How to have your Easter egg and stay slim

Chocolate Egg

This Sunday’s Easter egg could easily give you the entire day’s energy requirement in one box.

As lovers of real quality chocolate here are our top tips for having your egg and eating it:

1. Go for cocoa, not sugar. Choose any egg which is at least 70% cocoa content. Dark chocolate has approximately 40 fewer calories per 100g than milk chocolate. Far more important though is the carb content. A 100g bar of 85% chocolate has 19g of carb (about the same as one apple). A 100g bar of milk chocolate has over 50g. Zoe is in the group of obesity researchers who consider carbs to be of way more importance in weight loss than calories.

2. Go for quality, not quantity. You can get 426g of Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel egg for £5.00 (over 2100 cals) or 180g of Green & Black Dark Chocolate egg for the same price (nearer 900 cals). The main ingredient in milk chocolate is sugar (which has no nutritional value) and then milk powder – another processed product. The main ingredient in 70%+ cocoa chocolate is, of course, cocoa! As dark chocolate has nutritious, not empty, calories (as well as antioxidants and anti-coagulants), you get far more nutrient bangs for your buck.

3. Go for broke, don’t graze! If you’re going to have your (hopefully dark) egg, then have it. Make it your Sunday lunch! Enjoy as much as you want to eat of it in one sitting, don’t waste a breath on guilt and love every mouthful. However, a) you don’t need a main meal at the same time (one lunch won’t hurt) and b) don’t make it last throughout the day (grazing). Eating any carb causes insulin to be released and insulin is also called the fattening hormone. We don’t want to be drip-releasing the fattening hormone all day, so have your chocolate lunch and you’ll only get one release of insulin.

Andy & Zoe

p.s. The photo shows Hotel Chocolate egg shell filled with rich chocolate mousse. Recipe here…

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Website Comments

  1. avatar Jean
    Reply

    Hello – All the comments/queries about dark COCOA seem to involve bars of purchased chocolate, with an emphasis on more carbs/less carbs, also 70%, 85% etc etc etc…..are there any comments about actual dark cocoa powder, with nothing else in the tin? I am aware of its nutritional value and using in recipes, but I would appreciate a “Harcombe” comment or information please…?

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