When you have type 2 diabetes, you have to avoid lots of products... particularly processed foods.
So, that includes delicious chocolate, right?
Fortunately, the answer is no! In this article, you'll get 15 tips for types of sugar-free chocolate you can eat as a type 2 diabetes patient.
More...
"Sugar-free chocolate... does it really exist?!"
When you have type 2 diabetes, you are only allowed to eat a select number of products. Which is very unfortunate because life without delicacies is no life at all.
With type 2 diabetes, it is wise to adjust your lifestyle. After all, there's a very good chance you developed type 2 diabetes because your lifestyle was unhealthy.
Think of a diet full of:
You HAVE to give these up. However hard this may be. Believe me – it will undoubtedly help you to live a diabetes-free life.
But a life confined to a diet of vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts, and seeds is also pretty boring. So certain producers have come up with something to cheer you up.
In some products on the market, a large part of the sugar content has been replaced by sweeteners. And these sweeteners are not as unhealthy as 'regular' sugars. They've done this with chocolate too. And that is of course very nice, because who doesn't like chocolate?
Purpose of this article
But beware! Not all so-called sugar-free chocolate is really "sugar-free." Some try to trick you by using "organic" date or coconut sugar in their sugar-free chocolate. However, as far as your body is concerned, this is not sugar-free chocolate by any means.
That's why I have compiled a list of 15 of the healthiest (and most popular brands on Amazon.com) low-carb, sugar-free chocolates that you can order from the comfort of your own home.
How is chocolate made?
In the past, it was impossible to make sugar-free chocolate that didn't taste disgusting. Why? Because the only way to make it sugar-free was to use 100% cocoa. And you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy, believe me!
Chocolate is made of cocoa powder. At least, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and black chocolate is. You can't really call white chocolate, "chocolate" because it doesn't contain cocoa powder.
Cocoa beans are plucked from trees. Then they are roasted, sieved and ground.
The cocoa beans are then pressed to separate the cocoa powder from the cocoa butter. These two ingredients are eventually re-combined to make chocolate. For white chocolate you only need cocoa butter.
The lighter the chocolate is in color, the less cocoa powder and the more sugar it contains.
That's why black chocolate is also a lot healthier than milk chocolate or white chocolate.
The glycemic index
How can you make a chocolate bar healthy?
"By removing or replacing the sugars."
As I mentioned above, removing only the sugars is not good for the taste. It makes the chocolate very bitter. But when you replace these sugars with healthy sweeteners, it tastes much better. Not all sweeteners are created equal. And quality is largely determined by the glycemic index (GI).
The glycemic index (GI) can be expressed as a number between 1 and 100. It represents how quickly different carbohydrate foods increase the blood sugar level in relation to pure glucose.
Ideally, you want therefore to see a glycemic index of 0 (zero). This won't do anything with your blood sugar and insulin levels.
"When I talk about sugar-free chocolate in this article, I mean chocolate without any added sugar. Some low-carb bars naturally contain sugar, so there is always a small amount of sugar in the chocolate bar."
#1 Dante Confections 98% Stevia Chocolate Bars
This is one of the best chocolate bars you can buy on earth. Why? Because it contains 98% cocoa AND stevia.
And chocolate as pure as this contains lots of flavonoids that have a wide range of health benefits:
It is pretty difficult to find chocolate any purer and/or healthier than this.
Stevia is good for you
Stevia is one of the best sweeteners around. And it's especially useful for diabetes type 2 patients. As a sweetener, it is 30 to 100 times sweeter than regular sugar and contains hardly any calories.
What's more, stevia does not cause an increase in your blood sugar and insulin levels. Research has even shown that stevia can lower blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. Stevia has a glycemic index of 0.
Click here to order the best stevia you can get on Amazon.
If you are used to (very) sweet chocolate, then this chocolate might not be the best option to start with. Due to the high percentage of cocoa, it will be very bitter.
But if you can handle it, it's by far the best sugar-free chocolate you can eat.
#2 ChocZero 70% Dark Chocolate
If you thought that all the sugar-free chocolate in this article would be the same as number one then you are absolutely wrong.
The majority of low-carb chocolate on the market barely contains 70% cocoa – which is the absolute minimum we recommend because of the health benefits of the flavonoids in cocoa.
ChocZero 70% is one of the most popular brands on Amazon... and for good reason!
It's 100% sugar-free chocolate which contains a relatively unknown (yet healthy) sweetener: "monk fruit extract."
Monk fruit extract has a glycemic index of zero and seems to have several health benefits including:
The compounds in monk fruit that are responsible for this are mogrosides.
For die-hard readers: they also have an 85% version available.
Price:
14,99 USD for a 3 pack containing 10 pieces each (4,9 cents per gram)
Rating on Amazon
#3 ChocZero 50% Dark Chocolate
This is exactly the same chocolate, with exactly the same benefits as the one above...
...with one small difference:
It tastes (a lot) sweeter.
In general, this would mean the chocolate is less healthy. But both the flavonoids in cocoa and the mogrosides in monk fruit are antioxidants.
And here you are trading "less flavonoids" for "more mogrosides". So, in this case, eating a sweeter tasting chocolate might not be less healthy at all.
For reassurance sake: it's definitely NOT unhealthy.
Price:
14,99 USD for a 3 pack containing 10 pieces each (4,9 cents per gram)
Rating on Amazon
#4 Guylian Dark Chocolate
This is a sugar-free chocolate with 54% cocoa content.
The sweetener used in this product is maltitol.
Maltitol is a sugar alcohol and has a glycemic index of 36. Pure glucose has a glycemic index of 100. It is slightly better, but stevia is much healthier because it has a glycemic index of 0.
If you love to eat chocolate, it might be useful to note that maltitol can cause diarrhea, bloating and flatulence, especially in people with irritable bowel syndrome.
#5 Hershey's Chocolate Bars
Hershey's and good tasting chocolate go hand in hand.
However, it used to be the case that Hershey's and sugar-rich chocolate also went hand in hand.
But fortunately for diabetics, this is no longer the case because they now have several sugar-free chocolate bars.
Dark is not really that dark...
The 'problem' however is that the cocoa content of their darkest bar is still only 45%. I advise you to - at least - buy 50% and above. Preferably even 70% and above.
But regardless, it's still a tasty choice if you want a healthy-ish low-carb chocolate.
Ooh! And before I forget, The sweetener used in Hershey's low-carb chocolate is the sugar alcohol maltitol.
#6 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
I have a few guilty pleasures in life...
...and I'm afraid that Reese's cups are one of them.
I can't express in words how much I love the taste of peanut butter and chocolate together. If it weren't for the high sugar content of the regular Reese's cups, I would eat them all day.
But fortunately they now also have a sugar-free variety of Reese's peanut butter cups. Because the Hershey's company owns Reese's AND because it uses Hershey's low-carb chocolate, it should not come as a surprise that they also use maltitol as a sweetener.
#7 Russell Stover Sugar-Free Chocolate
This brand has been around since 1923, and now it also makes lots of sugar-free chocolates. And by lots, I mean really a lot!
You can see the entire lineup on Amazon.com here.
All their low-carb chocolate is sweetened with stevia AND maltitol despite the packaging only stating the stevia for obvious marketing reasons.
Their most popular sugar-free chocolate on Amazon is Pecan Delights. I strongly advise you to try these if you're into caramel and nuts in a big way.
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#8 Hershey's Sugar-Free Chocolate with Caramel
Talking about caramel:
Did you know, Hershey's also makes a sugar-free chocolate with a sugar-free caramel filling?
Yep. The chocolate is sweetened with maltitol, and they use maltitol syrup for the sugar-free caramel. Personally, I prefer non-caramel chocolate, but each to her/his own.
#9 Torras Dark Chocolate Bar
This is a pretty healthy yet expensive option.
The good news is that it contains a minimum of 60% cocoa and uses stevia as a sweeter. That bad news is that it's almost twice as expensive as other options here UNLESS you buy 12 packs in one order.
The price per gram drops a lot because of the bulk purchase.
#10 Kiss My Keto Low-Carb Chocolate
Kiss my Keto is a brand that – unsurprisingly – makes keto-friendly products.
A ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, low-sugar diet. All keto-friendly products on the market are also diabetes-friendly due to low or non-existent sugar content.
Chocolate from this brand are especially healthy because they contain MCT oil. MCT (aka Medium Chain Triglycerides) are found naturally in coconut oil.
MCT oil's many health benefits include:
Which makes up for its low 45% cocoa content.
This low-carb keto chocolate comes in 5 varieties
They all cost the same, so you don't have to worry about finding the brand's cheapest sugar-free chocolate.
#11 Lily's Sweets Sugar-Free Chocolate Bars
This is a bit of a gem if you can find it on Amazon.
Lily's Sweets sugar-free chocolate comes in a vast range of varieties. Both in flavor and in cocoa percentage. The healthiest option they have is the 85% cocoa bar, which is sweetened by stevia and erythritol.
Erythritol, like maltitol, is a sugar alcohol. But erythritol has a glycemic index of 1. In other words, it barely does anything to your blood sugar level. It is therefore better than maltitol.
#12 York Sugar-Free Peppermint Patties Dark Chocolate
Peppermint and chocolate is not my favorite combination. But, apparently, lots of people love it.
If you enjoy the rich flavor of cocoa with the fresh and sweet flavor of peppermint, then look no further.
These York-made patties are sweetened with the sugar alcohol maltitol, and they are not very expensive if you buy a big bag.
If you can't track down this brand, you might like to check out Russell Stover's peppermint patties. They're pretty much the same... except that the Russell Stover's ones are sweetened with stevia AND maltitol rather than maltitol alone.
#13 Chocolate Covered Almonds
Several companies sell chocolate covered almonds...
... the problem is that most of them (read: almost all) put sugar in the chocolate.
Fortunately, however, the Superior Nut Company makes chocolate covered almonds using maltitol instead of sugar.
Almonds are super good for you. So the combination is really great if you're looking for a snack that's as tasty as it is healthy.
#14 Kiss My Keto Hot Chocolate Drink
Now let's be honest:
Hot coco drink isn't really the low-carb chocolate you're looking for, is it? Same goes for sugar-free chocolate pudding or jello.
But then again, it might also be the best thing you've read all week.
The Kiss My Keto drink is very healthy because it contains the MCT oil we talked about earlier. But now you can drink it instead of eating it in a bar. And the only sweetener in the product is stevia, so it's very healthy.
The only downside? The price I'm afraid.
#15 Giant Sports Keto Hot Chocolate Drink
To top it all off, another hot chocolate drink for you to consider.
This one also contains MCT oil. The difference? This one is sweetened with monk fruit extract and is available in several low-carb flavors such as:
The problem, again, is the price of this sugar-free chocolate drink. It's almost 10 cents per gram, which is almost twice as expensive as most low-carb chocolates in this article.
But it might be a nice option to treat yourself with from time to time. Click here for more (and far cheaper) tips for sugar-free drinks beside water.
Eat all the chocolate you want?
Now, of course, these are all very nice products that hardly affect your blood sugar level. But will they cure your type 2 diabetes? No, absolutely not.
You can see this type of product as a fine supplement to a very healthy diet. That is why I have a final and important tip for you.
Recently it has been discovered that it is possible to reverse type 2 diabetes. Everything you need to do this can be found in your local grocery store.
You can reverse type 2 with one powerful principle. It's something I call"The Diabetes-Free Secret". I have written a number of pages about this secret that will change your life forever. You will learn:
Enter your e-mail address below and I will send you the E-book for free.
Greetings,
Marloes Schuurman
PS: What is your favorite brand of sugar-free chocolate? Leave a comment below