Chocolate

Chocolate quality really matters

There is quite a difference between high cocoa content, real, chocolate and the ultra-processed sweet stuff that is sold in the typical supermarket here in the UK. Most mass produced chocolate is not healthy, often mainly sugar in disguise. If you look at the ingredients of a typical UK chocolate bar you will see a range of emulsifiers and additives that are put in to make highly processed and pulverised cocoa beans palatable and add back in flavour. These products are produced at scale to maximise profit margins.

Take a look at the ingredients list and if the first item isn’t some sort of cocoa then the ‘chocolate’ bar you are holding isn’t chocolate. 

I buy my chocolate from Cocoa Runners, who sell craft chocolate from around the world where every step in the process is done with care to protect the flavour and integrity of the product. I buy bars of chocolate in place of Easter eggs for my children and you can find out more about the company and their wonderful chocolate bars on their website: cocoarunners.com

Dark chocolate contains polyphenols that feed your gut bacteria

I also recommend a short but fascinating podcast from Zoe, of the Zoe Covid App fame, with Spencer Hyman who set up Cocoa Runners busting a few myths about chocolate: podcast-dark-chocolate

So proper chocolate doesn’t cause acne, it isn’t high in caffeine, it doesn’t cause migraines and your gut bacteria like the polyphenols and other nutrients found in cocoa. But you do need to be eating good quality chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids and a very short ingredient list to get the benefits and avoid any potential issues.  

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ingredients:

• Milk, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats (Palm, Shea), Emulsifiers (E442, E476), Flavourings

• Cocoa Solids 20 % minimum – 56g sugar per 100g 

Cocoa Runners 75% dark chocolate with cocoa nibs ingredients:

• Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Nibs, Cocoa Butter

• Cocoa Solids 75% minimum – 25g sugar per 100g 

I would also avoid chocolate with vanilla, which sounds pretty natural, but is added to try and get some flavour back in.

Savour don’t scoff your chocolate!

This is certainly much easier to do when it is the dark, quality variety and craft, single source chocolate bars each have their own flavour profiles. You can even get tasting notes, like with wine, from Cocoa Runners! 

A little bit of good dark chocolate can be good for you, and your gut, if you can stick to a few squares and is one of the best choices for a little something ‘sweet’ that many of us crave after a meal often driven by childhood meals and behaviours. And this type of chocolate isn’t addictive – it is the sugar in mass produced confectionary that is the culprit.  

So some chocolate bars can be included in a healthy diet but most of the well-known, widely available, products aren’t really chocolate at all and are not good for us.

Like most things food related it is better to pay a little more and eat a little less.

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