Sugar Turned On Me

I don’t know the actual statistics, but I’m betting that choclatiers find this one of their busiest times. It’s really hard to separate thoughts of Valentine’s day from heart shaped boxes full of decadent goodness. Being diabetic, though, can make said boxes of chocolate seem less than desireable.

As I’ve discussed before here, candies are not completely off the menu if you’ve got diabetes and a little chocolate daily may even be good for you. It does mean you need to watch your intake, pay attention to the serving size listed on the package and be sensible about it.

It’s best, also, to keep in mind that good chocolate is better for you that cheap chocolate. Chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa solids tends to cost a bit more, but more cocoa solids mean less other stuff, including sugar.  Your opinion may very, but well made dark chocolate I find to be a more pleasurable experience for the tongue as well, at least until we get up to around 85%+, at which point I find it better for baking and hot chocolate than simple nibbling.

At Target the other day, I saw a box of chocolates, a metallic heart shaped tin, that starteed at 60% chocolates and went up: The Ghiradelli Intense Love Heart Box .  I won’t say that this is exactly what every diabetic needs, but if chocolate is an option for your diabetic valentine, then I’ d recommend something like this over a box of random nougats. Lindt also makes a good collection of dark chocolate delights, including a 60% truffle.

No matter the quality of the chocolate though, know your limits. One square or truffle between meals may be okay for you. A stack is likely not to be.

Chocolate is one of the great joys in life and I was very happy when I found out that I could still have it in moderation. If you have the restraint to take it in a bite at a time, I recommend looking into the darker side of cocoa confectionry. There are few other places you have to give the excuse of “no, medically I need the good stuff”. Make use of the one’s you have.

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