The Best Chocolate for Keto Dieters

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If you're supposed to avoid sugar and carbs like the plague on a keto diet, why on earth would you eat chocolate?

In most cases chocolate will give you tons of carbs, mountains of sugar, and stats so bad you can barely give it a sniff before throwing yourself out of ketosis.

The fine folks at Harvard Medical School suggest that dark chocolate . . .

". . . package labels often state the percentage of cocoa in dark chocolate. Those figures can be misleading because they refer to the combined amount of cocoa powder and cocoa butter in the product, and the flavanol content varies widely."

In what might be considered a marketing ploy to increase the acceptance of chocolate as a "health" food, the Mars company (they make M&Ms and other chocolates that are easy to wolf down like a ravenous dog) says this about cocoa:

"Cocoa flavanols are unique. While there is a range of flavanol sources, not all flavanols are created equal. Scientists have discovered that the overall amounts, as well as the specific forms and mixtures of the flavanols present in each of these foods are different. Among those listed, cocoa is the most abundant in flavanols."

But I'm not here to give you the science of why you can eat chocolate on a keto diet, or why chocolate might (might!) contain a few healthy ingredients. I'm just here to show you what I think is the best combination of chocolaty taste, fiber (yes, chocolate has fiber!), delicious fat, and reasonable carbs for a strict but not completely carb-free keto diet.

If you're looking for a chocolate bar that will allow you to remain below a level of 20 grams of carbohydrates a day, I'd suggest you try a Lindt 90% Cocoa Supreme Dark Chocolate Excellence Bar.

Just to give you a quick comparison, take a look at the nutrition facts on a bag of M&Ms:

Those stats are exactly what you'd expect on a sugary candy product. Lots of sugar, lots of carbs, and a decent amount of fat.

Now, compare those numbers to what you'll find in a serving of Lindt 90% Cocoa Supreme Dark Chocolate:

While the serving sizes are slightly different (the 40 ounce suggestion for a serving of Lindt chocolate equals approximately 1.4 ounces, and the serving of M&Ms is 1.5 ounces), you can see how you can eat a few delicious squares of Lindt dark chocolate, get some terrific fat, and not blow your keto diet out of the water. If you subscribe to the net carbs club, you'll find that a serving of the Lindt chocolate will give you just 7 net carbs. Not too bad for a sweet treat!