More points for chocolate!
Yet another reason to add pure cocoa to your healthy diet.
Here’s an excerpt from “Sweet Therapy offers an escape”
Misty Harris, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Although chocolate is often described as a psychoactive cocktail of mood-enhancing chemicals — typtophan, phenylethylamine and ananamide chief among them — it’s unlikely that eating two or three bites a day would trigger a significant natural high. Miller instead suggests the “feel-good” reaction we have to the cocoa confection is a conditioned response.
“In Western culture, it’s just an assumption that (chocolate) is delicious and you must love it,’ he explains. “And the more health science warns us of the risks of indulging too much, the more the delight is raised. Like, ‘I really am doing something that’s rebellious.’ ”
At 50 to 70 calories per piece, one Sweet Therapy chocolate a day isn’t likely to convert emotional baggage into junk in the trunk. But as with everything, moderation is crucial.
“It’s not the sexy message but it’s the realistic message,” says Dr. Geoff D.C. Ball, director of the Pediatric Centre for Weight and Health at the University of Alberta.
“There’s research supporting dark chocolate, especially because of its antioxidant properties, so there are some health-related benefits. But on the flip side, if you’re eating a lot of chocolate, there’s also a lot of fat and sugar.”
Ball, a chocolate eater and member of the Canadian Obesity Network, suspects most people will appreciate the concept for what it is — “one of those harmless kinds of things” — and have fun with it. But registered dietician Joanne McIvor worries that guilt may distort the spirit of what would otherwise be a pleasurable experience.
“Guilt is what drives food to be more of a punishment thing, where you feel so bad that you’ve had one chocolate that you think, ‘I may as well have another bar and, while I’m at it, get the chips out,”‘ explains the Edmonton nutrition expert, who has no affiliation with Laura Secord.
“Whatever your sacred cow is — and mine is, actually, chocolate — feel good about including it in your healthy eating day. But you should get rid of the rest of the herd.”