Ode to Chocolate

Chocolate delays reality. When I am eating chocolate, everything is on hold: anxiety, panic, frustrations, and insecurity. Chocolate offers a profound richness, a sweetness of life, a euphoric sensation of luxury. I love chocolate in many forms, from M&M's, to imported Lindt balls, to dark fudge frosting in a pop-top can, to Hershey's dark chocolate bite-sized morsels.

It is difficult to eat only a little chocolate. I cheat myself when I chew it up quickly and swallow it like other food. To eat chocolate correctly, one must let it melt in the mouth with eyes closed, feeling the tasty, thick smooth velvet coat the tongue. It is also difficult to eat really good chocolate silently. I usually purr a long ummmmmmm of feminine satisfaction when enjoying such a pleasure.

I have strategies to keep from eating chocolate. I meditate after lunch, enjoying the sweetness of life without calories, I brush my teeth after drinking my afternoon coffee, and I give chocolate away to my mother so that it's not in the house. But it comes back as gifts from other sources, knowing that it is loved and cherished in my presence.

My daughter loves chocolate, too. A hereditary trait, I guess. Sometimes my mother and my daughter and I enjoy chocolate together, a female bonding of sensuous gratification.

We give each other gifts of Easter Bunnies, Christmas balls, and Valentine confections, then share our blessed bounty with each other. We hide it from other family members, and never apologize for succumbing to such greedy decadence. We have trained the men in our lives to buy it for us as well by expressing our enjoyment and satisfaction as lip-smacking, vocalized bliss. It's as if we permit our chocolate gift givers to be voyeurs of our pleasure.

I have a girl friend who refers to chocolate as the fourth basic food group. She eats it publicly, in front of people, instead of holding private chocolate sessions where no one can count bites or pieces. Self-righteous jailers they are, those indignant souls who reprimand us. Sometimes it is us, ourselves, our split personalities loving and hating our obsession. My sister-in-law denies her children from chocolates' evil influence, but yields personally to its entrapment. Chocolate calls her name, beckoning her in a trance- like state to follow its' seductive aroma to the kitchen. I know that aroma well, it cannot be contained in a cardboard box, a foil wrapper, or an insulated refrigerator.

Sometimes I eat chocolate to wake me up, or to keep on working when I want to stop and take a nap. Much preferred to a carrot on a stick. A self-imposed bribe to keep pushing. Of course, this bribe has negative consequences when my jeans don't fasten.

I suppose the alligator here is the addiction. But addiction to what? Chocolate? Or pushing to achieve? What a shame that my time is spent in activities that don't burn calories. Striving, planning, dreaming, persisting, setting boundaries, checking off chores, reviewing goals, paying bills.

I refuse to give up chocolate. I know women who have. Women committed to thin. I'm committed to enjoying my life. I have accepted other limitations, and I refuse other desserts, bread, and wine during the week. But chocolate has its place.

Chocolate Is Good For You!

Great news on the chocolate front! Chocolate is good for you. Under certain circumstances.

Katherine Tallmadge, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, says, in the February 9, 2005, WASHINGTON POST, that "cacao, or cocoa beans, contain 'flavanols,' naturally occurring plant compounds also found in tea, red wine, and apples. Their properties have been studied as heart disease inhibitors."

Carl L. Keen, chair of the department of nutrition at University of California, Davis, states in the same article that "the flavanols in cocoa help maintain a healthy vascular system. They reduce blood clotting -- an aspirin like effect -- reduce oxidative damage and improve blood flow."

Unfortunately the flavanols in chocolate are bitter and are mostly removed from processed chocolate. The level decreases with each step, from the bean to the cocoa powder, and ultimately to a finished product. But big manufacturers like Nestle and Mars Inc.(producers of M&Ms) are working on chocolate items that are -- what else? -- good for you. We can soon expect chocolate bars and candies that advertise their high level of flavanols. In the meantime, the only product that states its flavanol level is Mars' Dove Dark Chocolate, which has 150 mg. in 1.3 oz., a high level. It also has 200 calories. We live in an imperfect world.

While we're waiting for more high-flavanol products, Ms. Tallmadge recommends unsweetened cocoa powder, but not the alkalized "Dutch processed" kind, which has had its flavanols reduced. Next in desirability is semisweet or bittersweet chocolate with a high cocoa percentage. Some chocolates contain as much as 70 percent cocoa, but they can have as little as 35 percent. The percent of cocoa in milk chocolate can be even lower, and she does not recommend it. She says, "I recommend cocoa or an ounce per day of dark chocolate, which may be about 110 to 150 calories, depending on the chocolate. Any more than that and you're probably going to take in too many calories for weight control."

Do you have any idea of what you just read? A highly qualified nutrition professional is RECOMMENDING that you eat chocolate! Maybe not large quantities of chocolate, but chocolate. If you have suffered much in the area of chocolate, you may want to enlarge that statement and post it on your bathroom mirror, where it can cheer you on rainy mornings.

Now comes the chocolate frosting on the cake. Deanna K. reports: "The Diabetic Educator told me about CARBOLITE, a 1.1 oz. low carb chocolate bar made with Splenda, containing 0 sugar carbs, 15-18g carbohydrates, depending on flavor. On Google type in 'Carbolite'for more information."

Deanna continues, "The other chocolate bar that I think is acceptable is Amber Lyn Chocolates (fine imported Belgian chocolate), sugar free and carb conscious. A little higher in calories than Carbolite, the 1.2 oz bar has 15-16g carbs. For nutrition information visit http://www.amberlynchocolates.com." The dark chocolate bars have 157 calories.

Flavanols are not listed, but these dark chocolates are a good bet for that HEALTHFUL piece of chocolate it is your DUTY to eat regularly. And soon, no doubt, manufacturers will begin to formulate their candies to be high in flavanols -- and say so.