YouBar has discovered with experience what people prefer in their diet. At YouBar, which makes entirely bespoke energy bars, people decide exactly the ingredients that go into their own bars. And so, the fashionable Southern California based energy bar company has always had direct access to the latest health information. YouBar saw increased interest in the organic trend in 2007, the rise of super foods in 2008, the rise of gluten free in 2009 and the increase in coconut everything in 2010. Now, in 2011, YouBar has found itself in the latest trend: chocolate as part of a healthy breakfast.

Illustrations are ubiquitous. Bear Naked (presented by cereal giant Kellogg’s) now incorporates Heavenly Chocolate Granola. Nutella, the European chocolate-hazelnut spread, recently invaded America to occupy market space. Advertisements boast that it’s the perfect breakfast spread. Stonyfield, the yogurt brand, has introduced Oikos organic Greek nonfat yogurt as a exciting chocolate-infused breakfast meal. Godiva has even seen this coming by making a "Chocolate for Breakfast Gift Basket" including things like chocolate crème coffee and dark chocolate pieces to jazz up your pancakes and scones. Meanwhile, YouBar has seen a growing number of folks including unsweetened cocoa to their custom energy bars than previous years. A panel of 8 food experts at the Winter Fancy Foods Show in SF, California, saw so many new approaches to chocolate being proposed for breakfast that they proclaimed it a "Top 5 Trend for Food" in 2011.

Why is chocolate such a big deal?

Because it’s so delightful, chocolate has always been a major factor of unhealthy breakfasting – from French croissants to American Coco Puffs. But now unsweetened dark chocolate is setting itself up as a very beneficial part of a good healthy balanced breakfast for a great number of interesting reasons. Recent scientific developments have shown that the best chocolate is high in antioxidants, lowers blood pressure, lowers "bad" LDL cholesterol, is high in magnesium and even helps clean arteries. What’s more, chocolate is a natural anti-depressant and, when consumed in small amounts, is linked to longer life and less disease.

With all these healthy characteristics, it's not a big surprise that YouBar along with the rest of the health industry has seen an increase in requests for chocolate for breakfast. Watch for it the next time you go to the health food stores and remember that it’s the raw chocolate that’s good for you -- not the sugar -- so going "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" is still not advisable.