Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate

bodbuds
Feb 13, 2015
4 min read

Dear Body Buddies,

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope each of you have been spoiled this week, but haven’t spoiled your progress with a bunch of the seasonal candies and treats. I’m actually here to teach you how you can still indulge for Valentines and not have it halt your progress!

The answer is dark chocolate.

I’m sure most of you have heard that dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate, but don’t know why! I’m going to explain to you the differences between the two, yummy chocolates, show you all the amazing benefits of dark chocolate, and teach you how to incorporate it into The Power Foods LifestyleTM.

Let’s go over the ingredients first:

Both dark and milk chocolate contain the superfood cocoa. Cocoa is rich in flavenoids, epicatechins, and procyanidins- they act as antioxidants in the body. As you would have guessed; dark chocolate has more cocoa in it than milk chocolate. Along with cocoa, dark chocolate contains a small amount of sugar, vanilla, cocoa liquor, and cocoa butter. Milk chocolate contains these ingredients plus more sugar and of course, milk.

Because of the presence of cocoa, milk chocolate does contain antioxidants but in very small amounts. The bad news is you might not be able to reap the benefits from them due to its milk content. Milk acts as a binding agent and actually binds to the flavenoids, making them unavailable to your body.

Other minerals contained in cocoa and dark chocolate are iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. Dark chocolate also contains a small amount of fiber.

What are the benefits of the antioxidants found in cocoa?

The flavenoids in cocoa and dark chocolate can help improve blood flow by causing the arteries to relax and therefore decreasing the pressure that blood puts on them. This essentially could help lower blood pressure. Cocoa has also been shown to increase HDL (good cholesterol) levels and lower LDL levels (bad cholesterol). High LDL levels are a risk factor for heart disease.

Flavenoids also increase production of nitric oxide which has been shown to decrease insulin resistance and sensitivity. Both of which are risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. Crazy enough, flavenoids may also be great for your skin! They can help protect against sun damage, increase blood flow to the skin, and improve skin’s hydration and density. Not only do flavenoids improve blood flow to the skin, but they also increase blood flow to the brain which can improve brain function!

How does dark chocolate fit into The Power Foods Lifestyle TM ?!

First of all, you need to buy dark chocolate that has 70% or more cocoa (often spelled cacao). The higher the percentage the better! Also, don’t be afraid to look at the nutrition content and ingredient list. Make sure the dark chocolate is made with cocoa butter and not hydrogenated oils. The good fats that come from cocoa butter are mainly saturated and monounsaturated. Since dark chocolate contains good fats, it can help reduce cravings and increase feelings of satiety! Not only does that help you stick to the healthy portion suggested, but also to your meal plan too!

Also make sure you look at the sugar content and that it has no more than 5g of sugar per serving. Most dark chocolate doesn’t have loads of sugar in it, so you should be safe!

If you are either a PFL veteran or new to this lifestyle, I bet you could tell me which macro category dark chocolate falls under. We are definitely going to count dark chocolate as a fat! Its macro profile is mainly a fat and is a healthy fat! You can incorporate dark chocolate into a PVF (Protein-Veggie-Fat) meal. Make sure your serving size has no more than the peak range of 8-12g of fat in it; this is usually 1oz of dark chocolate or one square. All you would need to do from there is add a power protein and a power vegetable to it to complete your PVF meal.

An example of a PVF meal with dark chocolate would be:

1 oz dark chocolate (I suggest 85-90% cacao)

3 oz turkey breast

½ medium cucumber

There are also a few yummy PFL recipes that include dark cocoa powder- Body Buddies Fudge Cups and Chocolate Blueberry Pudding. You can reap all the amazing benefits from the cocoa in those yummy recipes!

I hope you have an amazing Valentine’s Day and feel more at ease knowing you can still indulge in some chocolate guilt-free…dark chocolate that is. And if you can’t say 'no' to the milk chocolate, have a protein shake with it to help stabilize your blood sugar or have it as part of your indulgence meal! There are many different ways to incorporate chocolate into your plan-this is a lifestyle, not a diet!

Stay strong, Body Buddies! It’s not always easy, but it is so worth it in the long-run for your health and happiness! I’m here cheering you on!

Love your bud,