When You Need Some Sugar…
Dieting advise
A healthy diet can promote good mental health, but dieting can be extremely mentally tedious. Any good diet should promote strong physical and mental health. You should never sacrifice one for another. If you need a cheat day, do it! Your body will keep moving.
Additionally, dark chocolate can have positive impacts on mental health beyond being a good treat.
When you need some sugar…
… Do it! But that doesn’t mean you have to splurge! I even often find myself falling into habits of eating excessive amounts of sugar as soon as I’ve had just a little. Sometimes it’s after a long day, and sometimes it’s just the mere exposure to sugar that will catalyze my desire. Everyone has cravings, and neglecting them is the worst thing to do! You should indulge, enjoy yourself. But be cognizant of your proportions. One trick I use is to put everything I eat on a plate. This stops me from reaching back into the bag and having just one more chip, or cookie, or skittle.
Eating dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher) can be a relatively harmless snack that is perfect for eliminating cravings. It’s the perfect, guilt-free alternative.
Dark Chocolate is very rich in antioxidants such as polyphenols, flavonols, and catechins. These antioxidants are known as reducing agents for oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is when there is less production of oxygen in a cell than there is the accumulation of ROS (reactive oxygen species). ROS is an extremely unstable oxygen-based molecule that can super easily react with other molecules. So when there is an imbalance of these two, there aren’t enough oxygen molecules to detoxify the ROS molecules. Because the ROS is still present in the cell, it can cause damage to the cell tissue. At large, oxidative stress is often associated with cardiovascular diseases and several cancers.
Citations
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/multimedia/antioxidants/sls-20076428
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5551541/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626#:~:text=Multiple%20studies%20have%20found%20a,mood%20disorders%2C%20such%20as%20depression.
https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/reactive-oxygen-species
