Chocolate lover's thread!

[dramasnot6]

Chocolate is medicine for the soul, of course

Lookie what I found!
http://chocolates.tripod.com/med.html

[kathycf]

Oh wow! That is pretty cool. One can only imagine that an overabundance of chocolate was what brought him to the dentist...

[dramasnot6]

Yea, that's the irony of it! I still can not figure out why on earth vannila is the favorite flavor of ice cream in the US! It just seems so natural it would be CHOCOLATE

[kathycf]

Maybe vanilla is just a little more versatile. Actually, chocolate is only my second favorite flavor of ice cream...the first is coffee. *drools*

All this talk of sweets and here is me with my "special visitor" and no sweets in the house. This does not bode well....

[dramasnot6]

Oh my, go watch a movie and buy some sweets right away! Always helps

[Themis]

Chocolate is medicine for the soul, of course

Lookie what I found!
http://chocolates.tripod.com/med.html

They have ears too! Ears! *scared*


Back to topic: Chocolate! I love chocolate!

[Virgil]

Oh I may have to severely cut back on chocolate. My doctor tells me I have a "fatty liver," whatever that exactly means. I had a blood test and one of the liver functions turned up a little high. So he had me take an ultra sound of the liver and he says it's fatty. It's nothing serious but i have to lose weight. The thing that bothers me is that i'm not heavy. You've seen my pictures. So I'll have to lose weight and the first thing is cutting back on deserts and treats.

[kathycf]

Oh, that is a shame. I am sorry for your troubles Virgil. One of the nice things about having a dog is they love to run and play so more exercise might help you out to in addition to whatever dietary restrictions your doctor places you on.

Maybe you can have dessert every once in a while, there are many ways to cook or make things that are low in fat and cholesterol but still taste nice.

*goes off to hunt up some recipes*

*edit*
Ok, one thing I remember about baking chocolate desserts (such as brownies) is that cocoa powder is much lower in fat than baking chocolate, so that is good. I prefer cocoa powder anyway as it is more convenient. Here are some links to low fat desserts and other dishes.

Chocolate stuff

Low cal Diner (loads of main dish, breakfast, desserts ect...)

[dramasnot6]

Oh yes! I only use organic cocoa powder or sugarless vegan chocolate which is relatively VERY low fat Virgil. And is concentrated cocoa so many anti-oxidants as well. Plus I find the taste as wonderful as any other chocolate, you can make any chocolately dessert with it too! If youre interested I have brownie, cake, cookie, all kinds of very low fat, 0 cholesterol chocolate recipes.

[Virgil]

Thanks Kathy and Drama. I've been researching this fatty liver thing and it seems that it's an internal processing problem not that I eat too much fat. Here's some info:

What is Fatty Liver?
Fatty liver is just what its name suggests: the build-up of fat in the liver cells. Although this is not a normal condition, fat in the liver usually causes no damage by itself. However, on some occasions it can be a sign that other more harmful conditions are at work. Fatty liver may be associated with or may lead to inflammation of the liver. This can cause scarring and hardening of the liver. When scarring becomes extensive, it is called cirrhosis, and this is a very serious condition. Therefore, it is important that a physician thoroughly examine a patient with fat in the liver.

Cause
It would seem logical that eating fatty foods would cause a fatty liver, but this is not the case. The liver does play an important role in the metabolism or breakdown of fats. Something goes wrong in this process of metabolism, but it is still not known what does cause fat to build-up in the liver. It is known that fat accumulates in the liver with a number of conditions. The most common is obesity. Fatty liver is also associated with diabetes mellitus, high blood triglycerides, and the heavy use of alcohol. It may occur with certain illnesses such as tuberculosis and malnutrition, intestinal bypass surgery for obesity, excess vitamin A in the body, or the use of certain drugs such as valproic acid (trade names: Depakene/Depakote) and corticosteroids (cortisone, prednisone). Sometimes fatty liver occurs as a complication of pregnancy.

http://www.gicare.com/pated/ecdlv37.htm

None of those causes seem to apply to me.

I read elsewhere that 10-20% of people may have this condition. That's pretty high. But it does scare me. Doctor told me to just lose some weight. While I can stand to lose a few pounds, I'm not exactly heavy.

[kathycf]

Has the doctor set a goal for you? Even 5 or 10 percent may be enough of a reduction. For a 160 pound person that is (well, I know you can do the math very well, so I won't need to tell you).

Try some of the low cal recipes from the link I posted, the diner one. They have lots, not just desserts.

[Virgil]

Has the doctor set a goal for you? Even 5 or 10 percent may be enough of a reduction. For a 160 pound person that is (well, I know you can do the math very well, so I won't need to tell you).

No he hasn't. He just said lose weight. My goal will be to lose 10 pounds. I have put on a little weight (eight pounds or so) this past four months. Now that I'm going to a gym, I should be able to lose ten pounds in sixmonths, I would hope. I'll cut back on my portions and unfortunately my beloved red wine.

[kathycf]

That seems like a good plan. Exercise always helps.

[dramasnot6]

Yes, very good plan. A balance of exercise, smaller portions, and better food is usually the best.
Good luck with it!

[Virgil]

Thank you, ladies.