to make sure there is no added sugar.
Dark or bittersweet varieties are considered better for you than semi-sweet because of their higher percentages of cocoa solids and flavonoids. For the best results look for products with 70 percent cocoa or higher.
Now you can enjoy the rich taste of chocolate and still maintain your healthy diet.
