I am always amazed about the milk debate, whether it be chocolate or not. When I was growing up and didn't want to eat, my mother would say at least drink your milk. It is good for you. Every morning I would put chocolate mix in my milk and nobody said that it was bad for me. Canada's Food Rules used to stipulate how much milk was necessary and kids needed more than adults. I won't quote exactly because I don't remember whether it was 3 or 4 glasses of milk a day. In times when some people say that children don't actually need milk because they still get calcium from other foods and that animals don't drink milk after being weaned, I say bull roar. I have 7 grandchildren and most aren't good eaters. Water today is the drink of choice but I am still a believer in eggs and milk being the purist of foods.
The debate today is about chocolate milk in the schools. There is supposed to be a reversal of fortune and chocolate milk is making a comeback. We had lunch at home so I was never faced with that when I was growing up. My kids went to a private school and the lunches were awful and carb and fat laden and they ended up bringing their own. I didn't even know that chocolate milk was considered as bad as candy or soft drinks in promoting childhood obesity and quite frankly don't buy into it too much.
I wasn't a great eater in my early years and milk was the go to and if I didn't want it then we added a little chocolate to it. I can't blame that on getting fat because that didn't happen until later years. The vitamins and minerals in milk outweigh the drawbacks of some extra sugar. Meanwhile what about all the soft drinks that were available in the schools when my kids were there?
Well, that is the milk part of the debate. Now what about the chocolate. My Mom didn't buy chocolate milk we just added a couple of teaspoons of chocolate drink mix to make mine chocolate and it was only in the morning. Today they say breakfast is very important but what if your kid doesn't want to eat? Does that mean don't give them chocolate milk? Is it really better to throw the baby out with the bath water? What about the need for breakfast to make the brain work? Oh, no let's not give them what they want for fear of sugar. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my beef is with the sugary cereals and all the rest of the crap like fat-laden sausages and bacon filled with nitrates and nitrites. So let's not give chocolate milk a bad rap.
I never know what to eat for breakfast. I was reading the paper this morning when I came across the great chocolate milk debate. I was having a Ryvita with peanut butter and cherry jam and thought I might go to hell for the sugar in the cherry jam after reading this diatribe. Now here is an eye-opener for all the chocolate naysayers. For years studies have shown that favonols, the antioxidant-rich compounds found in cocoa, improve circulation. Now new research indicates that because those compounds increase blood flow to the brain, they may also help you see more clearly. Two and a half hours after consuming 720 milligrams of flavonols (the amount in about one ounce of dark chocolate), study participants' visual function and ability to detect motion direction improved dramatically.
So here is some more research on chocolates. It is better to have your chocolates after a meal, just one or two pieces, about 150 calories with a glass of milk (which has protein). (haha ... read this you naysayers of chocolate milk). Choose dark chocolate, not that it will lower the calorie count but the antioxidants in dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure and may help protect your skin from sun damage. So if you aren't eating it from a 70% pure bar like I often do, then go for the nuts if you are picking it out of a box of chocolates. Nuts have heart-healthy unsaturated fats that can give you an added nutritional boost. What about chocolate covered strawberries? Yum! They complement the taste of chocolate. Chocolate also complements the taste of strawberries and you can get some fibre and feel full faster and won't be so tempted to eat too much sweet stuff. ... Only one thing... don't go for the cream-filled centres. Those are a killer and had too much sugar.
So, I say, let the kids have their chocolate milk and pay more attention to the processed and packaged foods and fake sugars and spreads pretending to be butter. I don't think the chocolate milk debate was worthy of front page news and certainly didn't need to be continued inside the paper. It must be a short news day. With all the erroneous information out there, it must be really confusing to the young mothers of today. I still think nutrition was better when we didn't have so much controversy in what was right and wrong many years ago. Just too much information!
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