Chocolate each day keeps grouchies away

I eat chocolate each day to keep me sweet. I keep convincing myself that chocolate has various flavonoids and antioxidants like polyphenols...um, right... Recently a friend told me if she is going to have chocolate, she is going to indulge in the good kind - premium chocolate at higher prices but at least it does not have a lot of unwanted extra saturated palm/veggie oils and the like.

When I moved to Canada in 1998, I fell in love with the British Cadbury chocolate (first pic) and indulged almost every day...much to the chagrin of my scale. Ooo. More like freshman 20 and not freshman 15!!! (for my Japanese readers: it is not uncommon for university students to gain around 15 or so pounds in their first year of university) And I also decided Nestle Smarties were much more satisfying and tasty than M&M's. Smarties (second pic) have this crunchy outer layer that always gets me! Finally, there is Lindt (last pic)...the reknown Swiss chocolate I adored at first bite at age 10 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Japanese chocolate? I failed to notice at first but it is, in fact, quite good! My husband touted the merits of smooth Japanese chocolate, something I did not notice before...and after some time, I realized that Hershey's kisses, while cute, are kind of sandy and 'rough' compared to Meiji (last pic) or other major Japanese-brand chocolates. I admitted Hershey's were not as tasty they were in my recollection. The best chocolate is Rokkatei brand from Hokkaido - I mean just check out those mammoth freeze-fried strawberries in white choco! Need I say more?! Hokkaido is like the dairy hub of Japan, much like Wisconsin in the States.