Is this much chocolate bad for my health?

[Z064life]

I tend to eat 2 chocolate bars a day. This is only at weekdays and when I am at work.

I am curious as to what effect this has on my body. Some say chocolate is actually good for you but I don't know.

I also try to negate the effects by walking everyday for 40-50 minutes and, soon, to take up swimming.

Is this much chocolate bad for my health (eg heart)? The chocolate in question is a kit kat 4 piece bar. I don't drink or smoke.


Thanks

[maxrider]

Highly unlikely, depends what the rest of your diet is like.

[Z064life]

maxrider said:

Highly unlikely, depends what the rest of your diet is like.

Mixed. I have >2 pieces of fruit a day, drink special oil which is high in Omega 3, eat fish twice a week, have lentils, etc.

[drivin_me_nuts]

You are probably doing more harm to you body with the stress and anxiety you feel over the matter than chocolate can ever do. Eat it, enjoy it and whilst you do relax - it releases, for want of a better word lots of happy happy hormones!

Enjoy, and bin the guilt!

[BlackVanGirl]

I'd think that the only possible issues would be
a) dental, if you're unlucky with teeth and
b) any ill effect caused by the big fluctuations in blood sugar that eating something so very very sweet regularly could cause, although I really don't know a whole lot about it.

[Kylie]

As said above I would make sure my teeth are kept perfect as this is sure to add a few more fillings eeek! If you have normal blood pressure and physically healthy eat what you want everything in moderation.

[Will26]

Ive eaten 3 mars bars in the past 2 hours at work washed down with 2 cans of coke a bag of flying saucers and now eating some choozers. And I feel great. I normally eat 5 choc bars a day and im sure im pretty healthy. I Will be having a big breakfast in a few hours followed by a few hours in the pub.

[Coq au Vin]

Depends on the type of chocolate. Mars bar type things, dairy milk etc are full of cheap vegetable fats and won't do you much good at all. 70% or 85% dark chocolate, on the other hand, can actually be beneficial (apparantly lowers cholesterol).

[missdiane]

Enjoy the chocolate, a four finger KitKat won't have as much choc in in as a dairy milk anyway
Have a nice cup of tea/coffee within 20 minutes, washes the sweetness out of your teeth

[croyde]

Although reasonably fit and going to the gym 3/4 times a week, I used to snack constantly on chocolate and crisps and marveled at managing not to put any weight on from the age of 18 to my early 40s. The weight started to creep on once in my mid forties but then a month ago I had a heart attack.

Although well on the road back to fitness (walking 6+ miles a day) I won't touch snacks now and stick to fruit and salads and plenty of oily fish. I have dropped a stone and feel much better for it so the moral is enjoy it but don't go mad.

[Z064life]

croyde said:

Although reasonably fit and going to the gym 3/4 times a week, I used to snack constantly on chocolate and crisps and marveled at managing not to put any weight on from the age of 18 to my early 40s. The weight started to creep on once in my mid forties but then a month ago I had a heart attack.

Although well on the road back to fitness (walking 6+ miles a day) I won't touch snacks now and stick to fruit and salads and plenty of oily fish. I have dropped a stone and feel much better for it so the moral is enjoy it but don't go mad.

Sorry to hear about your heart attack.

Was your heart attack caused by chocolate/crisps? Do you drink or smoke?

[croyde]

Cheers.

Pre I was about 87 kg and 5ft 11 ins so according to the charts a bit over weight. Went to the gym at least 4 times a week and would run about 4k, cycle 12k and stride 12k along with some floor exercises and some weights.

I'm 46 and do not have a sedentary job and 3 young kids to run around after. I stopped smoking 20 years ago and even then I was only an occasional smoker.

My big problem was eating crap. Crisps, chocolate, biscuits and loads of take away and processed packaged meals but even after 30 years of this, mates were jealous as I never seemed to put any weight on, infact it only started to creep on in my 40s.

My Cholesterol was 6 and my BP was OK to borderline high.

My consultant believes that I was just unlucky and there are no heart problems in my family, in fact they are and have been pretty long-lived although with high blood pressure in some cases.

So a month later my weight is now 80kg and I'm eating lots of fruit and veg with oily fish and avoiding snacks like the plague. Booze is now at the recommended 21 units/week not that I was drinking loads before but a favourite late meal would be a bottle of red with 4 packets of crisps. I go on a fast walk of about 6 - 8 miles everyday and am waiting for the go ahead to return to the gym and get back on me bike, if it had not been stolen in the meantime.

So with any luck and as long as I am strict about my eating I should be healthier than I was before.

[Z064life]

croyde said:

Cheers.

Pre I was about 87 kg and 5ft 11 ins so according to the charts a bit over weight. Went to the gym at least 4 times a week and would run about 4k, cycle 12k and stride 12k along with some floor exercises and some weights.

I'm 46 and do not have a sedentary job and 3 young kids to run around after. I stopped smoking 20 years ago and even then I was only an occasional smoker.

My big problem was eating crap. Crisps, chocolate, biscuits and loads of take away and processed packaged meals but even after 30 years of this, mates were jealous as I never seemed to put any weight on, infact it only started to creep on in my 40s.

My Cholesterol was 6 and my BP was OK to borderline high.

My consultant believes that I was just unlucky and there are no heart problems in my family, in fact they are and have been pretty long-lived although with high blood pressure in some cases.

So a month later my weight is now 80kg and I'm eating lots of fruit and veg with oily fish and avoiding snacks like the plague. Booze is now at the recommended 21 units/week not that I was drinking loads before but a favourite late meal would be a bottle of red with 4 packets of crisps. I go on a fast walk of about 6 - 8 miles everyday and am waiting for the go ahead to return to the gym and get back on me bike, if it had not been stolen in the meantime.

So with any luck and as long as I am strict about my eating I should be healthier than I was before.

I see.

I personally don't drink or smoke at all (only breath in 2nd hand smoke) but I am very paranoid/hyperchondriac.

I always eat junk but my weight seems to remain constant. 12.5-7 stones and I am somewhere between 6ft and 6ft 2. My BMI is 24.1 (normal) and the boundary is 18.5 to 24.9.

I too try to negate the effects too (but it seems you do more).

How can I check my cholesterol?


Thanks

[croyde]

To be honest a choc or two a day is fine as long as you are eating well generally but I must resist as to have one would open the floodgates

Cholesterol testing kits can be bought from Boots for about a tenner for one go. Pretty accurate as mine came out at 5.9 and the Doc got it at 6.0.

My brother dieted and exercised for ages and never got his down or his blood pressure lower even though he ran half marathons. It seems that in some folk it is just genetic and can only be controlled with tablets.

My Doc offered me statins to lower my cholesterol but I did not want to take a pill every day for the rest of my life so now I take 5 a day.

[King Herald]

Z064life said:

I tend to eat 2 chocolate bars a day. This is only at weekdays and when I am at work.

I am curious as to what effect this has on my body. Some say chocolate is actually good for you but I don't know.

I also try to negate the effects by walking everyday for 40-50 minutes and, soon, to take up swimming.

Is this much chocolate bad for my health (eg heart)? The chocolate in question is a kit kat 4 piece bar. I don't drink or smoke.


Thanks

That is probably but a thimble full of chocolate, were you to melt it down. I'd not even think about it as a problem ever again. You'll ingest more crap drinking a can of Coke every day.