Training & Nutrition - Question about chocolate

I have heard that dark chocolate may be good for the heart. I like the dark chocolate but it has more carbs that I like to eat. So I have switched over to bakers chocolate which is very low in carbs. The chocolate is unsweetened baking chocolate squares. When I first tried it the bitterness was almost unbearable, but after eating it for a couple of weeks my taste has adjusted and I am now having to limit myself to keep from eating too much of the chocolate.

So is this bakers chocolate the same as dark chocolate without the extra carbs?

Baker's chocolate is 100% cocoa. It's probably a wash as far as nutrition goes. You probably shouldn't be eating enough chocolate where the number of carbs in dark chocolate is an issue.

One advantage to bakers chocolate is that you don't have to worry about anyone wanting any of you chocolate. :)

Baker's chocolate is 100% cocoa. It's probably a wash as far as nutrition goes. You probably shouldn't be eating enough chocolate where the number of carbs in dark chocolate is an issue.

It would be pretty hard to eat that much Baker's chocolate: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5390/2 I like it myself. The 100% unsweetened variety.

Don in Austin

I vaguely recall something like that about the healt benefits of dark chocolate. IIRC it's only dark chocolate, not the candy bars and I believe baker's chocolate isn't the same either in this respect.

I vaguely recall something like that about the healt benefits of dark chocolate. IIRC it's only dark chocolate, not the candy bars and I believe baker's chocolate isn't the same either in this respect.The suspected health benefits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#Potential_health_effects) are associated with the cocoa, more than with the sugar, milk, or fat, so a limited amount of dark chocolate (minimum of 35% cocoa solids) can be a regular part of a healthy diet.

I like the unsweetened powdered cocoa from the baking section of the supermarket. I mix it with powered milk in the bottom of my enormous coffee cup. That makes it a little easier to dissolve.

Don't know about the health benefits, but at least it beats sugar.

I've taken to adding a half oz of bakers chocolate to my daily ration of fortified oatmeal, sweetened with raw honey. The chocolate seems to have lowered my bp a little, the oatmeal, along with cycling, has stabalized my lipids well within normal range, and the honey cured my bronchitis and diverticulits. I'm 71. Last blood chemistry profile showed everything(50 tests)well within normal limits.

A word about HDL cholesterol. Thought to be the 'good' cholesterol. Normally low in most men when it should be high. Exercise is about the only natural way to raise HDL. Mine doubled after I took up cycling 8 years ago.

Well, here's my story. I eat 20-40 grams of dark chocolate every day. HDL: 122, LDL: 38. Age: 62. I'm not sure how much the chocolate helps because I'm also a vegan (+fish), but I like to think it helps.

springs, that is a remarkably high HDL and low LDL. You doin' something right.

I've taken to adding a half oz of bakers chocolate to my daily ration of fortified oatmeal, sweetened with raw honey. The chocolate seems to have lowered my bp a little, the oatmeal, along with cycling, has stabalized my lipids well within normal range, and the honey cured my bronchitis and diverticulits. I'm 71. Last blood chemistry profile showed everything(50 tests)well within normal limits.

A word about HDL cholesterol. Thought to be the 'good' cholesterol. Normally low in most men when it should be high. Exercise is about the only natural way to raise HDL. Mine doubled after I took up cycling 8 years ago.

OK, now I don't believe anything you will ever say.

OK, now I don't believe anything you will ever say.

+1 - I'm a pharmacist and if honey cured those problems I wouldn't have a job.

I love the baker's unsweetened squares, it goes especially well with foster's ale. Only problem for me is stopping before the whole box is gone. Don't know about the honey for diverticulitis but cocoa, unlike statins, at least carries no risk of muscle problems, sexual dysfunction, memory loss, liver failure, etc. Can be somewhat addictive though.

I have discovered that over about 2 blocks of the chocolate at a time just does not sit well on my stomach. When I first started eating the unsweetened blocks they tasted very bitter but now my taste has adjusted and they are no longer bitter.

It would be great if we knew the truth about the benefits and risks of drugs. I recently saw an article about statins and how they don't do what their advertisements say. I don't know what to believe any more when it comes to drugs.

I love the baker's unsweetened squares, it goes especially well with foster's ale. Only problem for me is stopping before the whole box is gone.....

HA!!! When I was a kid my mom tried hiding the Baker's unsweetened chocolate, she punished me for eating it all, she tried bribing me NOT to eat it...nothing worked. The fact that she would go to make a chocolate cake and have no chocolate was not enough to stop me.

Don in Austin

No they are not the same If they were same then there was no need to give they different names & I have never heard that chocolates are good for heart I think it contains sugar and eating a lot of sugar will increase your weight which is not good for the health

The studies I have seen indicate that about 1 oz of chocolate per day is all it takes to get the maximum benefit (which is still controversial). When you say "dark chocolate" if you are talking about something like Hershey's Special Dark candy bars, that's not dark chocolate, it's darker milk chocolate. Go to WalMart or many other stores and you'll find a section with genuine dark chocolate which is 60% or higher cacao. I like the Ghiarardelli dark chocolates. You can get them in bags of individually wrapped servings that are a little under a half ounce each. They come in 65%, 72%, and 86% cacao. The higher the cacao, the darker and more bitter the chocolate and the less sugar and cocoa butter in the mix. One or two of these single servings a day should take care of chocolate cravings and provide you with the desired benefits with a minimum of fat and sugar. The light sweetness is a little less biting than the 100% bakers chocolate and the individual servings make portion control easy. If you want maximum benefit, get roasted cacao nibs which are coarsely ground roasted cocoa beans that have been otherwise untreated. Bitter as hell but addictive (figuratively, not literally) and can be added to granola or other foods to add a strong chocolate note.


I have never heard that chocolates are good for heart I think it contains sugar and eating a lot of sugar will increase your weight which is not good for the health

Here you go:


http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/nutrition/chocolate.aspx

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120424/pick-dark-chocolate-health-benefits

http://www.livestrong.com/article/348538-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-chocolates/

I've been using the unsweetened, powdered baker's chocolate. It only has one ingredient, cocoa. Even then with no sugar at all, it has a lot of carbs, three times as much as protein.

I mix it with powdered skim milk and put it at the bottom of my very large coffee mug. That helps it dissolve, but there's usually some left that I spoon out. I do like it.

+1 - I'm a pharmacist and if honey cured those problems I wouldn't have a job.

No doubt.

A year free of acute bronchitis/diverticulitis, after 40 years of 3/4 attacks a year of both, will make you a believer, no matter what the 'experts' think. Believe it or not. BTW, I worked in the medical field my entire career, so not particularly uninformed about these matters. The honey 'cure' was a total surprise to me, but not to many others who testify to it's multitude of potential health benefits. Besides, it taste good.

^^How much honey, and how did you take it?

^^How much honey, and how did you take it?

Everything I've seen is a teaspoonful a day of raw local honey. My wife has been diagnosed with a bunch of allergies so we're going to try the local honey thing and see if it helps her. Buy the local since the bee pollination process uses local plants and is supposed to help combat the allergies.