It is the end of Dechox (a month of giving up chocolate for charity) so it seems like a good time talk about chocolate.
Do you use chocolate to treat a hypo? If the answer is yes read on! If your blood sugar goes under 4mmol/l you need sugar quickly. And while chocolate does contain added sugar it also contains fat and protein. The fat and protein in the chocolate bar slow down how quickly you get the sugar. This makes it a bad choice for bringing your blood sugar up quickly. Better options include jelly sweets, fruit juice, a sugary soft drink or dextrose tablets.
There are claims that cocoa is a superfood and there is a great breakdown of the evidence around that here: https://modalitypartnership.nhs.uk/self-help/livewell/topics/superfoods/is-chocolate-a-superfood . This evidence tells us there might be some promise in cocoa providing us some heart protection but we sadly don’t have enough evidence yet to say this is the case.
Chocolate contains lots of energy so it is best to eat in small portions and less often but you might be pleased to know it can be enjoyed as part of a healthy balanced diet, hooray!