Anyone who has ever been successful on an eating plan or diet will tell you that the key to keeping it up is letting yourself cheat every now and again and if you are going to stray off the Paleo path in search of something sweet then perhaps your best choice should be dark chocolate.
The basic principal of the Paleo diet is not to eat ANYTHING that has been processed and while for the most part it is possible to stick to this mantra, sometimes you wander slightly into the area of food that has been processed but is not quite so bad for us – like dark chocolate.
We all know that chocolate is bad for us and pretty much any diet you have ever been on will at the very least restrict the amount of the delicious dark stuff you are able to eat if you want to see results.
Is Dark Chocolate Paleo?
And yes, it is true, dark chocolate is not strictly a Paleo food because it contains sugar, dairy and is processed but why this one needs to be in it’s own special category is that dark chocolate actually has some really good properties to it that any Paleo fan would be happy to champion.
The key with chocolate is to make sure you pick the right type of chocolate that fits in as closely as possible with the Paleo plan.
The Paleo Dark Chocolate Middle Ground
When we talk about dark chocolate, this is chocolate that is not only dark in color but is also high in cocoa – we are talking over 60% at a minimum and as close to 100% as possible (I have found that the 85% dark chocolate suits my taste buds best).
It is also important to consider the amount of chocolate you are eating and moderation id the word for this one – don’t sit down and scoff a whole pack of dark chocolate in one sitting – you will probably find that you actually can’t after being Paleo for a while because it will simply taste too rich and sweet to eat more than a couple of pieces at a time. Try to aim for no more than a couple of squares after a meal and not every night so that you don’t start to crave sugars or suffer from insulin spikes.
So dark chocolate is not really a Paleo food but remember it does have a lot of very positive properties including its properties which eat up free radicals in the body to help ward of heart disease and eye problems and cocoa being one of the best antioxidants around.
So eat really dark chocolate, in moderation – for a sweet treat without so much of the guilt!
