Yahoo Lifestyle The worst Easter chocolates
Resist the urge to go overboard at Easter with our guide to the best and worst Easter treats
When you OD on candy, your pancreas has to work overtime—it pumps out massive amounts of insulin, causing the body to build up a resistance to sugar.
Translation: The more sweets you eat, the more you need to feel satisfied.
AVOID THESE EASTER CANDIES
Worst Kilojoules Offenders:Cadbury Cream Eggs – 588kJ
Worst Sugar Offenders:
Jelly Belly Assorted jelly beans (35) – 28 g sugar,
(Small) Cadbury Chocolate Eggs (12) – 26 g sugar
Worst Fat Offenders:
Nestle's Crunch Solid Chocolate Easter Bunny – 36.2 g of fat
The Worst Easter Candy:
Hershey's Hollow Milk Chocolate Egg
Not-so-sweet sugar facts:
If overdosing on kilojoules is what worries you, reaching for a Diet Pepsi isn't the solution: Artificial sweeteners may be almost as bad for you as high fructose corn syrup.
In 2004, a study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that rats ate more after consuming an artificially sweetened drink than they did after sipping sugar water.
Researchers say that might be because calorie-free artificial sweeteners act like stomach teasers: As you down your diet soda, your body anticipates the kilojoules. When they don't arrive, your body sends you looking elsewhere for them, often in a snack bowl.
And get this: A 2005 study by researchers from the University of Texas found that people who drank a can of diet soda per day had a 37 per cent greater incidence of obesity.
Healthy replacement treats at Easter:
Apples: A 2003 Brazilian study found that three apples a day can keep weight gain at bay--and can even help you lose.
"There's no magic compound," according to Dr Rui Hai Liu, an apple researcher at Cornell University. "The best way to lose weight is to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. That increases volume and decreases calorie density."
If you've got 5 minutes and a knife, cut your apple up and mix it with some chopped walnuts and a teaspoon or two of maple syrup. Or eat it with a tablespoon of peanut butter to add about 420 kilojoules’’ worth of the satiating power of nuts.
Liquorice:
Dr Decio Armanini who did the research at Italy's University of Padua, explains that there are two ways liquorice works. The first is complicated and involves blocking an enzyme that plays a role in fat accumulation. The second is simpler.
"Liquorice can reduce appetite," he says. "The effect is probably related to the agreeable taste of liquorice, and for that reason people do not need to eat more."
We're not talking Twizzlers here; go for the real thing, preferably with liquorice extract high on its ingredient list. (Look for it in grocery stores, not convenience stores.) A handful is about 500kJs and will keep you busy chewing something sweet, flavourful, and satisfying for twice the time it takes to down a bag of M&Ms.
And if you must have chocolate:
Try dark chocolate with 60% Cacao. Opt for chocolate that is individually wrapped, most squares will have around 189kJs so you won't go off the chocolaty deep end.
Plus, cocoa can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and possibly even prevent cancer. But be sure to stick to the dark chocolate, it retains more of the bean during processing and generally has slightly less fat than the milkier version.
