Health & Fitness

Chocolate: Kicking Cocoa for Good

If you’re prone to consuming chocolate on a daily basis, it can be quite easy to become addicted – particularly if you have a sweet tooth and you’re in an environment that facilitates your habit.  Although there are some health benefits to consuming chocolate, if you eat it on a regular basis, you’re more than likely to suffer the food’s adverse effects, such as heightening your chances of diabetes and obesity.  Therefore, learning to quit your chocolate habit could be a great way to be healthier overall.  Here are some ways to kick cocoa for good.

Quitting the chocolate habit

Go Dark

Your first step to quitting chocolate should be to swap the kinds of chocolate you’re consuming. If you’re not already a fan of dark chocolate, now’s the time to try it.  White chocolate has the most sugar in it, followed by milk and then dark, so if you’re looking to still get that chocolaty kick without all of the adverse effects, swapping your daily bar of white chocolate for a couple of pieces of dark could be a good place to start.  A good tip is to start with a low percentage dark chocolate, as a 70 percent or higher cocoa concentration could potentially taste bitter and therefore unappealing.

Cold Turkey Is Never the Answer

Switching your consumption from white or milk chocolate to dark is a workable strategy because you’re not denying yourself the treat that you love.  Instead, you’re simply swapping it out for a healthier alternative.  If you try to cut chocolate out altogether, you’ll likely find yourself binging on it at unpredictable intervals, which could have serious health implications. If you get the taste for dark chocolate, why not go straight to the source with raw cacao, provided by suppliers such as Indigo Herbs.

Hydrate Yourself and Provide Other Options

It’s a well-known fact that the brain regularly confuses the urge for sweet food for the need to hydrate.  Therefore, before you give yourself that chocolate fix, you should first drink a glass of water and wait a minute or two – you might find that you don’t need your sugary fix after all. If you’re still hungry, try eating a healthier snack such as nuts or fruit before you go in for the chocolate – it’s about exhausting all viable options before you turn to chocolate.

Ultimately, there are a number of ways to stop quit your chocolate habit, so take action today and you’ll soon be able to see the fruits of your labour.