Hidden Health Benefits of Chocolate
Chocolate is one of the luxuries of life. It’s so soft and creamy, and how can something so beautiful, so good for you. Its health benefits come from flavonoids, which are a powerful antioxidant allowing healthy blood flow and preventing the clogging of arteries around the body. Of all the chocolates, dark wins as the one having far more flavonoids than milk chocolate and white chocolate has none.
Chocolate contains caffeine and saturated fats, and these two factors create a reputation as bad for us. Cholesterol levels raise because the fat in cocoa butter, but it also contains phenolen which helps reduces the risk of heart disease.
A cup of regular coffee has more caffeine in than one ounce of chocolate, 150 mg compared to 6 mg. Therefore its far better to give up coffee than it is chocolate.
Chocolate has also found to contain more antioxidants than green tea. The catechins within are powerful in preventing some cancers and heart disease. Chocolate also creates endorphins enable us to become relaxed, allows more oxygen to reach our inner blood supply and can even improve our memory.
Do not be misled, chocolate does have some negative effects but they are outweighed by the positives. Eating chocolate as part of a varied diet where intake is balanced with regular exercise is probably healthy for the heart.
Chocolate also contains a variety of minerals that are essential to good nutrition. These include calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper. Each of these minerals plays important roles in a variety of biological functions, including growth, bone formation, metabolism and oxygen transport within the blood.
If you love chocolate and eat it regularly, the most beneficial types are dark chocolates that contain only natural ingredients and are not overly processed. Just remember, chocolate is high in calories and eating too much can therefore make you fat, increasing your risk of heart disease and over-eating of chocolate can also lead to obesity.
