Chocolate Unwrapped - Eat What You Enjoy This Easter
Every year as Easter approaches and chocolate eggs start lining the shelves, we typically see messages pop up in the media about how to ‘manage’ the Easter temptations, fight the chocolate cravings, and how to ‘stay on track’. All of this can invariably evoke various mixed emotions from excitement to dread in some of us.
Whilst chocolate holds a special place in many cultures, often associated with celebrations and indulgence, our individual relationships with it can be complex, influenced by societal norms, personal beliefs, and physiological responses.
In this blog, I set out to explore our connection with chocolate. If chocolate is a food with which you struggle to find a healthy balance, read on as I explain how and why we should consider rethinking our approach entirely.
Why Are Chocolate Eggs Associated with Easter?
The tradition of chocolate eggs at Easter has roots in both pagan and Christian customs. Eggs symbolise new life and fertility, fitting with the themes of rebirth and renewal in springtime celebrations. In Christian traditions, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection, with the egg as a symbol of the tomb from which he emerged.
Over time, chocolate eggs became popular gifts during Easter, combining ancient symbolism with modern indulgence.
What makes chocolate so appealing to so many people?
One reason lies in its composition. Chocolate contains compounds like phenylethylamine and anandamide, which can promote feelings of pleasure and wellbeing.
Additionally, the creamy texture, and rich, complex flavour profile can activate sensory receptors, providing a sensory experience that goes beyond taste alone. I always think there isn’t another food quite like it!
Did you know chocolate has health benefits?
Cacao, the primary ingredient in chocolate, offers various health benefits when consumed in moderation. It is rich in antioxidants, which can help combat oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. Cacao also contains minerals like magnesium, which supports muscle function and relaxation.
Moreover, the stimulant properties of cacao, such as caffeine and theobromine, can provide a mild energy boost and improve cognitive function.
Why is chocolate so often labelled as naughty/bad?
Despite the potential health benefits of cacao, most chocolate products, especially milk chocolate and certain confectionary, are, generally speaking, tagged as "naughty" or unhealthy due to the high fat content, added sugars, and calorie-dense nature.
Media representations of chocolate often emphasise its decadent flavour and qualities, reinforcing the idea in the public conscience that consuming chocolate is an act of indulgence rather than nourishment.
Furthermore, the diet industry often demonises certain foods, including chocolate, as part of its marketing tactics. It creates rules around food, which makes people believe they can’t trust themselves around food or be left to their own devices, and therefore they need more dieting rules and strategies to deal with food.
Around Easter, the messages that you might typically see in the media from all manner of influencers, trainers, coaches and nutritionists, are ones encouraging you to:
Check the calories/macros/sugar content of your Easter eggs
Choose quality over quantity and eat the healthy alternatives e.g. eat real eggs, make your own ‘guilt free’ Easter treats, or opt for the ‘cleanest’/darkest/lowest sugar chocolate eggs you can find (even if that’s not what you actually want)
Eat chocolate in moderation (code for control how much you eat)
Eat what you want but make up for it by ‘clean’ eating or working out
What’s the problem with all this you might be asking?
WHY THE ‘HEALTHIEST’ APPROACH TO CHOCOLATE ISN’T THE HEALTHIEST
The problem with modern society labelling chocolate as bad/naughty, and helping us come up with strategies to ‘control’ our intake, can all make many people feel like they’re doing something wrong or failing at healthy eating when they choose to have it. It can create a sense of moral judgment around chocolate that can trigger or perpetuate feelings of guilt, shame and other negative emotions in the people who consume it.
Viewing a food as ‘bad’ can often lead to attempts to restrict or avoid it altogether. However, what we know from behavioural research studies, is that food restriction (even well intentioned) can backfire, causing increased cravings and preoccupation with the ‘forbidden’ food.
This cycle of denying ourselves of food (and the pleasure of eating) and subsequent overconsumption can contribute to disordered eating patterns including as binge eating, and an unhealthy or untrusting relationship with food and body.
In a nutshell, this type of moralisation completely overlooks the nuanced relationship we can have with food, and can feed a lot more problems than it solves.
Enjoying Easter Chocolate Without Feeling Out of Control
What if there was a different way to relate to chocolate? What if there was no wagon to fall off of? What if you could simply celebrate Easter, if that’s what you wan to do, without freaking out about your chocolate consumption? ⠀
People who have an intuitive, healthy relationship with food, including chocolate, understand that chocolate, like any other food, is to be enjoyed 100% guilt-free.
Intuitive Eating is an approach to eating for self-care than encourages us to remove moral judgments from food choices and instead focus on honouring our hunger, fullness, and satisfaction. Taking this approach allows us to explore our connection with chocolate mindfully, understanding its appeal, how it affects our bodies, and finding balance in enjoyment, without guilt.
Here are five tips to help you practice Intuitive Eating this Easter:
Opt-out of diet culture: If you notice diet culture messaging showing in the media, or in your mind because of internalised rules and beliefs, remind yourself that all foods can fit in in a healthy diet, and that there's no need to add moral judgement to food. You don’t have to ‘earn’ the ‘right’ to eat things you enjoy over Easter, nor to ‘make up’ for it afterwards.
Watch your language around chocolate: Recognise that you’ve likely picked up the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labelling from diet culture somehow or another, and you don’t have to buy into that. When we remove the label of “good” and “bad” from chocolate, it frees us to eat in a way that’s both nourishing and satisfying. Not only that, but normalising eating chocolate without guilt or judgment can actually reduce our cravings for it.
Don’t ‘save up’ your calories for chocolate: You don’t need to restrict other foods to save up calories for chocolate. Treating your body like a ‘bank account’ doesn’t work. Your body doesn’t recognise the difference between you restricting food intentionally and a famine situation. It needs regular meals to function for you, so if you get over-hungry and it senses you are restricting, when you finally do allow yourself to eat, it will compensate by driving you to over-eat in preparation for the next ‘famine’.
Honour your cravings: If you find yourself craving chocolate, give yourself full permission to enjoy the variety you like, without guilt. You weren’t born feeling guilt after eating - it’s another diet culture demon. Denying cravings can lead to feelings of deprivation and overeating later on. Trust your body's signals and enjoy chocolate.
Practice mindful eating: When you allow yourself to enjoy some delicious chocolate without the side dose of judgement, you can better take the time to savour and appreciate the eating experience, noticing its flavour, texture, and aroma. Eating slowly and with more presence allows you to both fully enjoy the experience, and better tune into your body's hunger, fullness, satiety cues and other feelings - which are ultimately your best compass when it comes to guiding eating.
I add to this by saying that if you observe that you are regularly over-eating chocolate because you are stressed, anxious, and are using it make yourself feel better emotionally, this can also be explored with the support of an Intuitive Eating Counsellor. Interestingly, it’s typically the case in practice, that we see a natural reduction in emotionally driven eating once ‘restriction’ is lifted, and body connection and self-care improve.
My conclusions
Chocolate is a fascinating food nutritionally speaking. Our relationship with chocolate is multifaceted, influenced by tradition, culture, and personal preferences.
Practicing Intuitive Eating can help you approach eating chocolate in a way that feels balanced, satisfying, and enjoyable. It does takes patience and practice, but by adopting an Intuitive Eating approach, you can cultivate a mindful and balanced relationship with all foods, enjoying its pleasures without guilt or restriction.
So, this Easter, I say eat what makes you happy. Savour the joy of chocolate, if that’s what you want to do. There is nothing quite like it!
Take a positive step forward today
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