Keto friendly chocolate?

(Heather Bryant) #1

So I’m hearing some things about chocolate being Keto friendly and that it’s a great thing to eat early in the morning to get your metabolism going for the day. I find this hard to believe with all the sugar in it. Or is it a special kind of chocolate maybe?
Anyone that can help clear this up would be so appreciated! Thanks!

(LUCAS KRAUSE) #2

This is a great question, I would imagine it is cocoa powder, butter and keto friendly sweetners ( stevia, etc) so you get low carb chocolate.

I know if you try to make your own it is an art and science, don’t add liquid ( use dry sweeteners) cause it seizes , you can temper it so it won’t melt at room temp.

I’ve seen since 90% chocolate but they still have 20+ carbs, perhaps there are some out there.

(Allie) #3

I use 85% or 90% dark chocolate in recipes. Lots of people talk about Lily’s chocolate being keto safe but it’s not available in the UK so I’ve never had any.

(Tom) #4

Pray tell, where are you hearing these things about chocolate? It’s true, cocoa does have some compounds like theobromine that are stimulant in nature, but I’m not so sure horking down chocolate is a viable way to stimulate the metabolism “for the day”, considering that diurnal variations in metabolic rate are also tied to our sleep cycles. You could experiment with some chocolate and see for yourself, but the stuff that’s the most keto-friendly is very, very dark and bitter, and/or uses a sweetener like Swerve. I believe the recipes section has some keto fudge recipes, and @Brenda has some epic fat bomb recipes that involve a bit of chocolate.

The underlying question: Are you interested in stimulating your metabolism, or are you looking for a way to justify chocolate? You might find that a super dark chocky hits the spot, but it might be more prudent to just enjoy it for the experience than to expect a biologically significant effect on your metabolism. But hey, try it for a period of time and see how you do!

(Allie) #5

I wonder if you’re referring to raw chocolate? There are claims about that boosting metabolism etc but never heard it said to be keto friendly

(Heather Bryant) #6

I would have to look up the guys name. I can’t remember. He charges like $249 for a wealth of info and videos on Keto diet. I haven’t paid that nor do I ever intend to lol. But he has a short video on Bacon and chocolate for breakfast.
As for the underlying question…really neither haha! I’m not much of a chocolate person to begin with. The reason I was asking is because I just thought it sounded crazy and was misinformation. @acrunchyfrog

(Cristy Lucke) #7

My cousin taught me to make my own dark chocolates without sweetener. I melt things like cocoa butter, coconut butter, and cocoa powder together in a saucepan and then pour into cute molds and put them in the freezer. Easy and so customizable! For myself I find the coconut butter is the magic delicious ingredient, but anyone could adjust the recipe to their own carb tolerance and taste. I’ve also done this without the cocoa powder and used orange extract and spices instead. You could pour any keto bark recipe into fun molds. So many possibilities!

(Heather Bryant) #8

Oh cool! I’m not much of a chocolate or sweets person but I’ll keep this in mind if I get a sweet tooth! Thanks!

(Mike W.) #9

I just discovered this. It is TASTY. You don’t want to bite it though. It can be bitter. You just kind of let it melt in your mouth. 5g carbs in the whole bar. Pairs really well with a young bourbon.

(KCKO, KCFO) #10

I make chocolate fat bombs.

125 gram of coconut oil, melted
25 grams of 100% pure cocao powder
a few drops of stevia, I have peppermint and chocolate stevia drops as well as plain so I mix it up

Melt the coconut oil, add in the cocao powder stirring well to dissolve it. Add the stevia to taste. Place in molds, if you have silicon ice cube trays they work fine too. Freeze. These will melt quickly because they are not tempered.

I do sometimes get a 100% cocoa Ghiradelli bar, melt half of it in a double broiler, add in the coconut oil, stirring well to get everything smoothly mixed, add the stevia, and pour into molds. Freeze this, it is sort of tempered because the Ghiradelli bar is pre cooked and made into a bar, so these don’t melt like the other method does.

I will have to try some bacon along with my fat bomb for breakfast. I don’t know if I believe the claim about upping your metabolism, the caffeine in the cocao would not be that different than a cup of coffee. But hey it sounds like a lovely way to start the day…

(LUCAS KRAUSE) #11

When I stop by fort Collins, Colorado, my old home town,

There is this awesome chocolate company, nuance, amazing…

I got some “hot chocolate” last time, it is made in a French press and no sweetness, kind of like a chocolate coffee.

I forgot the name for the drink/compound, but it was interesting atleast.

http://www.nuancechocolate.com/phone/index.html

#12

I’m not sure about the morning idea. I kind favor the higher carb treat at night, as that’s when I know I have some leftover headroom for the extra carbs, but also because of their effect on cortisol which should end up helping you sleep. Even non-keto nutritionists I’ve heard from actually recommend against carbs in the morning as they will end up making you more tired, but may be good a bit before sleeping so that you can sleep better. I’m not aware of something else in the chocolate (other than possibly trace caffeine or something) that helps with energy in the morning, but maybe?

But yea, I eat chocolate near daily, but it’s usually half a serving of 90% Lindt (sometimes 85%), which is usually more than enough for me anyway, so the whole thing ends up at something like 4g Net carbs, and if I have a bit of peanut butter with it, the whole thing will be less than 10 net carbs still. (Note, Lindt 90% chocolate bars are 12g Total carbs per 4 square serving, which is about half of the giant bar, with 5g of that being fiber, so net carb on it is 7g per serving. Eat 2 squares instead of 4 and it’s just 3.5g. I’ve seen worse for a lot of nuts). Of course, that means I’m hopefully not packing in a bunch of carbs elsewhere earlier in the day to have that kind of headroom to stay under 20g on the day with that.

(KCKO, KCFO) #13

Well I went looking to see how much caffeine is in chocolate and found this:

http://www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm

None, nada, zip. It does have another stimulant Theobromine. It and caffeine are both structurally related methylxanthines.

How have I lived so long and not heard of this before??? Ah, Science. Gotta love it. Unless you’re the current president and majority in Congress.

#14

Wait- what?! If I have chocolate too late in the day I swear it interferes with my sleep. Is that the theobromine (sp? I can’t see your post while typing this on my phone). I have spent several years trying to figure out just how much chocolate I can have and just how late in the day …

(KCKO, KCFO) #15

The stimulant that affects you is not caffeine, it is the Theobromine. They are in the same stimulant family of methylxanthines.

I’ve known for years it is best to stop eating chocolate by early afternoon, but I like it after dinner with some wine, so I often eat it then instead. I tend to stay up til around midnight most nights anyway, so I haven’t noticed it disrupting my sleep. YMMV.

(Jack Geri Griggs) #16

YES…Here is the chocolate! It really is phenomenal! http://store.chocoperfection.com/?Click=8202

#17

Yes, delicious!

(Trish) #18

Hi Heather,

I just signed up for this forum and noticed your question. I don’t know if you have heard of Choco Perfection. They are a bit pricey but tastes really good. I prefer the Dark Chocolate Almond myself. I’ve included a link to their nutrition info breakdown for everything they offer. Also if you call you can talk to Mary Jo about bulk ordering. It brings the price down and you can freeze them and pull out a box when you need them. http://store.chocoperfection.com/Nutritional-Facts-a/267.htm

(jilliangordona) #19

Hi guys! Just the other day I found 100% dark chocolate at Trader Joe’s! I can’t remember the carb count… but I know that was very low’

(roxanna) #20

I loved this one! I was nervous because TJ’s had an amazing 100% baking bar that they discontinued, but this was a good substitute (Montezuma’s I think is the brand?).