Restorative, Anti-Inflammatory Salted Caramel HOt Chocolate

Whilst we were in Turkey, we discovered that pretty much every food store sells dried white mulberries. I love dried mulberries, but these ones were extra chewy and caramel-like, and triggered a series of recipes and ideas. This Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate was one of them, and we drank it all over Christmas and New Year’s.

This recipe has a subtle caramel flavour because I didn’t want it to be too sickly sweet, but if you want to up the taste, just add an extra 5-10g mulberries, but be aware that it will change the glycemic index and load of the recipe (see below, under ‘Blood Sugar Balancing’. The maca also adds that caramel taste, so if you can tolerate maca well, you could also increase that to the upper amount listed.

Finally, the type of mulberries matter. If you get dried, shrivelled up, hard old things, you will find the flavour is reduced (we learnt this lesson!), so look for plump, light in colour mulberries and give the packet a squeeze to see how malleable they feel. They won’t be soft, but they’ll have some give. If they feel more brittle and hard, move on!

This recipe is…

Endo belly healing

This hot chocolate recipe is rich with polyphenols from the mulberries, dark chocolate (or carob if you’re using that) and maca.

Polyphenols are types of antioxidants found in certain plant foods that not only have a profound effect on reducing inflammation levels and improving overall health, but they are also a favourite food for our gut microbiome.

Because people with endo tend to have microbiome dysbiosis, with lower levels of some beneficial bacteria and higher levels of pathogenic (bad) bacteria, feeding our gut bugs is essential to reestablishing balance.

But this isn’t where the magic of polyphenols end. Polyphenols can actually help inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria through various mechanisms, and cacao has exhibited antimicrobial effects against the pathogens we see that are elevated in endo, such as e.coli.

What’s more, for a hot chocolate, this recipe is packed with fibre from the nut or seed butter, cacao and mulberries - about 5.8g to be exact (AI estimation)! So if you’re aiming for the recommended 30g fibre a day, you’re getting just under 20% of your daily intake from a delicious hot chocolate.

Fibre plays a massive role in building a healthy microbiome, because just like polyphenols, fibre is prebiotic - meaning it feeds our good gut bugs. The more we feed these good guys, the more they can outcompete the pathogenic bacteria we can see in this endo population. A better microbiome also means less inflammation and gut upset!

Anti-inflammatory

As we just touched upon, this recipe is rich in polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants, that can lower inflammation, but this recipe also contains around 2.1mg vitamin E per cup, which is 53% of the UK RDA (4mg). The vitamin E primarily comes from the almond butter and mulberries. Vitamin E is an antioxidant which can help us fight oxidative stress (a contributor to endo), it’s also been shown to reduce pain, pain duration and blood loss in people with primary dysmenorrhea.

Mulberries are also a rich source of vitamin C, and vitamin C is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant that has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers and pain in people with endo and in animals, was shown to shrink endo lesions. Vitamin C also has been shown to raise progesterone levels, which can help counteract the proliferative effects of oestrogen. However, vitamin C is broken down by heat, so we may not be getting too much from this recipe.

Blood sugar balancing

It goes without saying that much hot chocolates are pretty blood sugar spiking. Now, I’m not here to tell you to never drink a hot chocolate, but I am here to offer you a healthier alternative that comes with added endo benefits, if you fancy it.

The sweetness (and caramel flavour) in this recipe comes from the dried white mulberries. Most dried fruits spike blood sugar, but white mulberries are a bit different and have in fact, been shown to have beneficial effects on blood sugar and diabetes. They contain a compound called 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), which helps regulate blood sugar levels by slowing carbohydrate digestion.

Now, natural sugars are easier to digest when they are broken down through processes like blending, so yes, this recipe may have more of an effect on blood sugar than eating mulberries whole would, but that’s where the other ingredients come in (plus, the power of DNJ). I’ve added extra fat, fibre and protein in the form of almond butter (or seed butter if allergic), and of course, the fat from the dark chocolate, and all of these components help to slow down digestion and the uptake of gluten from the blood stream.

Additionally, I also used a high percentage dark chocolate and depending on what percent you go for, this may result in no added sugar at all i.e. 100%, or very little, such as a 90% or 85%, especially when you consider that there’s only 20g for the whole recipe.

Keeping blood sugar levels stable helps to prevent oxidative stress, which leads to more inflammation in the body and that may trigger further pain and symptoms.

Additionally, constant blood sugar swings can take their toll on hormones, leading to issues like elevated androgens (think testosterone), which can affect ovulation and cycle length. Blood sugar swings may also cause oestrogen excess or dominance and even low progesterone if ovulation is interrupted or stopped entirely. You can learn more about blood sugar and endo here, here and here.

Unlike most hot chocolates, this recipe is made with mainly low glycemic index ingredients and the carbohydrate content per cup is about 13g, so this means that the glycemic load is very low, at 3.1 (out of 20), and the glycemic index is also low, at 24 (out of 100).

The glycemic index and load are tools which help us measure the impact a meal or food will have on our blood sugar. Low ratings mean that food or meal won’t cause a significant spike in blood sugar, and instead, should just create a slow, steady rise. However, it’s always worth remembering that blood sugar responses are very individual and that this is just a guide! You can learn more about the glycemic index and load and how they can help you manage endo here.

Hormone supportive

I know a lot of endo peeps come out of Christmas and New Year’s feeling worse than they went into them feeling. Why? Lots of activity, difficult social situations and possible trigger foods can all take their toll on us physically, and particularly, hormonally. So, if you’re feeling burnt out, this hot chocolate can be a comforting and replenishing tonic for the nerves and the hormones.

This recipe contains a small amount of maca. Maca improves hormonal balance by supporting the HPA (the system in your body that controls your stress response and sleep-wake cycle) and HPO (the system of communication between your brain and your ovaries) axes, and as a result, maca has demonstrated improvements in sex hormones in studies on humans and animals. What’s great about maca is that it isn’t a phytoestrogen so it’s not mimicking oestrogen, instead, it’s helping your body to work optimally and therefore to make the right amount of hormones for you, whatever your particular struggles or imbalances are. To be clear, I am not suggesting phytoestrogens are ‘bad’ for endo, in fact, they can be helpful, but they don’t always agree with everyone.

Now, if you’re worried about maca because you’ve heard it raises oestrogen, that’s not exactly true. Maca just supports your body to make normal amounts of hormones, but everyone is unique, and whilst many are fine on maca, some feel more oestrogenic. This can be due to the dose, so this recipe has a small introductory dose, which you can increase or reduce (or omit entirely) if you wish! Scroll down to read how to tailor it to you.

You can learn more about maca’s hormone supportive properties here.

Rich in period nurturing nutrients

As if it wasn’t already a wonder drink, this recipe is also a significant source of magnesium and iron.

Per cup, this recipe provides approximately 3.2 mg of iron from the mulberries, maca and dark chocolate (AI estimation).  The UK’s RDA of iron for women is 14.8mg, meaning just one cup offers up to 22% of the RDA. Now, whilst mulberries contain vitamin C, it is heat sensitive, so you most likely won’t benefit much from the amount in this recipe, but iron is typically difficult to absorb from plant foods, and pairing with vitamin C aids uptake. So, one way to really benefit from this hot chocolate is to enjoy it with a side of vitamin C rich food, like strawberries or cherries. The perfect snack.

Low levels of iron are extremely common full stop, but even more so in people with heavy menstrual bleeding. Iron plays a major role in preventing fatigue, and yet many of the clients who I work with, come to me with significantly low levels due to having SIBO, avoiding red meat, heavy periods or other reasons. Supporting healthy iron absorption and intake is a key part of beating endo fatigue and recovering from heavy blood loss.

In terms of magnesium, this recipe contains approximately 101.5mg per cup. The UK RDA for magnesium is 270mg, meaning that one cup offers up to 38%. Magnesium helps reduce PMS symptoms, supports healthy oestrogen metabolism (clearance) and is a treatment for period pain, because it lowers prostaglandins, the suckers that drive up menstrual pain. Additionally, magnesium is often depleted during times of stress, which I think for many with endo, is all the time, so keeping magnesium levels topped up is important.

Stress relieving

Maca is an adaptogen herb, which means it helps our bodies to adapt to physical and emotional stressors. Maca does this by acting on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA axis) to promote a more normalised stress response.

The HPA axis is a system between our brain and adrenal glands that controls our stress response and our cortisol and adrenaline output. Maca prevents the overstimulation of the HPA axis, which stops cortisol levels from getting excessively high, but because maca supports the HPA axis to function optimally, if you’re struggling with low levels (which is a problem in the endo community), it can raise them to normal, healthy levels that help you to deal with stress. You can learn more about maca’s adaptogenic properties here.

Important notes to help you tailor this toast recipe to your own body and needs (and tastebuds!)

Maca

Each serve contains less than 1g of maca, which is a low, often well tolerated dose. In my training, the recommended dose of maca is up to 2g a day, but I know some doctors suggest up to 5g. I absolutely do not recommend jumping in at that level, it’s much better to start slow and low with maca to allow your body to adjust and test your tolerance. That’s why the amount in this is low.

You can increase it 3g to give each serve 1g of maca, if well tolerated, and you can reduce or remove entirely if preferred. The maca does add some caramel flavour, so be aware lowering of increasing will change the taste, but the mulberries make up the bulk of the caramel, so don’t worry too much.

To learn about maca and dosing, head here.

Is this recipe low FODMAP?

Every ingredient is low FOMDAP, other than the mulberries and perhaps the milk, depending on what you choose. Mulberries haven’t been tested yet, so we just don’t know. However, the serving size of the mulberries is pretty small, and often the issue comes down to the serving size of FODMAPs, so even if they are high FODMAP, you may find you tolerate these.

If you find you bloat from this recipe or have any intestinal distress, it could be the mulberries, but it could also be any other ingredient you don’t do well with, as we’re all different. Try reducing the amount you have per cup to see if that helps.

Cacao vs. carob

If you have histamine intolerance, interstitial cystitis or dysautonomia, cacao may bother you. For some with histamine issues, cacao can be flare inducing, whilst for those with IC, it could irritate the bladder and finally, with dysautonomia, it might be too stimulating. However, and this is a big however, everyone has different responses and I have very few clients who can’t tolerate cacao (unfortunately, I am one of the few who can’t have much).

If you’re sensitive to cacao, you could swap the chocolate for a carob bar (I have a recipe here, just omit the lion’s mane), or swap the cacao powder for carob powder. Carob powder is similar to cacao but tastes more date like and a little bit like molasses. I tend to need a blend of cacao and carob to soften the effects of cacao but soften the taste of carob!

Which milk to choose?

Here’s a list of low FODMAP milks. If you’re considering dairy and you’re not sure if it’s right for you, I have a series on dairy and endo here, and you can listen or read the summary episode here. You may find you do okay with organic lactose free or organic A2 type dairy (or lactose free A2 dairy if you need it to be low FODMAP, but that’s a job to find!).

Further resources

If you’re struggling with your gut health, you might find my courses and one to one coaching helpful. You can find out more here. I’ve also got endless podcast episodes on gut health and blood sugar.

To understand more about the low FODMAP diet, start here.

Method:

Soak mulberries in boiling water for 1 minute and strain (not longer as will lose the sweetness and flavour to the water) to soften. If you want to skip this step, heat the mulberries with the milk straight away, but be aware they may be a bit tricker to blend smooth.

Heat the milk gently in a small pan. When warm, add the vanilla extract, mulberries, almond butter and chopped chocolate and whisk continuously. Bring to a very gentle steam and then add cacao (we add cacao last to persevere the antioxidants). Whisk until well mixed.

Transfer the liquid to a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Return to pan to heat once more to desired temp and to thicken, whisking continuously. The hit chocolate will thicken a lot as you heat, so remove once you’re happy. Remove from stove and pour into your favourite mugs.

Top with a dusting of cacao and sprinkle of salt.