It’s really hard to understand that eating chocolate is sometimes okay for you. Does that mean that you can have 12 chocolate chip cookies for dessert? Or a bag of m&m’s for a mid-day snack every day? Noooo! What it does mean is that the occasional treat CAN be healthy for you (antioxidants) but only if you choose wisely.

What it boils down to is picking a high concentration of cacao (70% or higher), no milk (sorry, but it makes the chocolate completely devoid of nutritional value), and cocoa butter instead of hydrogenated oils. Cacao nibs help too - not just because of their high chocolate concentration, but they give a nice little crunch and texture to the chocolate.

I grabbed this table from SparkPeople, and think it’s a great way to help remember when it’s okay to eat chocolate.

Now before you start complaining about how “bitter” 70% chocolate is, understand that it really does take building up your taste for it. There’s no way you’re going to go out there and buy a 70% bar right now and eat even a tiny piece with joy, much less the whole thing. So here are some ways to use dark chocolate so that you get used to it gradually.

• Remember that any more than one ounce a day is likely too much. So don’t go thinking you need to eat a whole bar, but rather build yourself up to eating an ounce by breaking the chocolate up into very small pieces.
• Bite once, and let it melt. Yep, you saw them say that in the Hershey’s Special Dark commercials, “You can’t chew it!” but it’s really true. By letting it melt in your mouth, you get to experience the natural sweetness (much different than sugared milky chocolate, but still good) and get the true chocolate flavor.
• Try plopping a square into your coffee, but only if you’re not a cream or milk user. Again, milk absolutely eliminates the antioxidant properties, but try an extra pack of Equal or Splenda and a square of dark chocolate for a special treat (coffee has antioxidants too). Or you could do like the Aztecs did (sort of) and plop it into some hot water and drink it. (I personally haven’t tried that one… yet.)

Here are some great chocolates that fit most or all of the above criteria. Be forewarned, they’re not like the $0.89 bars you’ll grab at the market, so you’re likely to pay four to ten times that amount for a good bar. But a good bar will last you more than a week if you can keep your desires in check!

Chocolat Bonnat Bars
Lindt Excellence (you MIGHT find this one in Lindt shops, but you can order it from Amazon)
Chocovic
Michel Cluizel Noir au Grue de Cacao
Galler Noir Extreme
Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate
Valrhona (Make sure you buy only the dark if you’re eating it for health!)

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