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Beat chocolate for diabetes?

J

Jakeinhd1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
77
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
What is everyone's recommendations when it comes to chocolate?

I have seen pure heavenly chocolate however its really high in fat and saturates...

Cheers all!
 
As far as I'm concerned, Chocolate is meant to be high in fat and those fats are saturates.
For Diabetics it should also be low (as near as possible to very low) in carbohydrates.
For me, that's under 20gms of carbs per 100gm bar and an absolute limit of half a bar.
Artificial sweeteners may also be OK if your taste buds and gut like them.

I eat Lindt 90% which is 14gms per 100gm bar
 
Most chocolates over 85% cocoa are fine with me and my BG. Lindt or the ones at Aldi, or more expensive ones, I just look at the carbs and don't buy any with sweeteners because I don't like the taste.
I'm not worried about fats. I Need to get my calories from something if I reduce the carbs I'm eating.

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes (diagnosed as T2 initially for two years) my lipids were all out of whack.
I changed to a low carb higher fat way of eating, with lots of saturated fats like butter, cream, cheese, fatty meats (and chocolate), and within 6 months my lipids were all back in the green, along with my BG, thanks to insulin.

I have no idea if it was the diet change or my blood glucose mostly normalising that caused my lipids to go back to ideal levels, but it looks like those saturated fats haven't done me harm in the past 7 years.
 
As far as I'm aware, LCHF usually improves lipids (including lowering LDL) for people of more than average weight.
The one whose lipids all improve except (calculated) LDL are those slim ones like me.
On 8th December we should start to hear the first details from the Lean Mass Hyper-Responders study (LMHR) which may give an indication as to whether I may be storing up future trouble or not.
 
I appreciate the OP mentions type 2.
However, there are other types of diabetes. For example, the best type of chocolate for someone with Type 1 diabetes is the one we like and are able to calculate insulin dose for. I find chocolate is a low GI so it takes a while to digest which means I have to spit my insulin when I have a full bar to avoid hypo.
I thought this may be useful for other people with Type 1 who may be interested in the ambiguous title of the thread.
 
Jakeinhd1995 said:
What is everyone's recommendations when it comes to chocolate?

I have seen pure heavenly chocolate however its really high in fat and saturates...

Cheers all!
Click to expand...
It's not got sugars, but it does contain carbs... I don't know how much of that is sweeteners, (which can open up a whole different can of worms if your gut doesn't like them), and how much the rice and corn flour... I do think you'd be better off with a very dark Lindt like 85% and up, which has far fewer ingredients and they are pronounceable (as in, proper real food ingredients), and which is technically vegan as well, if that's a concern. Though it is processed in a factory where they also use milk, so traces may occur etc etc...
 
Have you tried Montezuma's Absolute Black 100% cocoa chocolate bars, with no added sugar, no gluten, soya free and made without dairy ingredients? Perfect if you follow a keto or low carb lifestyle, also for those with food intolerances, I imagine.

It's made in Sussex and available from Sainsbury's and Waitrose supermarkets.
Perhaps it's an acquired taste, but quickly grew on me. Once I'd tried it, nothing else would do. It's rich and intense, so a little goes a long way.
 
Montezuma 100% is definitely an acquired taste! I’ve always preferred dark chocolate but this is a step too far for me. However, Montezuma make quite a lot of different chocolate bars with more than 70% cocoa and various interesting flavours, and we’re lucky enough to have a Montezuma shop in Winchester. You can buy them online at Montezuma.co.uk. I only ever eat 10 grams anyway with my after dinner coffee, so it doesn’t have any noticeable effect on my BG levels.
 
Hello @Sheepish1947. Same here. I round off lunch with up to 4 squares at weekends with no noticeable effect on my BG readings.
 
One square of this each day I can handle
 

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One square is a very good example, no more than one square for me (95%). I got carried away and started eating a lot. Because of saturated fat my total cholesterol went up sky high.
 
Lindt 65% is surprisingly good, it's like milk chocolate but lower in sugar and carbs than the 70% version - its closer to the 78% or 85% (24g carbs per 100g = 2.4g per square). I was so surprised I thought they got the nutrition on the packaging wrong when i first saw it! The only thing is that its really hard to find in London and Hertfordshire nowadays
 
I eat a couple of squares of Lindt 90% occasionally. 1.4g carbs per square.
 
My treat is 85% chocolate and a glass of red wine !!!
 
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