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Chocolate. An observation

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Sharron1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Well, as a devoted consumer of chocolate over the years, any choc rubbish and better choc. Diabetes appeared and I reduced my consumption, ate dark choc. Then stopped because I forgot to eat the stuff. This Xmas we had tubs of choc and I did have one piece. Ifound it not as I remembered it. Tried again the next day and again it was disappointing. I can now walk by the tub and totally ignore it. My previous love affair with chocolate is no more.
 
I've always preferred dark chocolate, predominantly Cadbury's Bourneville, but I switched to 70% dark (or more) after my T2 diagnosis. I do limit how many squares I have in a day though as I keep an eye on how much saturated fat there is in my diet, otherwise I could easily get through a whole bar. From what I often read about extra dark chocolate it has some health benefits on account of the flavanoids that it contains.
 
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Surprised you weren't a fan of Old Jamaica, Martin, since you also like rum and raisin ice cream! I was surprised at how low the cocoa solids are in Bourneville. I assumed it would be much higher than the 36% it contains, compared to the 70-85% I currently buy.
 
I found it easy to become a chocolate snob when I thought I had to reduce my sugar intake when first diagnosed. I was never a chocoholic beforehand but would eat any chocoholic when offered. Now, i know I can just partake in an insulin - chocolate combo to keep me in range but I definitely prefer around 70% cocoa, including with hot chocolate. That said, I still find mint Aeros a very sweet secret pleasure on occasion.
 
Combining mint flavour and milk chocolate should be a crime as far as I am concerned. Dark choc and mint, no problem at all.... give me a Frys Chocolate Cream any day but, much as I used to love milk chocolate, combine it with mint in the form of a Mint Aero would render it totally safe from any craving, no matter how desperate I was! Funny how we are all different!
 
I prefer dark chocolate, but I've got a Terry's chocolate orange crunch which is milk and I can't leave it alone... though I try only to eat 2 pieces after meals (and bolus for it). Unfortunately (!) a 2nd one sneaked into the cupboard before Xmas.
 
I like chocolate, preferably milk one. I was generally moderate with my portions, and after diagnosis I've become more selective with sweet treats in general. Meaning, I still have them, but not whatever and whenever is available. I try to save the space for things I really enjoy. However I enjoy novelty and I usually accept if there's something new I can try for free, usually at work, but I try to limit portions and politely refuse stuff I don't think is worth the carbs (for my personal taste).

@rebrascora I also associate mint with dark chocolate rather than milk but whatever floats people's boats... 😉
 
I think you are so right @Sharron1 - tastes do change. And having a break, then going back and finding it disappointing can really squash the cravings. I find that about most commercial ‘little cakes’. I’m really not bothered with them any more. Too much BG faff and just not really very enjoyable to me!
 
I could go back to the way I was, guzzling milk chocolate like there was no tomorrow very easily. I am currently eating 85% and I am really struggling to find any enjoyment in it. I have 70% which is OK and serves the purpose but if someone gave me a 200g bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk, I would have great difficulty not scoffing the lot in one go and wanting more afterwards. Some things like bread and chips can be a bit of a disappointment on the very odd occasion that I have them and I don't find it difficult to say "No thank you" if someone offers me sweets or chocolates, but left at home alone with a bar that had been given to me (I deliberately don't buy it) I would scoff the lot and it would then have me climbing the walls for more. My tastes have changed since I started eating low carb nearly 5 years ago now but the addiction will always be there for me and I have to guard against it.
 
I don't think I ever imagined that I could quite happily ignore chocolate. Any chocolate. The next big test for me will be Easter. Absolutely stuffed myself last year with Easter eggs.

Today I noticed chocolate chicks, rabbits and smallish eggs have now appeared in my local Waitrose. Ironically next to all the Xmas fare.
 
I could always refuse chocolate before I was on the low-carb diet. Now I like a piece occasionally and yes I like mint but look for the highest cocoa content and only have a square. It is the fact it is a naughty treat. I used to love shortbread and cakes but tried them when my sugar was low and felt sick, hubby had to eat them. So cakes that I loved are now off the menu. My Husband loves it as his cupboard is full and he buys what he likes. So you do change your tastebuds.
I must admit I need to lose weight so treats are not allowed often and I don't get the use of insulin.
 
I eat the 85% occasionally, I bought myself a bar for when everyone else was scoffing sweet stuff over Christmas, but to be honest, I could go back to stuffing myself silly with milk chocolate, most filled chocolate bar and boxes of chocolates very easily, it takes a lot of my will power to resist.
 
Grannylorraine said:
I eat the 85% occasionally, I bought myself a bar for when everyone else was scoffing sweet stuff over Christmas, but to be honest, I could go back to stuffing myself silly with milk chocolate, most filled chocolate bar and boxes of chocolates very easily, it takes a lot of my will power t
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Agree willpower is needed with all food though.
 
I was always a chocaholic but since diagnosis and medication, my tastes have changed. I always used to look forward to pudding but no longer - I find everything too sweet. I even stopped drinking tea as that tasted too sweet even though I never had sugar. So no chocolate in my house and I don't miss it. If only that also applied to crisps!!!
 
I read this sort of thread and I’m a bit shocked. Joey (she’s 6 and type 1) is currently munching through a tube of smarties after her dinner of roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings! We keep her in range maybe 80/90 percent of the time which is bloody hard work at times. But honest question, do you think we should keep certain foods away from her?
 
Tom1982 said:
I read this sort of thread and I’m a bit shocked. Joey (she’s 6 and type 1) is currently munching through a tube of smarties after her dinner of roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings! We keep her in range maybe 80/90 percent of the time which is bloody hard work at times. But honest question, do you think we should keep certain foods away from her?
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As she’s on insulin it’s not so critical to deprive her of certain foods. In theory that’s exactly what carb counting is all about, count how much carb is in the food, doesn’t matter what the food is, inject correct amount of insulin to cover it and all is well. In reality as you realise it’s not quite that simple, but if your daughter can eat smarties and you know how to manage it without her blood sugars going into orbit, then why should you deprive her? My daughter loved her consultant who said “if you want doughnuts, eat doughnuts”. Not meaning every day, presumably, but as a treat sometimes. The only reason to restrict your daughter‘s food choices is for the same reason as everyone else, that eating lots of chocolate/cake/sweets every day isn’t good for anyone‘s health.
 
Sally71 said:
As she’s on insulin it’s not so critical to deprive her of certain foods. In theory that’s exactly what carb counting is all about, count how much carb is in the food, doesn’t matter what the food is, inject correct amount of insulin to cover it and all is well. In reality as you realise it’s not quite that simple, but if your daughter can eat smarties and you know how to manage it without her blood sugars going into orbit, then why should you deprive her? My daughter loved her consultant who said “if you want doughnuts, eat doughnuts”. Not meaning every day, presumably, but as a treat sometimes. The only reason to restrict your daughter‘s food choices is for the same reason as everyone else, that eating lots of chocolate/cake/sweets every day isn’t good for anyone‘s health.
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Nice one. I always feel bad (maybe not the right word) but I read people on here eating some super healthy stuff and I wonder if we should be doing the same! Obviously we pack her full of good stuff too and she’s strong as an ox! But why do people swerve, for example, breakfast cereal? If you carb it right and deliver the insulin in the right instalments, what’s the problem?
 
Tom1982 said:
Nice one. I always feel bad (maybe not the right word) but I read people on here eating some super healthy stuff and I wonder if we should be doing the same! Obviously we pack her full of good stuff too and she’s strong as an ox! But why do people swerve, for example, breakfast cereal? If you carb it right and deliver the insulin in the right instalments, what’s the problem?
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Because many of the people on this forum are type 2s who are controlling their diabetes purely by what they eat and don’t use insulin. So they have to be a lot more careful what they eat if they want to keep their diabetes under control. Even some type 1s on insulin may choose to avoid such foods, maybe just to make life easier, maybe because they have found that it can be VERY difficult to manage such foods and they can maintain better control without. For example, we used to find that if daughter ate porridge, it was so slow to digest that she would go hypo immediately afterwards even if we had counted the carbs correctly. Fortunately she’s on a pump so we could tell the pump to deliver 30% up front and the rest slowly over 90 minutes which kept her steady (much trial and error to find out how much up front and what delay worked!). If she had been on injections i don’t know if we could have managed that so well and might just have decided that it was easier to eat something else most of the time. Basically it all depends on how tight control you want to maintain and what tools you have at your disposal to do that.
 
Sally71 said:
“if you want doughnuts, eat doughnuts”. Not meaning every day, presumably, but as a treat sometimes. The only reason to restrict your daughter‘s food choices is for the same reason as everyone else, that eating lots of chocolate/cake/sweets every day isn’t good for anyone‘s health.
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I like when my team say things say this. I remember saying to the dietician on the team about two months that I was scared of eating pizza and she said "if you want a pizza a rachel try it"
 
When I first began this lifelong journey on the diabetes road, like many people I didn't have a clue and alas I had an equally clueless GP. By luck I met a GP friend of mine who gave me some wonderful advice re food choices. She told me eat regular foods but in moderation and keep keep an eye on the carb content. Such great, helpful and sensible advice. Each time I see her I thank her.
 
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