Dark Chocolate Benefits
Darker is better.. Chocolate is made from cocoa fat and cocoa solids, but in what percentage and how much of these fats and solids are used in any type of chocolate is up to the chocolate manufacturers.
For a chocolate to be specified as dark or bitter chocolate in EU, it needs to have at least 35% cocoa solids, whereas there is not a minimum in US. Dark chocolate is normally made without the milk solids found in other varieties. Cocoa content can be anywhere from 35 to 75 and even more than 80% in very dark chocolates.
A few scientific journals claimed lately that dark chocolates are good for your health, although it still includes quite a bit of sugar and fat, so it won’t help your efforts if you’re trying to lose weight.
Dark Chocolate Benefits:
- Cocoa phenols in dark chocolate increases blood flow to your heart and your brain, provides healthy cholesterol levels, decreasing your blood pressure and risk of stroke, reducing the burden on your heart and improving your intellectual capacity and moods.
- Chocolate may well make you feel happier by the chemicals it produces in your body that help your brain to generate endorphins. Theobromine and phenylethylamine (PEA) are only two of the many chemical substances found in cocoa and dark chocolate that make you feel happy. Theobromine is also shown to harden tooth enamel and suppress coughs.
- You will find a little bit of caffeine in dark chocolate but it is minimal as compared to what you will find in a cup of coffee.
- Dark chocolate is a low GI food that won’t give sudden spikes to your blood glucose levels and it won’t leave you feeling hungry like those high glycemic foods.
- High antioxidant content in dark chocolate help your body fight free radicals that are usually the cause of cancers, heart diseases and aging.
- Flavonals give the cocoa its strong smelly flavor, the more it is processed the better it tastes but the more antioxidants are given away.
- Cocoa butter gives your dark chocolate its much feared fat content but the type of fats it contains aren’t as bad as once thought. Oleic acid is already healthy for your heart- being the monounsaturated type, stearic acid is saturated by nature but has no impact on your cholesterol levels, whereas palmitic acid is the bad saturated type- it still makes up only 1/3 of the fat in cocoa butter.
- Last but not least, dark chocolate is proven to contain many minerals and vitamins such as iron, copper, magnesium, vitamins A, B1, C , D, E. So don’t be afraid to eat a little bit of dark chocolate 3-4 times a week.
*Bear in mind that having your dark chocolate with milk may reduce its positive impact on your health as nice as it may be to melt the dark chocolate in your mouth with a cup of coffee made with milk in the morning. Milk somehow reduces the amount of healthy epicatechin and catechin antioxidants that you would receive from consuming dark chocolate, in your blood.
*Dark chocolate is only a good substitute for those harmful empty calorie sweets – desserts in your diet, not for the healthy foods, because of its sugar and fat content. But it will be good for you to have a little piece three times a week, this way you won’t miss out on amazing antioxidants dark chocolate offers, even more than green tea, berries and red wine.
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