5 Ways to Enjoy Chocolate in a Healthy Manner
Chocolate is one of the tastiest treats you could ever enjoy no matter the season. However, depending on how you enjoy chocolate, it could also be one of the unhealthiest and most fattening things you could ever eat. So to help you keep on indulging your chocolate addiction without destroying your waistline, we’ve assembled the following list of ways you can enjoy chocolate in a healthy manner. Feel free to share it with friends—no one should ever have to suffer without their chocolate habit!
Drink it mixed with nut milk.
Chocolate milk is an absolute treat, but the most popular and tasty brands are usually loaded with calories and sugar. There’s also the fact that chocolate milk is usually just dairy milk with chocolate flavoring added in, which means it could wreak havoc on your stomach if you’re lactose intolerant. Thankfully, there is a healthier alternative, and it comes in the form of chocolate-flavored nut milk.
Nut milk is just what it sounds like: milk that’s derived from nuts such as peanuts, almonds, cashews, and even walnuts. The result is a creamy and tasty milk substitute that’s got none of what makes regular dairy milk fattening, while also being gentle with your digestion. This is thanks to its complete lack of lactose. Best of all, they do come with chocolate-flavored varieties!
So the next time you’re hankering for a tall, cold glass of chocolate milk, skip your usual dairy brand and try drinking chocolate mixed with milked nuts instead. Your waistline and your stomach will thank you!
Blend dark chocolate into your favorite fruit smoothie.
We all know that the healthiest way to eat chocolate is to have it dark and bitter. Unfortunately, that also makes it hard to eat, despite it bestowing quite some significant health benefits to those who consume it. In this case, we advise blending a few squares of dark chocolate into your favorite fruit smoothie. The sweetness of the fruits will help blunt the sharp taste of the cacao while bringing out that chocolatey flavor we all know and love. Just remember to hold the sugar or any other sweetening substances, otherwise you’ll be canceling out the health benefits!
Add it to your breakfast cereal.
While there are indeed chocolate-flavored cereal around, they’re also loaded down with a lot of unhealthy sugar. Why not have your usual, plain-flavored cornflakes with some crushed dark chocolate squares instead? Not only will it taste a whole lot better thanks to the added dark chocolate bits, but you’re essentially making it a whole lot healthier to eat, as you’re combining the health benefits of dark chocolate and plain cereal in one meal. Best of all, it’s been proven that having a dessert-like breakfast will help decrease your cravings for sweet, unhealthy stuff during the day.
Melt and drizzle dark chocolate onto your favorite healthy foods.
Another way of enjoying chocolate in a healthy fashion is to drizzle it on your favorite healthy snacks. For example, let’s say you’re into snacking on fruit cubes for dessert or just as a treat. By gently melting dark chocolate over a pan fire and then drizzling it over those cubes, you get that chocolatey taste while also keeping up your daily fruit intake. This is great for when you’ve gotten tired of your fruity snacks or want to spice it up a bit.
Add dark chocolate to savory vegan dishes.
Since dark chocolate has very little sugar to it, it can be quite the unexpected additive to enhance savory dishes, especially those that have very subtle flavors such as vegan dishes. While we can’t guarantee that it’ll turn out tasty and delicious every time, it’s easily worth experimenting, especially if you just can’t seem to get enough of chocolate. We recommend trying it out with recipes such as guacamole, vegetarian chili, eggplant caponata, or hummus—basically recipes that are either stews or thick soups.
Conclusion
Indulging your chocolate addiction doesn’t always have to end up with you gaining a few pounds every time. By enjoying chocolate in the healthy ways we’ve listed above, you can keep enjoying this wonderful treat without worrying about your waistline or your health.
