When you think of chocolate this Valentine’s Day, you may think of love and sweetness. You may even think of it as high in flavanols like catechin, epicatechin, and proanthocyanidin, antioxidants that may protect your blood vessels and reduce blood pressure.
But do you think of fiber?
Lindt’s Peruvian Extra Dark Chocolate, my current favorite, has 6g, yes 6g, of fiber per four square serving. And only 6g of sugar!!
For those of you counting carbs, if a serving has more than 5g of fiber, half the fiber grams are subtracted from the total carb grams. That means the Peruvian chocolate counts for only 6g of carbs per serving.
Chocolate may not be an all-you-can-eat indulgence but healthy eating doesn’t have to go completely out the window.
Simply read your nutrition labels carefully. Fiber and sugar content varies. While sugar on a nutrition label can include both naturally occurring and added mono- and disaccarrides, the sugar in chocolate is all added sucrose. In the case of chocolate, when you look at the amount of sugar on a label, divide the grams of sugar by four to visualize how many teaspoons of sugar it provides. Just something to ponder.
In any case, savor the flavor and enjoy responsibly.
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