How do you count M&M's on your FP4H tracker?

Here's a tongue-in-cheek way to count M&M's from a leader in Sherwood, AR ~

Recently on Facebook, Angie asked about M&M's. Lea joined in asking how to count them...as a milk and a grain? Angie answered that the correct count should be as a milk and a fat. Lea mentioned that chocolate is made from beans...cocoa beans...and beans are proteins. I, in my genius mode, came up with the following theory: Yes, cocoa IS made from beans and green beans are in the vegetable family, so cocoa beans are also in the vegetable family. Since we get practically unlimited vegetables, we can eat as much chocolate as we want. Then Angie told us that they were actually PEANUT M&Ms she wanted to eat. OK, I responded, nuts are a source of "healthy" oils and we are to eat healthy oils everyday. So, if they are a source of healthy oils, can it not be said that peanuts are HEALTH food? Especially when you couple the good health benefits of eating chocolate from the vegetable family with good oils from the peanuts...VOILA...PEANUT M&Ms ARE ACTUALLY HEALTH FOOD!!! (Especially the GREEN ones because everyone knows that greens are good for you!!) I know...GENIUS!!! I am in awe myself!!! I'm ready for my humanitarian award for this landmark discovery...

Debbie Stutler

Note from FP4H ~ While peanut M&M’s are colorful and tasty, I haven’t yet found a study that would consider them health food :(. For now, studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you. In a study in the The Journal of the American Medical Association, studies show that dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure for those in certain age groups -- eaten in moderation, of course, calories do count. Another study from Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research found that dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you'd only take in 52 calories. But then, you'd miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit. So, 1) eat it in moderation, 2) don’t replace healthy foods with chocolate and 3) look for chocolate that is 65% or higher cocoa.