Paleoista Holiday Tip # 24: Eat Some (Raw, Organic, Dark) Chocolate

Yes, you read that correctly.

No, I’m not suggesting you demolish the entire box of La Maison du Chocolat Dark & Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds received as a gift from your boss.  What I am suggesting, though, is that you decide to have a little special treat now and then.

Doing so will prevent you from feeling as though you’re depriving yourself.  Planning for it allows you to balance it in as a happy little ending to a lovely meal, as well as to source a premium type of raw chocolate which has no unattractive fillers, stabilizers or preservatives.

Alas, most of the chocolates we’d find in any random store across the country does tend to have soy lecithin as an emulsifier, as well as a host of other little nasties, like hydrogenated oils, artificial sugars and flavors.

If you opt for a small square, as dark as you can go (I love the raw, dark, fair trade organic 99%, personally; who needs the sugar?), it’s so rich, so decadent and so satisfying, you only need a little and at a mere 50 – 80 calories on average for a one ounce piece you’re not going to sabotage your Paleo living which you’ve been sticking to so well.

Plus, with a healthy dose of antioxidants and other health promoting compounds, you’re not doing any harm to your body when you have a little bit of dark chocolate treat now and then.    The only caveat is to not try to fool yourself into thinking there’s anything remotely good for you in a Snickers bar, or any of the other highly processed and refined candies, which may not even have any real chocolate in them in the first place!