How to Beat Chocolate Cravings

Chocolate is one of life’s simple pleasures. A single bar of chocolate can stimulate the senses, as well as fulfill many cravings. The problem is that many people can’t seem to satisfy their urges for chocolates; some people cannot get by a day without eating a chocolate candy bar or drinking a chocolate milkshake.

Chocolates have many health benefits, but eating too much can cause tooth decay and hasten the onset of diabetes. A chocolate craving can also interfere with your diet and peace of mind. You don’t have to give up the sweet decadent goodness for good in order to beat a chocolate craving. Here are some ways to get your chocolate cravings back on track.

Practice Self-Control

Chocolate eggs, chocolate bars, and chocolate ice cream are hard to resist. You tell yourself that you’ll just have one bite, but you can’t stop eating the sweet stuff. It’s OK to eat just a bit of chocolate, as long as you don’t consume a giant bar. A few squares from a family-size bar, or a standard-sized candy bar, should be enough to fulfill your chocolate cravings for one whole day.

Make Chocolate Taste Bad

People like chocolate because it taste so good. If you could make chocolate taste bad, then you wouldn’t crave for it so much. The key is to eat something with a flavor incompatible with chocolate. Some foods have really strong flavors that can make even the best-tasting chocolate taste terrible. Here are some foodstuffs you can eat when you feel the chocolate craving coming along:

Pickled onions
Pickled cucumbers
Chili
Sauerkraut
Aniseed balls
Strong mint-flavored chewing gum

Don’t Keep Chocolate Around

One of the reasons why you may have a chocolate craving is the presence of chocolate all over your home. Some people with chocolate cravings keep all sorts of chocolate bars, chocolate candies, and chocolate drinks in their refrigerators, shelves, or cupboards. The easier it is for you to grab a chocolate, the more you’ll eat. Here are some ways to keep chocolates far and away from your reach:

Place your chocolate stash on a very high shelf. If you have to exert a lot of effort to get those chocolates, you’ll have fewer cravings.
Don’t buy a lot of chocolate when you’re at the grocery store or the supermarket.
Don’t buy chocolate at all; instead, get all your chocolate from a convenience store. Make sure that the store is a long walk away from your place.

Eat Sesame Seeds

There are many chemicals in chocolate that stimulate a craving. One of which is magnesium, which is found in many foods besides chocolate. A popular food that contains plenty of magnesium is sesame seeds. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, but you do have a craving for chocolate, then you may need to fulfill your body’s craving for magnesium.

Sesame seeds and sesame oils can be found in many foods, including:

Hamburger buns
Chinese food (especially savory dishes like Chinese stir-fry and desserts)
Pre-packed sesame seed snacks

Eat Something Chocolate-Flavored

If you do have a sweet tooth, you may only need to fulfill the craving for sweets. There are many chocolate substitutes available from health food stores and some specialty convenience stores. Chocolate substitutes have the same flavor of chocolate, without the calories, fats, and craving-inducing chemicals. They are more expensive than a chocolate bar, but they’re great for people who want the added pleasure of chocolate minus the guilt.

Whether it’s a bar of Baby Ruth, a Ferrero Rocher truffle, or a hot chocolate fudge sundae, chocolate is good for both body and soul. However, there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. Once you take control of your chocolate cravings, you can appreciate the goodness and decadence of chocolate even more.