insideKENT Magazine Issue 48 - March 2016 | Page 68
HEALTH
Can you DECHOX during
March for a healthier heart?
Ahh, chocolate. In all of its meltingly-soft, sweet forms. There’s no denying that it’s delicious,
and we’re as sorry as anyone to have to burst its oh-so-soothing bubble, but its downfall lies in
its key character trait. As sweet as chocolate may be - and though it is tempting to swallow the
hype about it being good for you as you swallow your second bar of fruit and nut – it’s packed
full of sugar and saturated fat, too much of which is bad for our hearts.
One in four of the UK population is lost to heart
and circulatory disease every year and there
are currently seven million people in the UK
living with the disease, which is why the British
Heart Foundation (BHF) is calling on all of us to
DECHOX for March, kicking our sugary habit to
the curb and helping our hearts tick along more
healthily in the process.
It might help if we bust some chocolate myths
that we’re all bound to have fed ourselves
at some stage. Eating chocolate gives us
more energy, right? Wrong. Chocolate does
contain small amounts of caffeine, which may
make us feel a teensy bit more energetic, but
not before being followed by that inevitable
post-sugar slump. But, I can’t give it up; I’m
‘addicted’ to it. Sorry, wrong again. There
is no solid evidence that chocolate causes
physical addiction. It’s actually more about
our feelings towards chocolate that tend to
dictate our behaviour. We might love it, but we
don’t need it. And, how could we forget this
classic: chocolate with bubbles in it is ‘lighter’.
Nope. The fat and sugar content per 100g is
similar to other, more solid chocolate bars, so
although eating chocolate with bubbles is a bit
like eating a smaller bar, let’s face it, most of us
probably end up eating more in one sitting.
So, if you’ve decided to bite the biscuit (or not,
if it’s a chocolate one), what can you do to help
you keep focused throughout your chocolatefree month? “It’s inevitable that at some point
during your DECHOX, you will crave chocolate,”
says Tracy Parker, heart health dietician at the
BHF. “And this can be for several reasons,
including emotional need and breaking the habit.
It’s important to remember that although your
cravings and urges to eat chocolate might feel
real, they are more to do with food associations
or habit than a real need for the chocolate. If you
normally have a bar of chocolate every day at
4pm, when that time of day comes around you
might automatically want some chocolate, but
you don’t have to give into it. If you resist, then
the feelings will pass in about 30-45 minutes.”
“There are coping strategies you can employ
to help curb your cravings,” Tracy adds. “Try
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keeping a food diary so that you can identify any
patterns in your chocolate eating; whether it’s led
by events, times of day, or how you are feeling.
If it’s about habit then plan in advance how you
can keep yourself busy at times when you’d
normally eat chocolate – change your routine
and your habits will go out of the window giving
you an opportunity to create new, healthier
habits. If you discover you’re eating chocolate
in response to certain emotions then think of
an alternative, healthier treat, like an apple or a
small bowl of unsweetened cereal, or something
else you can do to make yourself feel better like
reading a magazine or talking to a friend.”
So, with myths busted, reasons for cravings
identified, and coping strategies to stop any
hankerings in their tracks, now is as good a
time as any to see if you can handle March
without your edible best friend for the benefit of
the one that beats inside your chest. Good luck!
To find out more about DECHOX, or sign up for
sponsorship, go to www.bhf.org.uk/dechox