the daily yum

While I would not consider myself a "foodie" (after all, I believe Diet Coke to be the elixir of the gods) there is one food that I am quite snobbish about... chocolate. Yummy, creamy, smooth, delicious chocolate. I'll take it dark, milky or even white... just not cheap.

Seriously, life is way too short to settle for sub-standard chocolate. Why eat stuff that's filled with waxes and artificial ingredients when for a few pennies more you can enjoy heaven in a bar?

A couple months ago I discovered this incredible range of chocolate bars made by Dagoba.

They come in a wide range of flavours (dark chocolate with mint and a hint of rosemary anyone?) but my personal favourite is the Chai. People. We are talking nirvana. Milk chocolate, crystallized ginger and yummy chai spices. It's kind of like a Starbucks chai latte, only better because it's a chocolate bar!

And before you write me off as a total glutton, I don't eat a bar every day. I do, however, have a small piece of this pretty much every night with whatever I'm having for dessert. It's such a great treat. 

And if you're one of those people who in the past has denied yourself chocolate because you don't think it's good for you... think again. It's totally good for you. Consider the following evidence:

1.  It gives you energy.  A single chocolate chip provides sufficient food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet.

2. It makes you feel good.  Although chocolate is not an aphrodisiac, it does contain phenylethylamine, a natural substance that stimulates the same reaction in the body as falling in love.

3. It's good for your heart.  Even though the cocoa butter in chocolate is mostly saturated fat, studies have shown that it doesn't appear to raise blood cholesterol. 

4. It's totally nutritious.  You can find 10% of your recommended daily allowance of iron in an ounce of baking chocolate or cocoa. Chocolate also contains Vitamins A1, B1, B2, C, D and E as well as calcium, potassium and sodium.

5. You can burn off the calories while surfing the web!  One click of the a mouse burns 0.0000024 kcals of energy, so you only have to click your mouse 765,551,000 times to burn off a chocolate bar.  

So what are you waiting for? Embrace your inner-chocoholic!