Approved Fat

[leannkruger]

I like eating 100% Cacao Chocolate in my Greek Yogurt with the blueberries and cinnamon. Why isn’t 100% dark chocolate on the approved fat exchange list? This would qualify correct? It’s easier to stick to a meal plan if its foods I love to eat already. To exchange the chocolate for the 24 grams of peanut butter would mean I need to eat 28 grams of the 100% dark Cacao chocolate?

[Naomi]

leannkruger wrote:

I like eating 100% Cacao Chocolate in my Greek Yogurt with the blueberries and cinnamon. Why isn’t 100% dark chocolate on the approved fat exchange list? This would qualify correct? It’s easier to stick to a meal plan if its foods I love to eat already. To exchange the chocolate for the 24 grams of peanut butter would mean I need to eat 28 grams of the 100% dark Cacao chocolate?

I just looked up cacao chocolate in MFP and came up with the below macros, which is not a pure fat source, 28g of 100% pure cacao chocolate contains:
12g carbs (53%)
2.5g fat (25%)
5g protein (22%)

The fact that over 50% of calories come from carbs means it would be considered more of a carb source, but because 25% is fat and 22% is protein, it’s more complex to try and fit into a meal plan evenly. Things like butter and coconut oil are pure fat sources, with 100% of calories coming from fat, and zero coming from from carbs or protein.

[leannkruger]

So if I don’t eat the fat with the greek yogurt can I add it to Meal 1, as long as I get it in somewhere throughout my day? Or do I need to consume it with the other items in meal 2?

[Naomi]

leannkruger wrote:

So if I don’t eat the fat with the greek yogurt can I add it to Meal 1, as long as I get it in somewhere throughout my day? Or do I need to consume it with the other items in meal 2?

Cacao is not a fat source per se, depending on how it is processed, it could be more carb dominant. 100% cacao often contains a higher percentage of carbs but also fat and protein so it is not an even swap. It is not recommended unless you are tracking in My Fitness Pal, food journaling and able to fit cacao into a meal based on the target macros, but you will have to not only take out some fats somewhere but also carbs and protein. You will need to calculate the correct portion size of cacao in order to calculate how many grams of carbs, proteins and fats when trying to fit cacao into your meal plan. Cacao is not a cut and dry “even swap” which is why it is not listed on the exchange list.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Naomi.

[Naomi]

leannkruger wrote:

So if I don’t eat the fat with the greek yogurt can I add it to Meal 1, as long as I get it in somewhere throughout my day? Or do I need to consume it with the other items in meal 2?

Another factor making this very difficult to determine is that some 100% cacao can be 12-14g of fat and 10-14g carbs while others can be higher in carbs and lower in fats depending on how the particular company processes the cacao. It can vary greatly across the board due to a number of factors. If you want to plug in your own food in My Fitness Pal and aim for the meal calories and macros so that you can continue eating the cacao brand you are eating, you can do that. We don’t recommend that unless you are petty well versed in tracking your own meals and macros but that is another option if you aren’t wanting to go without cacao for the duration of the challenge.

I also want to note that 100% cacao is a healthy food, but it is just not part of the meal plans for this particular challenge.

[Naomi]

leannkruger wrote:

So if I don’t eat the fat with the greek yogurt can I add it to Meal 1, as long as I get it in somewhere throughout my day? Or do I need to consume it with the other items in meal 2?

You can take a fat out of one meal and add it to another meal, yes.

[Author]

Posts