VALENTINE'S DAY TIPS FOR CALORIE COUNTING CHOCOHOLICS: WAYS TO FEED YOUR CRAVING FOR NO MORE THAN 100 CALORIES

Thursday, February 5, 2004

(Boston, MA) — Chocoholics looking for a way to enjoy low-calorie sweets don’t have to rule out their favored dessert on Valentine’s Day (or any day) says Boston University (BU) nutrition expert, Joan Salge Blake, MS, RD, LDN, who actually discourages her chocolate-loving patients from forbidding themselves small indulgences.

Salge Blake, clinical assistant professor of nutrition at BU’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, who maintains a private weight management practice, recommends that her patients seek healthier, lower calorie options to satisfy their chocolate cravings.

"The more you forbid favored foods, the more likely you are to binge when you are around them,” said Salge Blake. “I tell my patients to enjoy small amounts of chocolate since there are many chocolate sweets that are no more than 100 calories per serving,” said Salge Blake. “The trick is making smart choices to satisfy the craving.”

Here are Salge Blake’s most popular chocolate fixes:

  • Honey Maid Chocolate Grahams (1 full sheet) 65 calories, 1.5 grams of fat
  • Tootsie Rolls (¼ ounce) 80 calories, 1.5 grams of fat
  • Fudgsicle Fat Free Bar (1) 60 calories, 0 grams of fat
  • Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Sorbet Bar (1) 100 calories, 0 grams of fat

Salge Blake calls cocoa powder the “best kept secret” in the chocolate industry as a serving (1 tablespoon) has only 35 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. She has also designed many of her own low-fat recipes for those looking for a more creative dessert. The following recipe is a tasty alternative to a high calorie chocolate indulgence and is only 44 calories and less than one gram of fat per cookie:

Cocoa Chip Meringue Cookies

  • Dried egg white powder equivalent to 3 egg whites (add water to the powdered eggs whites according to directions on package to make the equivalent of 3 liquid egg whites)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa
  • 4 tablespoons semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating. Slowly add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until egg whites form stiff peaks. Sprinkle cocoa and chips over egg whites and gently fold in. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cocoa mixture onto cookie sheets sprayed with vegetable oil spray. Flatten cookies slightly. Bake cookies for one hour. After one hour, turn off oven, and let cookies set in oven, with the oven door closed, for an additional one hour or until cookies are completely dry. Remove cookies from the oven and cool on wire racks. Makes 22 cookies.

For more low-calorie chocolate recipes, please visit her website at: http://people.bu.edu/salge.

“Like many other foods, chocolate can be enjoyed in moderation,” said Salge Blake.

Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is an institution of higher education and research whose premier academic programs prepare dynamic health professionals and whose research and leadership in the health and rehabilitation sciences is actively shaping health care. For more information about Sargent College and to learn about their degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, communication disorders, health sciences, athletic training, nutrition, and rehabilitation counseling, visit http://www.bu.edu/sargent.