Many women fear chocolate. It has become this all or nothing approach, eat it all or completely deny eating it. The word chocolate brings up many feelings inside of you – you want it, you’re scared of it, you need it, you can’t have it, you want all the bar, you must hide it.
I want to help you realise you can eat it everyday without the guilt, shame and deprivation attached to chocolate. I am well aware that 99.9999999% of women love chocolate. But yet you’re not sure if it’s “the right thing to eat” or if it is actually “healthy”.
I know there is a big element of confusion. Confusion about is it healthy and can I actually eat it everyday without negative consequences? Here is what I know to be 100% the truth…….if you enjoy chocolate then eat it. I get that it might not make sense, but hear me out.
Benefits of Eating Chocolate Daily
1 – It tastes delicious.
This point doesn’t need much explanation. We know it tastes good!!
2 – It is packed with nutrients – delicious healthy fats and carbohydrates.
There is plenty of research to show the nutritional benefits of the cacao bean. Cacao is packed with antioxidants, magnesium, healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates. It is the seed of the cacao fruit which provides a good source of nutrients which our body can benefit from just like other seeds and fruits such as cashew nuts.
3 – It is good for mental health.
This is the main point I want you to take away from this article, let’s dive a little deeper…
When we deny ourselves something it makes us want it more. We create a very unhealthy relationship, which creates binging and deprivation. We get into a cycle of all or nothing which for long term health is not healthy at all. First it creates an unhealthy mindset towards food and the body, secondly to binge on a food when you do allow yourself to eat it is not healthy for the gut or overall health of the body. So if having a little chocolate everyday prevents you from binging further down the line, then this can be the best way to create a healthy relationship with the mind, body and mentality towards a certain food, in this instance chocolate. What this means is if having a couple of pieces of delicious chocolate everyday helps you to understand that you can have chocolate then in time your mind will realise it is ok to eat it. Your relationship with that food will get better and you won’t feel the need to binge and deprive. Overtime it will help you to get out of that cycle of seeing it as a good or bad food, instead it is just food.
Exposure Therapy
Call it ‘exposure therapy’. The more you get used to adding it in everyday the more you will see it as normal and so you will let go of that intense hold over it. It will become normal just like eating a banana, having a salad, having breakfast and drinking a glass of water.
What I am not suggesting is eating a tonne of chocolate everyday. What I am suggesting is adding a little in everyday. By doing this it will help you to stop fearing chocolate. Add a little at breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snack…whenever! You won’t crave it, instead you will simply enjoy it. This may become second nature for you in a week, or it may take many months of trial and error, but if you need to get out of the all or nothing, binge and deprive cycle of chocolate then give this therapy tip a go.
As a vegan I would only recommend dark chocolate that has no milk added, or if it is a ‘milk’ chocolate then a non-dairy option. Whether you’re vegan or not, choose your vices mindfully and pick better quality chocolate. This is where point number 2 comes into play – packed with nutrients. Choosing a good quality dark chocolate is going to be packed with healthier fats and carbohydrates compared to a dairy milk chocolate which is loaded with sugar and dairy.
Overcome that chocolate fear by adding a few pieces of dark chocolate with breakfast, this may help you to stop craving it all day and then binging on a large bar in the evening. It may help to rid those urges and learn to enjoy it as a ‘normal’ food like apples.
At the end of the day, there’s always time for chocolate without feeling scared of it. Because in all honesty, it tastes amazing.