Chocolate and I may never be together again; an impossible thought I mean, I love chocolate, only good chocolate mind and the darker the better. It has to be smooth though not too bitter but with those deep undertones – and when I am feeling very naughty yes I do eat the milkier kind Galaxy and Green & Black’s Almond one.
But I don’t think I should be eating chocolate because it is bad for me, at least I think it is bad for me. Sometime ago now I read an amazing book on Depression called: Beating Stress Anxiety and Depression by Jane Plant and Janet Stephenson. In it there was a great discussion on controlling these three bug bears though nutrition.
So I took that on board. The most notable stimulant that increased anxiety and stress was caffeine so I cut it out. Caffeine occurs in all sorts of things and I successfully removed all coffee, tea and fizzy drinks such as Coke and Pepsi from my life. I also removed Dairy from my life because it clogged up the free movement of electrical pulses through my brain but there is always chocolate.
Chocolate contains only very small amounts of caffeine so technically I could use it as a very occasional treat on the caffeine side of things but on the dairy side there would be more problems. However, I am a resourceful person and I tracked down dairy free chocolate Moo Free and I still allowed myself dark chocolate: all should be well. But it is not.
Every time I start to eat a little bit of chocolate I get massive cravings to eat more and being a weak willed person I do and then it happens I turn into a monster and snarling snapping monster.
I thought at first it must be because I ate too much chocolate and was poisoning myself and then it dawned on me. It’s not the caffeine in chocolate nor is it the dairy in chocolate it’s the blooming sugar….
So I need to find a sugar free dairy free chocolate and guess what? They do one for all us chocoholics out there who can’t eat dairy or sugar: Plamil.
Now if this doesn’t work I really will know that chocolate and I will just have to part the ways…
12 comments:
Just wondering, having cut out these items, has there been a measurable decrease in any of your bug bears?
Still thinking about your predicament. Before you give up on Dark Chocolate, you might want to balance the percieved negative effects with some benefits.
It tastes good
It stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure.
It contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant
It lowers blood pressure.
Legend - Cutting out the caffeine has made me much more relaxed and I have not had a panic attack, which has to be good. Not as sure abiut eh Dairy side as I am not very good at keeping off it things sort of drift in such as pastry. The choc side is the one I find the most difficult because it does lift me so to speak so it is on emergency rations and only allowed as an extreme treat...I do think though that without all the other stuff the affect that sugar has on me is much stronger!
I get the occasional panic attack (and at the most inconvenient times)! Maybe, I should cut back on the caffeine?
I think they should make chocolate patches like those nicotine things you stick on you arm when you want to quit smoking. There's an awful lot of us choccy lovers about!
Between diabetes and a new need to eat ( fairly) low-fat foods , I don't eat much chocolate . But when I do , I like a smidgin of the very best , very darkest chocolate available .
I have to say , Broadberry's decadent Raw Chocolate , Organic Sugar and Dairy Free , wasn't the quite good enough . It had a weird texture . Maybe Plamil is better . It's always worth a try .
Spencer; Cutting out teh coffee worked for me and my skin is even lovlier now....
Mollygolver - what a brillaint idea but I suspect I'd want to eat them...
SmitoniusAndSonata - (whispering) they all taste awful only the best proper chocolate tastes well proper so I think I'll just have to live witht eh fact that I am limited to one square every blue moon.....
Sadly, Tattie, it's the sugar in the chocolate which causes the problem. Not the caffeine. A little bit of caffeine (in coffee or tea) is probably good — but in limited amounts.
Oh I do so hope it works for you.
As a sufferer of anxiety and depression... I wonder if I should give up chocolate too....what about the feel good factor of chocolate?? Love the idea of chocolate patches...
I'm always suspicious of sugar-free stuff, as it often has nasty-sounding things added in instead. But I clicked over to Plamil, and it looks ok.
This is a really nice post. I never knew there was a sugar free dairy free chocolate. And since I’m a chocoholic myself, I see no reason not to try it.
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