Choc-o-nundrum

Guys, I made it!

I managed to survive the entire Easter long weekend without eating chocolate :) I joined a friend on a camping trip (more on that later) and when Sunday morning rolled around, sure enough there were giant boxes of Favourites and bags of mini eggs being passed around. I resisted. (Ok, so I stuffed my face with Starbursts and Killer Pythons, I didn't say I was a saint, sheesh!)

Yours truly, circa 1991. Starting early.

And then I came home to find this article on the health benefits of cacao (pronounced "ca-kow" - I always feel like I'm doing a bird call when I say it out loud), not to be confused with cocoa (the after-product of roasting cacao which is then combined with sugar and sweetener and all that deliciously evil stuff that makes chocolate such a sweet sin) in the Body + Soul section of the paper.

According to the article and miscellaneous Google results, the benefits of raw cacao include:

- Crazy levels of antioxidants. 621 in comparison to just 32 found in blueberries.

- Improves digestion due to the fibre content and stimulation of digestive enzyme production.

- Feel good feelings caused by increases in serotonin levels, endorphin production and release of anandamine.

- Heaps more, go Google for yourself!

So I would be doing myself a disservice by not having it. Right?

Is this cheating? Or is this the equivalent of a smoker switching from cancer sticks to an electronic placebo?

Conundrum.