Just thought I should post this for those of you who don't know much about food and the food industry's obsession with total boldface lies and bullshit especially when it comes to "diabetic friendly" foods.

I was at Walgreens today getting some nail polish and panty hose for a wedding that I am going to tomorrow.  The panty hose and nail polish is for my wife, just in case you were thinking I am into some freaky deaky shit.  She was with me, too...  I know better than to try to buy nail polish for a woman, it will be wrong every time, that is another story. 

So she is browsing the makeup section and I am over in my favorite area, the candy section.  I come across this big display "Sugar Free Chocolate". I am aware this has been around for a long time, but I never paid much attention in the past. I took notice this time, because I have been thinking about chocolate a lot lately.  I will post a whole thing on which chocolate I recommend for us diabetics, hint, it's not the sugar free kind.

So I am reading the nutrition information which is the default behavior all of you should do when you are picking up food in the store. I look at the label and notice it has more than twice the carbohydrates of the chocolate I have been eating.  It has no sugar, but a ton of "sugar alcohol" which is where the term, scam, comes from.  This little trick has been used for years to make us think that a food is sugar free and therefore better for us (diabetics).  Right next to the nutrition information is some little advert on the label about a "walk for diabetes" coming up.  This is what set me off.

So the maker of this shitty candy bar is implying that this product is diabetic friendly and great for diabetics to eat.  This really gets me going, as you will learn if you hang around the forum long enough.  Advertisers, food manufacturers, even the ADA will get me livid. It is this sleight of hand and gentle misinformation that all combine to help keep diabetes growing as a disease and keep fucking good people up.  It pisses me off to put it gently.  There is no law that stops this kind of misinformation, so you have to be your own advocate, big time.  If you learn nothing else from me, learn that.  Stand up for yourself against your doctor, the food industry, everyone.  You have this disease, not them, so you are the one who will go blind, lose your legs, lose the functionality of your sex organs, not anyone else. Sorry for that little explosion, but I have to keep it real in here, or I will just have another over edited, void of reality, soft spoken, shitty little bitch diabetic forum.  That is not going to happen. 

This forum is where bullshit ends and real discussion about diabetic diet and diabetes in general, begins.

Ok so now that that is out of the way..   Here is what you should do when you are going to eat chocolate...

Go for dark chocolate, it is better for you, and tastes far superior to "milk chocolate" which is little more than sugar mixed with milk and a little cocoa sprinkled in for taste.
The main thing to look for is percentage of cocoa and carbohydrates, and most importantly, taste.
 
The best taste / carb combination I have found so far is a Safeway Brand dark chocolate bar. This thing is huge.  You know the big ass candy bars in the potato chip aisle??   It is 78% cocoa, 7 carbs per serving (which is 1/3 of the whole bar) plus it has 5 grams of fiber per serving.  So if you do the math, that is really only 2 net carbs per serving.  Good luck finding a "sugar free" chocolate bar with that kind of carb count.  There is some argument about the whole subtracting fiber from the total carbs formula, but I find it to be pretty accurate. 

I can snack on this incredibly yummy chocolate bar which makes me happy, does not spike my numbers, and makes me feel like I am cheating the game for a minute.  The more you deal with diabetes, the more you will learn the happiness value of feeling like you are cheating, while you are actually making a healthy decision. 

You see, If you are in a good mood you numbers will decrease, this is a fact.  Dark chocolate makes me happy, and the right kind of chocolate in moderation is actually good for me.  You must have self control, my friends, or you can find yourself on a full on binge.  This is the key to all diabetes control.  Self control will make you the king or queen of your whole world.  Take it from me, I have mastered self control, and I can eat whatever I want, as long as I eat small portions, and don't be an Idiot.

I didn't really intend on such a long post, but oh well....   Maybe it will help someone.  Just to be clear let me summarize:

SUGAR FREE CHOCOLATE IS A STUPID SCAM AIMED AT IDIOTS WHO DON'T READ LABELS.  IF YOU HAVE DIABETES YOU MUST LEARN SUGAR IS NOT THE ENEMY, THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS.

LOOK FOR GOOD DARK CHOCOLATE INSTEAD WITH LOW CARBOHYDRATES AND SOME FIBER IN THERE.  EAT IN MODERATION AND BE HAPPY.