Good news, chocolate-loving lady friends.

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that eating chocolate on a daily basis can actually keep you more svelte. Researchers surveyed 1,000 adults, asking them to detail what they ate over the course of a week. Those who ate more chocolate in that time actually weighed less than those who ate less chocolate. The avid chocolate eaters didn’t necessarily exercise more either, and they ended up consuming more calories than the less frequent noshers. Is it just me or does this seem to defy all logic?

Ah, but there’s a catch (and why wouldn’t there be?): Researchers say the benefit of chowing down on the sweet brown stuff may not be in how much you eat, but how frequently you eat it. So what the findings seem to say is this: if you eat, say, a small serving of chocolate five days a week, it can help lower your BMI (body mass index). Alright, I can get down with that. (via Jezebel)

It seems to me, though, that a lot of foods get a bad reputation, when really, they ain’t so bad for ya. Granted, you can’t go at them like a hyena to a dead carcass, but you can enjoy them in moderation on a regular basis. They might even help you stave off some poundage. How can you not like the sound of that?


1. Peanut Butter. I am a self-proclaimed peanut butter addict. In fact, writing this is inducing painful amounts of withdrawal, as I’ve given up the sweet, succulent spread for Lent (less than two weeks left, oy!). Really, you can’t imagine how hard it is to look at that perfect PB peak up there. But as a vegetarian, I look for alternative ways to supplement my protein and vitamin B intake, and peanut butter is a huge source of that. Always go with the natural kind, which contains a lot of monounsaturated fats – in short, the good kind of fat. The good thing about PB is that it’s so nutrient dense that we get fuller faster, and thus end up eating fewer calories overall. Just don’t go at it with a spoon. I’ve done it. It ends very badly.


2. Potatoes. Taters have always been deemed the kings of carbs. They come in rather high on the glycemic index, which means they raise your blood sugar pretty quickly. However, potatoes are also a good source of fiber and vitamin C, and you can lower the GI effect by adding a little bit of olive oil to a plain potato. The fats in the oil helps to delay carb absorption. Some potato wedges drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt? A-okay. Tricky, eh?


3. Bananas. A lot of people think that because bananas are sweet and starchy, they’re the least beneficial fruit to consume. Not so. The starch found in bananas is actually a resistant starch that fills our stomachs up instead of filling our tushies out. And the same starch aids in your body’s fat-burning process, post gorging. Win-win? I think so.
(via EatingWell, Today)

What are some of your favorite foods to indulge in?