A postcard arrived from Kent today, (forwarded by my publisher, Constable & Robinson) wryly commenting on a promotion included in the package with the cookbook from Amazon:

“I was most amused to receive with your book a mailing for chocolates! They look great, too–but hardly suitable for diabetics like us. Oh well!“

My editor, Judith, pointed out, when I complained about this:

“I’m afraid the leaflet for chocolates is just one of a general mailing which probably goes out with every item despatched by Amazon, who couldn’t possibly be expected to check whether it’s relevant to the rest of the package (it may even be an automated process)”.

So a simple irony.

However two days ago I had spotted this article on a study, published online by the British Medical Journal, about the health benefits of chocolate!

Coincidence too!

It mentions that scientists at Cambridge University reviewed all the relevant evidence from seven studies involving 100,000 people.

“Five of the seven studies (carried out) found chocolate – eaten in a variety of forms, from sweet bars to chocolate biscuits and drinking cocoa – to be protective.”

Catherine Collins, a dietician at St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, is quoted  in the piece saying:

“This paper doesn’t really say eat chocolate to improve heart health – nor do the authors conclude this either. What they seem to say is, those who don’t deny themselves a sweet treat of chocolate – white or brown – have better cardiovascular outcomes”.

Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as Head of the Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Division of the School of Medicine at King’s College London, warns that:

“The main problem with chocolate is overindulgence and calories [my emphasis]. A little bit of chocolate is OK but the mega-slabs offered cheaply are fuelling obesity in the overweight.”

In other words “moderation” is the key.

It occurred to me to post about this earlier–but I got distracted when Alice arrived with the honey!

Then I remembered an earlier post  entitled “Just no Desserts”, back in February, when I was starting out–in which I “fess up” to an indulgence:

…A  good meal needs a grace note at the end, a contrast to the savory tastes of the main dish–something to complement the coffee or tea to come. Well, all is not lost…!

My solution, surprisingly, is CHOCOLATE–with a high proportion of cacao.

One square eaten with a small cup of coffee (and maybe a dried fig) is the perfect  finish to a meal for me.

I have got used to 90% cacao chocolate (but we worked our way up from 70%).

The idea is catching on. 

This site positively encourages the consumption of high cacao chocolate:

10 Reasons to Eat High Cocoa Content Chocolate —[always with the mantra “in moderation”]

21.30/9.30pm—Excuse me–as I reach for my second square of the day!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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