5 Ways To Enjoy Chocolate And Cut Down On Sugar

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How to cut back on sugar while having your chocolate

From elevating your mood, to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and pancreatic cancer, it seems like there are more and more benefits to eating chocolate. It’s no secret however that plenty of chocolate (mainstream milk chocolate in particular) contains huge amounts of processed sugar. Although sugar has never been in the running for health food of the year, thanks to huge media attention and a number of high profile campaigns such as Jamie Oliver’s ‘war on sugar’ the sweet stuff seems to have become food enemy number one.

Less sugar doesn’t have to mean less chocolate. The list of chocolate’s health benefits keeps on growing and there are plenty of ways to get your chocolate fix and cut down on sugar.

Whether you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake or just looking for some healthier options we’ve put together our recommendation of chocolate that is full of flavour and goodness but low on sugar.

1. Go Dark

As a general rule, the higher the cocoa percentage the less sugar a chocolate bar contains. Not only do you get less sugar, the higher cocoa percentage also means more of the good stuff. Try to choose bars with at least 85% cocoa mass.

2. Go Alternative

If you prefer your chocolate a little sweeter try bars made with alternatives to cane sugar. Coconut blossom sugar has a lower glycaemic index, meaning you’ll get less of a sugar rush (and then crash) after eating. Made from the sap of coconut flower buds, it has wonderful caramel taste similar to brown sugar. Lucuma is a subtropical fruit, native so South America, which not only has a low GI but is naturally high vitamins and nutrients. When dried this ‘superfood’ can be used as a natural sweetener and has a unique sweet taste that is often compared to sweet potato or maple.

3. Try Dark Milk

One of the biggest trends in craft chocolate right now is dark milk bars. The high cocoa content and plus the milk means that these bars are surprisingly low sugar and often contain less of the sweet stuff than many dark chocolates. Perfect for the milk chocolate addict.

4. Go Sugar Free With 100%

100% cocoa chocolate is made from a single ingredient, cocoa beans and has no added sugar whatsoever. Don’t be afraid, when made well by artisan makers, 100% chocolate has no unpleasant bitterness and is full of flavour. Cacao is a fruit just like an apple and an orange, so it also contains some natural sugar.

5. Savour, Don't Scoff

If you ever try to eat a whole one of our chocolate bars in one sitting, thanks to the high level of flavanols you might find yourself struggling to get even half way through. We think, therefore the best way to cut down on sugar is to break off a little piece of your favourite bar and as it melts to savour the gorgeous flavours that are released…..

All the bars in our Chocolate Library are what we call ‘bean-to-bar’ or ‘craft’ chocolate. What this actually means is that the chocolate was made directly from the cocoa bean by the maker. Making them by hand in small batches, without using any industrial processes or adding any artificial ingredients, creates chocolate that not only tastes amazing but is also naturally high in flavanols.