Are you still thinking about chocolate as a health food?

Are you still thinking about chocolate as a health food?

This isn't exactly news since it came to light a few years ago, but chocolate is not the healthy food it was proclaimed to be, for example, about five years ago.

Still, people seem to think it is - so they eat it and tell themselves it's good for them.

Why are they doing this? Well, they like it; it's easy to like.

Chocolate also seems to be an easy answer to various problems as it alters mood. Mood-altering chemicals include theobromine (similar to caffeine) and phenylethylamine (compared to the feeling of being in love). It also triggers endorphins (beta-endorphin) and serotonin, two brain chemicals linked to mood.

Have you been caught in the chocolate trap?

I wasn't and here's why.

Chocolate - even more than 70 percent dark chocolate - contains sugar, and I am fiercely anti-sugar. In fact, I have been against sugar for more than 25 years, long before anyone talked about its negative health effects or addictive properties.

Some customers have called me The Sugar Nazi. What can I say? I wear the label proudly.

When health gurus pushed chocolate, I was against it because I was sure the downsides of the sugar in chocolate would override any benefits we were hearing at the time about cacao itself.

Which turned out to be a chocolate story

Basically, it's an unsurprising story. Chocolate manufacturers and the cocoa industry funded scientific studies to “prove” the benefits of chocolate. One company, Mars, maker of Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Way, and many other candies, actually funded hundreds of such studies.

It's not worth it for me to go through the supposed benefits of chocolate, but here's a partial list. It has been said to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, increase weight loss, reduce the risk of diabetes, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure, and alleviate immune disorders.

Gee, are my brown eyes turning blue too?

Claims like these continue to appear in recent articles - and still influence the eating habits of my colleagues in the fitness industry.

My recommendation is to avoid chocolate because of the sugar. If you must consume cocoa or cacao, make sure it is unsweetened. Problems with sugar affect health, appetite, food preferences, mood disorders, hormones, brain chemistry and much more.

The negative effects of sugar cannot be overstated. Chocolate cannot and will not overwrite this.

Inspired by Joan Kent