To Chocolate or Not To Chocolate...

...is that really a question?

Hard core Paleo folks will tell you that chocolate is not Paleo.  Yes, it's true, cavemen/women probably didn't eat a candy bar (or a Lara Bar for that matter).  Cavemen/women also didn't use indoor plumbing.

Paleo perfection is in the mouth of the eater.  Some folks just have to have their way.  Here's my take on "Choco-gate":  If you want it, eat it, with a few caveats.


*Read the ingredients.  Most "national brands" (Hi Hershey's!) use soy lecithin.  Most mass used soy products (besides being soy, ewww), are genetically modified (Hi Monsanto!).  Scary at best. 

*Buh bye milk chocolate.  Milk is dairy (in case you didn't get the memo), although, again, Paleo perfection....  I personally don't use milk or milk products (and yes, I do miss cheese) except butter.  The price that's paid, I guess, but then again, I don't weigh 300 lbs anymore, so it was a fair trade

*Stick to dark chocolate.  The darker the better.  Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants, low in sugar (85% and above).  If you are just starting out in the Paleo world, you will find dark chocolate bitter.  Go on a sugar detox first, your poor taste buds are just used to HF CS and overtly sweet everything.

*Cost is a factor.  The less in your chocolate, the more it costs.

*It's a treat, not a meal.  If you find yourself sucking down chocolate daily, dark or not, you are doing yourself a dis-service.  A little should be able to go a long way.  If not, look into a sugar detox. 

Is it that big of a deal to eat chocolate?  No.  Not in the scheme of the world. In the Paleo/Primal world, stick with the experts first.  Who are the experts?  That's up to you.  The way I eat doesn't look perfectly like what Robb Wolf says, or what Mark Sisson says, or even Loren Cordain.  I eat what falls into the basic tenants of Paleo.  No grains, no legumes, no dairy, no sugar.  With a few exceptions.  I am not a Paleo perfectionist.  I don't tell people how to live or what to eat.  I know that I cannot have certain things, and there has been a side effect, in my case losing weight and keeping it off.  On the other hand, I shouldn't have certain things, but I do. 

I am not the end all and be all of Paleo (there's the understatement of a life time!), I am a mom, a wife, and a woman who is working at being happy and healthy.

There may come a day I write a book, but I don't want any disciples or detractors (the latter I will get anyway).  If what I say sounds right to someone, let them experiment and try, if it doesn't work for them, then it doesn't work.  They can try something else.

Chocolate.  I love it.  I stick to the dark stuff.  I would eat it daily if I could, but I can't.  It's a great treat, and a bit of a "pick me up" when I feel blue.