Hershey’s. M&M’s. Reese’s. Butterfinger. Snickers. Kit Kat. Milky Way. Twix.
It’s chocolate. Caramel and peanut butter covered in chocolate. Nuts covered in chocolate.
Wikipedia.org lists 281 brands of chocolate bars, not to mention all the varieties each brand offers.
And they’ve teamed up against you. You try to shield your eyes as you pay for groceries; after all, you just came in to get a gallon of milk and some fruit. They’re at the gas station, too, and in the break room — sometimes even on your desk.
Why is chocolate so popular, so hard to get away from?
“[W]e eat chocolate so we release and experience pleasure and so as a result, we crave chocolate,” Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington in Seattle, said on CNN.com. “We want chocolate in times of stress, anxiety, pain and so on. Chocolate is a natural analgesic, or [painkiller].”
So what’s the best way to cope with what for many is such a strong temptation?
– Decide if it’s worth it.
Web sites like calorie-count.com can help you put a number on that candy bar that’s calling your name from the office candy bowl.
For instance, pecking away at a half a cup of plain M&M’s during the day racks up about 500 calories. Make it a whole cup and it’s topping 1,000.
The Web site also lists different exercises and the foods equivalent to the calories burned while doing them. To burn off that innocent cup of M&M’s, you’re talking more than two hours of jogging.
With this online tool, you can put a price tag on that craving and make the call accordingly.
– Choose chocolate in its most nutritious form.
It can be good for you — it really can, said Liz Applegate, Ph.D.
“Research indicates that flavanols, the compounds found in cocoa, have antioxidant properties that help mop up the damage done by free radicals,” Applegate said in Runner’s World magazine. “These same compounds also relax artery walls and keep blood platelets from sticking to your arteries, thus reducing your chance of heart disease.”
But the key is to eat a small amount, as well as make sure what you do eat is nutrient-dense, she said.
“The amount of cocoa (in chocolate) can vary from 10 percent to as high as 94. Generally the more cocoa, the more flavanols, although processing methods can lower flavanol levels,” Applegate said. “Aim for a bar with a minimum of 35 percent cocoa.”
Also check the label to make sure it doesn’t list vegetable oil or hydrogenated oil as ingredients, she explained. “Quality chocolate is made with cocoa butter and milk fat.”
Dove Rich Dark, Cadbury Royal Dark and Scharffen Berger are three chocolate bars you can love guilt-free, she said.
– Feed the need for chocolate — in moderation.
Drewnowski said you can’t stop the desire for chocolate altogether.
“Having chocolate cravings is something that’s induced by stress and probably is governed by body chemistry — so it’s not something you can control,” he said. “They only become a problem when the amount consumed is too big.”
About a third of a candy bar or two Hershey’s Kisses are all that’s needed to curb cravings, he said.
– When you can’t fight the urge, try subbing other things to curb the cravings.
Everyone who tries to lose weight tries to ignore sugar cravings, but when you just can’t, try a “mini dessert” to help cut the urge back down to size, said Erin Rogers, founder of Health-E-Meals.com.
“Denying oneself all things sweet can turn into a disaster when willpower runs out,” she said.
Rogers offered these as possible craving cutters — one reduced-fat fudgesicle; fresh berries with a pinch of sugar and low-fat, nondairy creamer; a snack-size cup of fat-free pudding; or a slice of angel food cake with sliced fresh berries and light whipped topping. (TAB)
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