What Chocolate taught me about Health..

The ribbons off and the eating begins… but it’s not what you think!.Anyone who knows me, knows I 🧡 chocolate.. initially I ate the super sweet, milky stuff in abundance until I decided me and chocolate needed to break-up, not least because I have a severe intolerance to lactose!!
.
So, in my 20’s I embarked on a period of complete abstinence.. the closest I got to eating chocolate was smelling it, sometimes a little sniff of someone else’s bar and if I knew the person well enough .. I’d ask them to breathe in my direction as the chocolate melted in their mouth and then close my eyes and experience the memory of the taste, with the power of my mind 😳. 
.
Yes.. I love chocolate!  So, imagine my delight when I discovered raw cocao – no dairy, no refined sugar, loaded with polyphenols, antioxidants and minerals – how could I not eat it? Adios.. 8 years of abstinence, Hola.. heaven! 
.But there is more to raw chocolate than the taste, the health benefits and the emotional high (yes it positively awakens neurotransmitters 💥).   When it first appeared in the UK, it was made by hand in people’s kitchens, wrapped in greaseproof paper and tied with string or ribbon, the attention to detail, the time and the energy given to its creation made me want to eat it with the same level of intentional mindfulness. 
.
I began making my own chocolate using online recipes and attending chocolate making workshops, where I discovered the true calmness, intention and organisation that went into creating this delicious treat.  I think the teacher would have been mind-blown had she seen me at home, ingredients scattered over worktops and melted chocolate smeared on my clothes.  I began to read about its magical properties in books like ‘Naked Chocolate’ by David Wolfe and learned about the power of ritual at Cocao Ceremonies. 
.

This blog started as a short Instagram post, I had the intention of sharing a caption about the most amazing chocolate shop I found in St Ives, the texture of the chocolate is fabulous and the flavours inspired and the maker has the most beautiful energy – it’s a unique and exquisite combination that results in the BEST chocolate I’ve ever tasted.. yes .. I said it.. hence the need to post.
.
However, this is not the short gushing post I planned, it’s a full-on blog.. the first I have written for a long time, maybe it’s the chocolate rush (I’m riding the roasted coffee flavoured wave at the moment) but deep down I know it’s more. 
.
This review of my chequered chocolate history, reminds me of the relationship we have with food and how it is a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves. I work a lot in my hypnotherapy practice with people wanting to change the way they eat, most often to change the way they look, so that paradoxically they can change the way they feel about themselves.  
.
I get it, the outside-in approach makes logical sense, I started Unique Balance as a Nutritional Therapist nearly 21 years ago – I understood the body and what it needed to consume to go beyond survival, so that it can thrive mentally and physically.  At one point I was evangelical about ‘what’ to eat, I was unprocessed, gluten free, sugar free, diary free in a time when this stuff was not trending .. I couldn’t pop to Pizza Express for a GF, vegan, cheese topped pizza or to Sainsbugs for a Raw Halo bar .. it was Tupperware, pre-packed lunches and inhaling other people’s Mars Bars that got me through. 
.
But just as my journey with chocolate evolved, so did my understanding of food, ‘how’ we eat and what we believe about the food we consume has so much more power than we know.  Yes, we need food for energy, its nutrients contain the building blocks of life but we also have sensory hunger which is satisfied by taste, we connect to other people through the giving and sharing of food – these are not things that can be abandoned when we consider our diet .  
.
How we feed ourselves gives us clues as to how we feel about ourselves – do we give ourselves time? are we honouring our desires? can we mindfully enjoy the experience? do we restrict or overindulge in an attempt to meet emotional need? do we have beliefs about foods being good or bad and interestingly, why do so many people view ‘bad foods’ as a treat? 
.
Food is often used as the quickest way of ‘giving’ to ourselves.. quickly popping something into the mouth when tired, emotional or uncomfortable feels like its better than nothing.  It doesn’t interfere with other people, we can artificially give ourselves a physical or emotional boost, it acts as a distraction, but it’s so short lived it can result in an eat-repeat cycle, whilst the real need remains unmet.   It can seem like a complex topic to explore because we are all so used to an outside-in approach, where we are told what is right and wrong, where we consider what to eat based on how we want to look, rather than how we feel and then rebel against ourselves.  
.
When you switch this around to an inside-out approach, where you listen to your body, stay present to the taste and the joy of eating, experience and honour the sensation of fullness and appreciate the feelings of satisfaction, you begin to change your health and your body as you learn what foods are uniquely right for you and in what quantity, you also learn to recognise the other physical and emotional needs you have and begin to fulfil them appropriately. 
.
If you want to know more, there are some great books (audio versions too) like ‘The Slow Down Diet’ by Marc David, ‘The Rules of Normal Eating’ by Karem Koening, ‘Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul‘ and ‘the Healing Secrets of Food’ both by Deborah Kesten and ‘Mindful Eating‘ by Jan Chozen Bays. I’ve also decided (just 3 sentences ago) to run some workshops on this in 2023 as it’s such a powerful topic – so let me know if you are interested and look out for more information. God, I love raw chocolate, such an intoxicating combination of ingredients to power the mind and sacred creation to fire up the soul – I don’t write blogs and plan workshops every time I eat it .. but maybe I should 🙂

2 Comments

  1. Judy on November 26, 2022 at 10:12 pm

    Thank you so much for your wonderful words – I’m so touched and delighted that you’re relishing the chocs, humbled that they inspired your open blog and love that you love them too – they always seem to make their way to very good homes. Thank you again and hope to see you next time you’re in St Ives! Judy xxx

    • Cheri on November 27, 2022 at 2:45 pm

      My pleasure … I will definitely be visiting next time I’m in St Ives and in the meantime will be putting in a hearty order online 🙂 xxx

Leave a Comment