Dear Fellow Chocoholics,
Chocolate, in small amounts, can be good for you. But how do you know you're really eating pure chocolate? Could you in fact be consuming an adulterated knockoff?
The truth is, most of the chocolate America eats is what I call "chocolate in disguise." Why? Because chocolate Hershey's Kisses, Milky Way and many bars out there are mostly made of white sugar, milk solids and very little chocolate -- as little as 10 percent in some cases! Dark chocolate, the healthier kind, can contain as little as 35 percent. Eating chocolate this way can make you gain weight, increase cravings, desensitize your taste buds and lead to a dysfunctional relationship with this divine dessert.
Here I introduce my "3-Day Chocolate Reset" to help you eat chocolate as close to its whole food origins as possible. I teach this simple, revolutionary tool to assist people in learning what pure chocolate really is, helping them change their cravings, balance their taste buds and eat more mindfully in the process. I know that if you taste the real thing, you'll find it hard to go back to low-quality chocolate. And you'll enjoy your chocolate treats in surprisingly smaller portions. You'll also experience richer flavor profiles while obtaining the maximum health benefits from low glycemic, nutrient-rich cocoa (or cacao), the basic ingredient of chocolate. Best of all, this "reset" isn't about restriction, it's about enjoyment!
Let's get started! Here's how my Reset is designed:
Part 1: What is Chocolate?
Let's start by understanding that the basics of chocolate come from a plant. The Theobroma cacao tree bears fruit (pods) from which cacao (or cocoa) beans are derived. These beans are fermented, dried, usually roasted and then crushed into nibs. These nibs are then ground into something called cocoa mass, and then might be liquefied. At this stage, almost no processing has taken place, and if you were to add a sweetener like raw cane sugar, vanilla or spices you'd create chocolate in it's most pure form. This is similar to how chocolate was consumed by the Aztecs, before the bean was discovered by the Spanish in the 16th century. And in this state is where you'll taste and discover what unadulterated chocolate actually tastes like! You'd also get the greatest nutritional benefits if you ate it in this unprocessed form.
But mass-produced chocolate by companies like Nestle require several more processing steps. From a liquid, it is processed into two parts: cocoa solids (sold as cocoa powder) and cocoa butter. These parts are then combined with large amounts of refined white sugar, milk fat and various additives -- amounts so high that the actual cocoa in the chocolate is overshadowed.
The numbers are eye-opening. According to the FDA, most mass-produced chocolate (sweet chocolate) requires only 15 percent of cocoa parts. White chocolate requires only 10 percent. And semisweet/bitter/dark chocolate requires only 35 percent. So that leaves us with the fact that roughly 65 percent of commercial chocolate consists of either sugar, milk and/or additives.
Here's the ingredient label of a well-known milk chocolate bar. As you can see, sugar is the first ingredient listed:
Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, lactose, skim milk, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor)
Part 2: Choosing Pure Chocolate
Now that you know how little cocoa there is in everyday chocolate, here are the tools you need to find the pure stuff:
1) Buy only "70 percent" dark chocolate and higher.
The first rule is to pick solid chocolate confections that are made mainly of cocoa, and little else. The highest quality, purest kind of chocolate is usually made up of no more than four to five ingredients: 1) cocoa butter, 2) cocoa solids or cocoa mass 3) sugar, 4) an emulsifier like soy lecithin, and 5) vanilla. No milk, no additives. Most labels will give you a percentage on the front. This percentage pertains to the combined amount of cocoa butter and cocoa solids. If the label doesn't give you a percentage, even though it says "dark chocolate," don't pick it up! The higher the percentage (ex. 80 percent or 90 percent), the more antioxidants, the less sugar and most importantly, the more rich and intense the chocolate flavor. And never buy a bar if sugar is the first ingredient. It should be listed last, or close to last.
2) Choose nibs.
Cocoa nibs are as pure as you can get when it comes to tasting the whole cocoa bean. Nibs are simply the cocoa bean, roasted, dried and crushed into tiny pieces. You can find nibs at places like Whole Foods and on my Shop. I like the Navitas Naturals brand. Their package will last you a very long time. You can also find nibs that come sweetened with a small amount of cane sugar.
3) Choose cacao powder.
Not quite as whole-food based as nibs, cocoa powder usually involves two further steps after the beans are crushed -- they're liquefied, then processed using a press to squeeze out the butter. What remains are the cocoa solids, that are then transformed into powder. So if you're using cocoa powder to make chocolate milk for example, your drink won't contain any cocoa butter. The benefit to experiencing pure cocoa powder is that most of the antioxidants from cocoa beans are found in this part, not in the butter!
Part 3: Start Your 3-Day Reset!
Now that you know some common forms of pure cocoa, start eating it! Over a consecutive 3-day period, only eat from the list below. Substitute your chocolate tastings for your daily dessert, so your taste buds can fully acclimate to pure chocolate treats and not get confused by other sugary dessert foods. Over this reset, you will discover a new, gloriously rich chocolate flavor that isn't masked by sugar and milk. You'll tame your taste buds and prevent them from getting over-stimulated by mountains of refined sugar. Indulge in one to two portions of the following per day:
Dessert Choice #1: Square chocolate pieces from a 70 percent cocoa or higher solid bar
Have a 1 ½ inch square piece of a 70 percent cocoa or higher, solid chocolate bar as your dessert. Read the ingredient list, keeping in mind the notes from above. I like bars from the Grenada Chocolate Company (http://www.grenadachocolate.com/), and Alter Eco's Dark Chocolate Blackout (http://shop.altereco-usa.com/Chocolate/c/AlterEco@Chocolate). But there are plenty of wonderful brands to choose from. You'll be dishing out about $4.00 for this kind of bar, but it will last you several days, so it's actually very cost effective.
Dessert Choice #2: Pooja's Basic Hot Chocolate
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons pure unsweetened cocoa (cacao) powder
2 teaspoons (or to taste) pure maple syrup
Procedure
1. In a heavy-bottomed small sauce pan, heat almond milk over low-medium heat.
2. Turn heat to low, add cocoa and syrup and gently mix together using a small whisk. Whisk until fully incorporated and slightly frothy. Pour and enjoy hot!
Dessert Choice #3: Pooja's Chocolate Snack Bowl
Yield: Approximately 2 servings
Ingredients
2/3 cup frozen organic raspberries
4 teaspoons pure maple syrup
6 tablespoons (3 oz) old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons cocoa (cacao) nibs
Procedure
1. In a heavy-bottomed small sauce pan, heat raspberries until mixture melts into a thick sauce, stirring gently over low heat. Stir in syrup. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Lightly toast oats using a fry pan over low-medium heat, about 3 minutes, or until oats turn slightly light brown at edges. Remove from heat.
3. Using two small ramekins (or equivalent), plate dessert by pouring in 3 tablespoons of oats into each ramekin, then adding 1 tablespoon of nibs as a second layer, finishing by pouring 2 to 3 tablespoons of warm sauce over the top. Enjoy with a spoon, stirring before the first bite to experience all flavors at once!
Results
Congratulations! At the end of these three days, you'll have learned what most people never get to experience: what true chocolate really tastes like! You'll have a strong knowledge of what chocolates have been "spiked" (or "disguised" by artificial and processed ingredients like sugar and milkfat), and how to avoid them when you want to. You'll have helped to partially reset your taste buds in the process and significantly lessened your cravings for commercial chocolate. If you continue eating chocolate this way, you'll build a deeper appreciation for this powerhouse plant-based food that has become so heavily processed since its ancient origins. Clients who have gone on this reset and have continued to implement these tools in their daily eating patterns have told me they now get "sugar rushes" from eating brand name candy bars. They don't even like the taste anymore!
If you're ready to change your health and your diet by staying true to whole foods-based eating, and wish to experience the lusciousness of real chocolate as its naturally meant to be eaten, you'll now have the knowledge and tools to do it for life! Viva cocoa!
Pooja Mottl, a Whole Food Chef, focuses on sustainable, whole-foods based cuisine. She is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. You can find all her latest recipes and "3-Day Resets" for a healthier life at Pooja's Way and on Facebook.
Recipes by Pooja Mottl © 2011 Pooja Mottl. All rights reserved.
Follow Pooja R. Mottl on Twitter: www.twitter.com/poojamottl
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: The Bittersweet Truth About Chocolate
John Robbins: Chocolate's Startling Health Benefits
Dr. Nicholas Perricone: How Sweet It Is: Good News About Chocolate and Cocoa
Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald: 7 Healthy Reasons To Enjoy Chocolate--Without the Guilt!
Tallying the Benefits of Chocolate - NYTimes.com
Heart-Health Benefits of Chocolate Unveiled
10 Health Benefits of Chocolate
Sweet Science: The Health Benefits of Chocolate | LiveScience
http://www.lifestyle-after50.com
http://www.newyorkchick365.blogspot.com
(Not original but I like it.)
Thanks for the recipes, though. I'm reaching for the chocolate right now :)
Most of the whole foods and organic types that have proliferated recently are taste-problematic -- too coarse, too bitter, too unmelty, and flavored with bizarre concoctions (bacon and chili, seriously?) I have been seriously disappointed with my experiments in this area, and our cupboard is full of good-looking but inedible chocolate bars that no one wants to touch.
So I'm sticking to true and tried Lindt brand, which somehow has managed to find the right balance of everything (especially its Intense Orange dark chocolate bar, mercifully available almost everywhere).
http://www.lindt.com/ca/swf/eng/products/new-products/passion-orange-pistachio/
Walmart has a surprisingly nice selection of chocolates. Who knew?
Personal opinion: Any bar that lasts several days probably doesn't taste very good.
Last night I made one of my favorite desserts.. tossed together roasted almonds, semi sweet chocolate chips and raisins. Our 11 year enjoyed it too... although he did pick out the raisins.
Best health always!
If you never have, try to find some single plantation or just single nation blends. If possible, several different locations done by the same chocolate maker, and try them in succession.