Dark Chocolate: A Healthy Food if Eaten Sparingly
You always suspected this, didn't you? According to studies conducted on dark chocolate, it is a healthy chocolate. Besides being pleasurable to eat, eating fifty grams of dark chocolate that contain at least 70 percent chocolate solids will provide healthy inputs to the body. It may also help to protect one from heart disease, high blood pressure, and more, since it also contains
iron,
calcium, and
potassium. With a rich content of vitamins A, B1, C, D and E, it not only tastes good, but is good for the health as well. One and a half ounces of chocolate has many more antioxidants than a five ounce glass of wine.
Dark chocolate is also referred to as “bittersweet” or “semi-sweet” chocolate, and has approximately seventy percent of cocoa solids with less or no sugar added. It has an intense and rich flavor, and many candies as well as chocolate chips may be dark chocolates. One should look for seventy percent cocoa or more in the chocolate that should be made of cocoa butter and not fats like palm and coconut oils.
Your dark chocolate should not be made of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. These are bad for cholesterol. The darker the chocolate, the better it is. The darkness of the chocolate can be attributed to use of plant chemicals such as flavonoids, that make the chocolate darker and have more health benefits.
The main reason to choose a dark chocolate is the flavonoids, which are part of a group of antioxidants known as polyphenols that can also be found in tea, red wine, as well as many fruits and vegetables. Dark chocolate also lessens bad cholesterol oxidation and reduces the risk of having your blood clot. Another benefitis increased flow of blood in the arteries.
It can also be eaten when in a bad mood. It helps to improve the mood, as well as gives pleasure by increasing the serotonin as well as endorphin levels in the brain. It also has many minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.
One can also find antioxidants in the dark chocolate which would not be the case with eating milk chocolates. Milk binds to antioxidants present in the chocolate, and thus does not make them available to the body.
To get full antioxidant benefits from your dark chocolate, you should refrain from drinking milk with it. There are some concerns, however, that have been voiced with regard to getting migraine attacks as a result of consuming dark chocolate. There is insufficient and inconclusive data to support such concerns. Thus, this kind of chocolate, when eaten sparingly, truly has many benefits.
One should also take care not to eat too much dark chocolate, since it is loaded with calories.
Indulge and enjoy.
