subject: How To Buy Chocolate [print this page] Are you thinking about buying some delicious chocolate to splurge on this weekend with your loved one? Perhaps you will purchase a box of chocolates for someone you care about or even make some romantic chocolate-covered strawberries. Do your children always attack the selection of chocolate bars at the grocery store checkout counter? It is so difficult to say no when you see their sparkling little eyes look up at you with anticipation, Pwease? Well, Ive got good news for chocolate lovers everywhere. Eat it- just not that kind!
Chocolate is beyond delicious when it is made from organic ingredients, especially dark chocolate. Im not talking about Dove and Hershey because we all know that these have chemicals and are what I refer to as junk bars. They are trash- science experiments. It is okay to say no to your child when they ask for Snickers bars and M & Ms because all you need to do is tell them that they can have chocolate- just not that kind. What about your loved one who eagerly awaits for you to make those chocolate-covered strawberries she loves so much that you usually make with melted chocolate chips or Hershey bars? She will certainly not be disappointed when you go out of your way to use pure organic chocolate. Her special gourmet treat will taste better than any other.
Okay, so youre probably wondering where you can find this chocolate and youre probably assuming its a big secret and can only be purchased at a high price online but this is not the case. Organic chocolate can be found right in your grocery store and for a reasonable price. You can also find many different varieties at your local health food store. Other great chocolate products can be found at your nutrition store as well, like organic cocoa and liquid cocoa. Why do nutrition stores carry chocolate and cocoa? You guessed it, because they are good for you!
There are many associations that come to mind when we hear the word chocolate. Some examples may be bad, fattening or forbidden. Some may think of chocolate that way and others may associate it with warmth, childhood, fun or an escape. However you think of chocolate, you may look at it in a new light now that you know its good for you. Consume everything in moderation of course. You still dont want to eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner as tempting as it may be.
Where do organic chocolate and cocoa come from? First and foremost, you might be surprised and delighted to learn that cocoa is a nut or the seed in the very heart of a fruit. Thats right, and it has much more nutritional value than some of the healthiest fruits. Cocoa is found on trees in the rainforests of Malaysia, Africa and South America. It is cut free from its fruit and left out in the sun. Dark chocolate is made from cocoa beans and the natural cocoa butter taken from its surrounding pod. The creaminess of the cocoa butter is what makes the dark chocolate feel like silk in your mouth.
How are organic cocoa and dark chocolate different from the usual ones that you buy at the grocery store? Just read the ingredients and compare these two and you will see the clear choice. Here is an example:
Dove Dark Chocolate Promises:
Ingredients: (Semisweet Chocolate) Sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors.
Equal Exchange Organic Very Dark Chocolate
Ingredients: Organic chocolate liquor, organic raw cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic unrefined whole cane sugar, organic ground vanilla beans. There could also be traces of milk and nuts.
Cocoa beans lose the very essence of what makes them beneficial in the first place when they are processed with alkali. This includes antioxidants and flavonoids that do wonders for the body. Organic unrefined whole cane sugar is much healthier than regular sugar. Your average sugar was once natural before it was processed until everything good about it was stripped down to nothing. Your average sugar is hardly sugar at all but pure sucrose. Organic unrefined whole cane sugar is exactly what it claims to be- sugar that is taken from the cane and dried out, containing all its original nutritional value.
Soy lethicin is an emulsifier that is basically a synthetic chemical used to separate oils. It is the remains that are found once the crude oil is extracted from a soybean. Its consistency ranges from gummy to a solid form. It is usually bleached to rid of its reddish brown color into a more pleasing hue of light yellow and could contain pesticides. Who wants to consume such a thing? This additive is in almost every one of the chocolate bars you find at your grocers checkout counter! I think of this when my child asks me for a candy bar at the store.
Natural and artificial flavors sounds fairly safe and are in most of the food that many people eat every day. The problem is that these two ingredients could be just about anything and they are hardly ever itemized. Artificial flavors are a mix of chemicals made to mimic the flavor of something else, like chocolate. Natural flavors are a mix of natural chemicals found in food that add flavor.
I think of it this way: Some of the ingredients in non-organic chocolate were real at one point. Every ounce of nutritional value was then destroyed during processing and extra man-made chemicals were added. These additives changed the flavor of what was once food, so they needed to go back to work and put the food flavor back in with a few more chemicals. What is left is toxic. Id rather go with the pure, untainted and delicious pure version. If Im going to eat chocolate, I want it to be chocolate that Im eating.
Here are the many benefits of consuming pure organic cocoa and dark chocolate (I think you will be very pleased):
Builds the strength of your hair and nails and beautifies your skin
Reduces risk of heart attack, blood clots and stroke
Increases the functioning of your pancreas
Detoxifies the liver
Contains dopamine, seratonin and MAO inhibitors that assist brain function.
Helps concentration
Protects against diabetes
Helps postpone dimentia
Suppresses appetite to aid in weight loss
Raises good cholesterol
Helps prevent hardening of arteries (Great for smokers)
Now you know what to look for when you buy chocolate and Im sure youll enjoy it so much more knowing its benefits. In closing I will leave you a list of movies with chocolate in the title in case you would like some sweet entertainment to go with your treats this weekend. Have a delectable time!
Chocolat *
Like Water for Chocolate
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
In Search of the Heart of Chocolate
Check out the premium channels offered by DISH Network satellite television for more great movies.
