Chocolate Substitutes

Local_Atlantis

Hello All,
It's been a while since I have posted in the forum..

I was just wondering whether anyone knew of a non-disgusting alternative to chocolate. My sister has been diagnosed with chronic migraines and her doctor has advised her to avoid chocolate forever!! I feel so bad for her (we are both chocoholics).. I have been doing some research and found carob... Has anyone tried it? I was thinking of getting the carob powder and I could make chocolate cake with it - but how about a bar of chocolate? How does it taste? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks

Need2Exerc1se

It doesn't taste like chocolate. It probably wouldn't be bad in a cake, but I doubt it would be great in a bar. But there are so many other delicious flavors out there. Breaking the choloholic habit isn't really the worst thing that could happen to a person.

Laurend224

I'm not a fan of carob.

Local_Atlantis

Thanks. Anyone else?

Alatariel75

I was horridly intolerant to chocolate through my childhood and teens (also had chronic migraines), so my mum would buy me carob. It was atrocious. It doesn't even deserve the label of chocolate substitute, it made me so sad. It was the sole cause of the cancellation of Easter in the family home, basically.

Did he say what aspect of chocolate may be causing the issue? Lactose, caffeine, etc? You can get different specialty chocolates which omit certain things.

MonsoonStorm

"stop eating chocolate/coffee" is the default go-to for doctors when it comes to migraines.

Experiment and figure out what your own triggers are. Everyone is different. Pointless depriving yourself of something if it's not the cause. Chocolate/coffee/wine have zero effect on my migraines. Of all things... wheat is what gets me it seems, no idea how or why, but that's my 'trigger'. Just got to try eliminating different things until you figure it out.

Tialuna18

Carob is quite tasty in baked goods in my experience love it in cookies~

norie92

The weight of Nesquik chocolate flavored powder is less than 2% Cocoa, would that be acceptable?

esjones12

Carob and cacaoa both are alternatives but have distinct tastes that are not like milk chocolate. Personally I like them. I actually make my own raw chocolate:

1 cup cocaoa, 1 cup cocunut oil, 1/2 cup honey, 1 tbsp vanialla and a dash of salt. Melt the honey and and coconut oil on the stove then add all ingredients into a food processor. Pour into a container and stick it in the freeze for 20min. Break/cut into pieces. Makes aprox 1lb. with around 170 calories per ounce.

I find it delicious. Not as addiciting as normal milk chocolate. Though I could totaly eat the whole bag

LovelyIvy466

Cacao nibs are actually tasty in a chocolate-y way. Carob is just evil- when I was younger, my Doctor thought I might have a chocolate allergy for a hot second and I was forced to eat carob, which I found revolting (the texture is just wrong). But cacao nibs are actually pretty tasty, and a little bit can soothe a sweet tooth.

tcunbeliever

I have made carob brownies using the carob powder and carob chips - they were really good.

jgnatca

http://www.shopdecafchocolate.com/

Here's my son's migraine forbidden foods list:
migravent.com/blog/migraine-triggers-2/top-35-foods-and-preservatives-that-trigger-migraines/

Your sister may want to start by eliminating a whole bunch of foods and then slowly add them back in one at a time so she has a personal list of triggers. It might turn out she's fine with chocolate.
http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/features/identifying-food-triggers-for-migraines

My son no longer maintains a forbidden foods list, and he treats migraines by over-hydrating. It works for him. YMMV.

Local_Atlantis

Thank you all so much for your help