So who out there doen’t like the taste of chocolate??? If not, then stop reading this now and go eat some kale instead 🙂

Now when Im talking about chocolate, the rule I like to use is “the closer to the real bean the better for you”. So before reaching for Mr Mars Bar you should ensure that he has a cacao content above 70% and lacks the gooey belly of caramel.

Now here are my reasons why I believe Chocolate should stay in our diet’s forever.

1. Science tells us that chocolate comes from cacao, which comes from a tree. A tree is a plant. Therefore that makes chocolate a salad, and I don’t know about you, but my mum abd dad always told me I had to eat my salad.

2. Antioxidant rich diets have been linked to many health benefits such as lowering your risk or heart attacks, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol and so on. When it comes to antioxidants, chocolate rocks the socks off most other antioxidant rich products such as red wine, green tea and blueberries.

3. Chocolate releases feel good hormones called endorphins and as we all know, that happiness is something we all strive to be each and every day.

4. Because no one likes to be told they “shouldnt be eating that”, especailly if that thing is chocolate. We are all human and we all need to curb that craving at times or daily to make us a better person.

5. Magnesium…. Anyone have trouble sleeping? Are you bothered with cramps? What about muscle twitches under the eye? Been a bit edgy lately? Feeling the effects of stress? Well all these symptoms could be related to a magnesium deficiency. Alot of us are magnesium deficient as the soils our food is grown in these days are notoriously deficient in magnesium. We also tend to burn up magnesium, particularly when tired, stressed or nervous.
Magnesium is essential to every cell in our body and the formal recommendations for adult women is 310-320 mgm/day and adult men 400-420mgm/day. So hence why we may have chocolate cravings form time to time as cacao is rich in magnesium, therefore go with your cravings and fill your body with the magnesium it is desperately needing.

So there are my 5 reasons. With me my chocolate cravings are especially high before that time of the month, so I always stock up with some delicious healthy chocolate at that time as my body feels so much better for it. It is known to reduce PMS symptoms and hormonal acne too.

I love making fresh cacao nut balls for myself and my family to fulfill our chocolate cravings and I (and my children) are also loving this dark hot chocolate mix made by the “Healthy Chef” which has no added sugar, chemicals, synthetics, artificial flavours or fillers, is dairy free, soy free, gluten free, vegan and purely delicious.