Can chocolate be a health food?

In its raw form, chocolate is a source of antioxidants, phytonutrients and some minerals

Like it or not, Easter and chocolate are hard to separate. But forholistic nutritionist and author Meghan Telpner, not all chocolate is created equally.

If were gonna eat chocolate we want to get a really good quality [one] and my top recommendation is always a raw chocolate, a raw cacao," she said. "Before the roasting process, when our chocolate is raw, its full of nutrients, phytonutrients, antioxidants, its one of the richest sources of magnesium.

And while there are some commercially preparedchocolate bars and treats made from raw chocolate, they aren't widely available outsideurban areas with well stocked health food stores. ButTelpnersaidyou can make your ownchocolate treats pretty easily.

One of my favourites is simply to melt it together with a little bit of coconut oiland a little bit of honey. You can set that in your freezer and that will make a solid chocolate that you just made from scratch," she explained.

"You can take that as a liquid form and use it as a fondue, you can put it over your ice cream, and that will harden like a chocolate crackle.

But if it's the temptations outside your house that are cause for concern, Telpnerofferedsome strategic tips to ensure youwont end up face down in a bowl of candied eggs.

If youre going into a holiday knowing that you might indulge a little bit,its wise to choose one thing that you might treat yourself to," she said.

"But that doesnt mean...you need to eat the entire cake, or the entire giant Easter bunny. A small amount should be sufficient. You want to eat it in the spirit of celebration, leave the guilt and negative feelings aside.

Telpner also suggests making sure the meal you eat before you indulge is a balanced one."You want to have the fat, agood protein, you want to havefiber with your meal, all of those things will help stabilize your blood sugar.

Telpner said that small step of balancing your blood sugar willreduce cravings and help you avoid eating the whole bowl of treats.

Holidays should be times of celebration but we also dont want to come out of holidays feeling worse than we did going in. And thats just something to think about when were choosing what our indulgent is going to be, she said.