Chocolate Is Magical!! Need I say More?

There are a lot of us out there who are on low carb diets, Keto, Paleo, and others that restrict the sugar intake. There is good reason for that.

Let's take a look at why sugar needs to be restricted in our diets, and what delicious treats you can eat to take care of those cravings.

Added Sugar Is In The Majority Of Our Packaged Foods

Sugar is found in 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets, including many savory foods or items marketed as "healthy."

Heart disease. Diabetes. These chronic conditions are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Increasingly, scientists are focusing on a common set of underlying metabolic issues that raise people's risk for chronic disease. And it turns out that eating too much sugar over the long-term is linked to many of these dysfunctions.
​Source: Sugar Science

Heart Disease. Diabetes.
​Chronic conditions.

Rates of obesity are rising worldwide and added sugar, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages, is thought to be one of the main culprits.

Consuming fructose increases your hunger and desire for food more than glucose, the main type of sugar found in starchy foods

Evidence suggests that high-sugar diets can lead to obesity, inflammation and high triglyceride, blood sugar and blood pressure levels — all risk factors for heart disease

Source: Healthline

Obesity. Addiction. Inflammation.

Living sugar free means making informed choices and decisions about what you put into your body.

From my research on this topic (personal research, done just for myself), I have found that the benefits of the Keto diet fit my lifestyle needs. Having had late-stage Lyme disease, the pain and other symptoms are tricky to get through. At this point, I still have Chronic Lyme Syndrome (essentially from the damage the disease wreaked on my body). 

Low carb diets, including Keto have benefits for your heart health, are being used to treat Epilepsy, and the following.

LOW CARB BENEFITS

• Metabolic Syndrome Limited research, including a study published in November 2017 in the journal Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, has suggested that adults with metabolic disease following keto shed more weight and body fat compared with those on a standard American diet, which is heavy in processed food and added sugars. (6)
• Type 2 Diabetes Research published in September 2016 in the Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders suggested the diet could help people with type 2 diabetes and can lead to improvements in HbA1c levels (though be warned, it can also lead to hypoglycemia — that’s low blood sugar levels — if you take medication to lower your blood sugar). (7)
• Bipolar Disorder In people with type 2 bipolar disorder, keto may be a mood stabilizer, and one early study, published in October 2012 in the journal Neurocase, suggested the plan may be even more effective than medication. (8)
• Obesity Compared with those on a typical low-calorie diet, obese individuals on a very-low-calorie ketogenic diet lost more weight and inflammatory visceral (belly) fat in one study, published in December 2016 in the journal Endocrine. (9) It may also help preserve lean body mass during weight loss, according to an article published in February 2018 in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism. (10)
• Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease A small study published in February 2013 in the journal Neurobiology of Aging found that older higher-risk adults on a keto diet experienced better memory functioning after just six weeks. (11) Some experts, like Richard Isaacson, MD, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork–Presbyterian in New York City, support low-carb diets for patients as one way to delay brain aging and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.
• Parkinson’s Disease Because these patients are at a higher risk for dementia, researchers like Robert Krikorian, PhD, professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the division of psychology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio, are studying how inducing nutritional ketosis may be used to preserve cognitive functioning.
• Certain Cancers Keto may be used in combination with chemotherapy and radiation, some studies have suggested, including one published in November 2018 in the journal Oncology. (12) But ultimately more studies are needed to determine if keto can play a role in cancer therapy, and patients should not use it as a stand-alone treatment or without a doctor’s consent.
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Because women with the infertility condition PCOS are at a greater risk for diabetes and obesity, some clinicians recommend the keto diet, says Taylor Moree, RD, LD, of Balance Fitness and Nutrition in Atlanta. But PCOS is no different from most health conditions mentioned here: Long-term research on the safety is needed.

Source: Everyday Health

Weight Loss

Over the past year, using the Keto diet and exercise, I have lowered my weight by 50 pounds. 

The main challenge is that I have a major sweet tooth...MAJOR one!!  Finding things to calm my cravings has been tough. I have made "fat bombs", which have helped, but sometimes you just want some delicious chocolate sweets. 

Well, I found chocolate that tastes like I am cheating on my diet! CHOCOLATE!!

This chocolate is sweetened with Erythritol and Stevia. Both of these sweeteners are naturally occurring and low on the glycemic index, ​

SkinnyMe Chocolate

Gayle Reichler, MS, RD, CDN, is the lead nutritionist and formulator for SkinnyMe Chocolate. As nutrition consultant to Avon Products, Inc., Reichler is well known to the six million recipients of their wellness catalogues. She has appeared on television shows such as The View and CBS News; is a contributing writer to "Women's Day" magazine; and has been featured in national newspapers and magazines, including "The Wall Street Journal," "Redbook," and “Glamour.

According to Gayle, "When you look at the total carbohydrate in a food item, it is important to also look at the ingredients to learn where the carbohydrate is coming from. Not all carbohydrates affect your blood sugar in the same way. You can use the glycemic index of foods to learn how likely a food item is going to affect your blood sugar, the higher the number the more it will affect your blood sugar when eaten alone."

"In SkinnyMe Chocolate, the carbohydrates are coming from Stevia, Erythritol, and the unsweetened chocolate."

"Stevia and Erythritol both have a glycemic index of ZERO meaning they don’t affect your blood sugar. Unsweetened chocolate is a low glycemic index food coming from the seed of the Cacao plant. Research shows that unsweetened chocolate is high in flavonoids and phytonutrients including polyphenols with very powerful anti-inflammatory properties, that may improve insulin sensitivity."
Source: SkinnyMe Chocolate

Curb Your Cravings!

If you want something to curb your cravings, SkinnyMe Chocolates are a seriously delicious go to...like something to put in the pantry that you CAN eat and CAN love.

You just have to check out all of their scrumptious flavors HERE.