Hiking ChocolateHiking chocolate: it's not just for breakfast anymore! Seriously, chocolate deserves a place on a hiker's list of go-to foods, for plenty of good reasons. Maybe you've read some of the latest research findings about its heart-protective benefits, or heard a news blurb about chocolate as a wonder food. But a few words of caution are in order. Not every type of chocolate is the "good" kind for hikers, even if it tastes good. The first thing to consider when selecting hiking chocolate is the amount of antioxidants the chocolate contains. Anti what?? Well, to keep it short and sweet, we need to consume molecular oxygen in order to make energy at the cellular level (adenosine triphosphate in our mitochondria, to be not so short and sweet). The two atoms of oxygen bonded into each atmospheric oxygen molecule can cause trouble in the process, trying to rip off electrons from nearby molecules. An anti-oxidant works to protect your cells from these "rogue" oxygen free radicals. So consuming antioxidants in your diet is a good daily habit, cellularly speaking. For example, arteries are protected against cholesterol oxidation and plaque formation by antioxidants. And doesn't it make sense for hikers, who are breathing deeply hour after hour on the trail, pulling lots of oxygen molecules through their respiratory system and circulating it via blood vessels through the heart and out to the tissues, to consume antioxidants? You bet it does! It turns out that dark chocolate has lots of flavonoids (plant based antioxidants), with flavanol being the specific type found in cocoa. Mother Nature puts flavanols into other foods, too: cranberries, onions, red wine, apples. Chocolate + red wine... oops, my mind is wandering off topic here. It's important to be discriminating in the type of chocolate you put into your lunch sack: you want cocoa with high amounts of flavanol. This molecule can be stripped away during processing, and you don't want to waste calories on chocolate that's not protecting your cardiovascular system. Look for high percentages of dark chocolate on the label: 70% at the minimum. Sadly, what passes for chocolate on American store shelves has been highly processed. Our taste buds have been trained to want super-sweet candy bars, which means sugar predominates. "Dutch" chocolate has been alkalized - there's not much flavanol left in it. So check the label. To complicate this picture, there are lots of low quality fats added to the highly processed chocolate. This adds calories, but not necessarily nutrients. It's part of why chocolate has gotten a bad reputation. So what ends up being labeled "chocolate" isn't always that great for a hiker's body. To be fair, high quality cocoa (cacao) crammed full of flavanols is slightly bitter, and not very palatable by itself. So a sweetener and fat must be added or people won't buy it. Just watch out for how MUCH is added. We've been told that fat is bad for us. Yet the cocoa butter used in making high quality chocolate has components in it which can either protect (oleic acid) or are neutral (stearic acid) in terms of cardiovascular health. There's more to it than this, but for now, are you with me? Chocolate is not the big, bad food it was once made out to be. It has a legitimate place in your hiking lunch sack. By the way, this is not a license to ingest massive amounts of chocolate during a hike. An ounce here, an ounce there, is what I'm recommending. Overindulging in chocolate racks up fat calories and plays havoc with your blood sugar levels, things to avoid if you want to keep hiking into your nineties! So please play around with the source of your chocolate. Don't settle for the icky-sweet, over processed stuff on the supermarket shelves. Ferret out the dark chocolate brands, 55% cacoa and higher from reputable companies. Consider it a homework assignment from me: Locate the best hiking chocolate, and consume it regularly in small quantities. Luckily for me, I live in a city that takes its chocolate VERY seriously, so I have plenty of options for experimenting with a nice balance between nutrition, price, and taste. My favorite small act of kindness to myself each hiking season is to purchase a new type of hiking chocolate to share on the trail. In that spirit of sharing trail chocolate (virtually, unfortunately), try some of my favorite brands of hiking chocolate: 1. Theo's Chocolate. Theo's Chocolate. USDA certified organic, fair trade, not cheap but pretty close to heaven. Currently, my favorite hiking chocolate is the cherry and almond 70% cacoa dark chocolate bar. I find just a small square deeply satisfying. It deserves a place in anyone's search for high quality hiking chocolate. 2. Divine Chocolate. This company amazes me because it's doing lots of things right: it's 45% owned by the cacoa growers, it publishes its annual reports on its website, it cares about its ingredients... AND the chocolate rocks! Try all of the types until you hit upon your favorite hiking chocolate. 3. Green & Black's Organic Chocolate. Another fair trade company, with a diverse assortment of flavors. Check out the "Chocolate 101" section of their website for some great information. Their dark chocolate Mint bar makes a refreshing ending for a trail lunch or base camp dinner. 4. Trader Joe's Pound Plus Bittersweet Chocolate. Here's a lot of hiking chocolate for not a lot of money, and it's tasty, too. I like the "with almonds" version. I break it into hunks and throw it into a small zip lock bag. It travels well, and a small amount satisfies me as an after lunch snack. Hiking chocolate is just one small component in hiking nutrition. Here's the main nutrition page.
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