Chocolate is Good For You
Dark Chocolate Can Benefit Your Body, But You Can Only Eat a Little!
Dec 22, 2007
Chocolate, as we all know, is a pick-me-up or an indulgence – but is it? That all depends on how much and what type of chocolate you eat. Research shows that all chocolate isn’t bad for you; quantity, quality and colour also play a vital role. So there’s no need to go without – just make a good choice and monitor the quantity! One or two squares a day is okay; a bar or two a day is not.
Chocolate Facts
- Chocolate lifts your mood as well as energy levels.
- It contains cocoa butter– a saturated fat – not an artery-clogging trans-fat.
- Dark chocolate has high levels of antioxidants. This can help to reduce any damage by free radical molecules. It has higher levels of antioxidant than broccoli – but you still need to eat broccoli!
- The health benefits come from the cocoa content. Eat chocolate with more than 50% cocoa solids – but only eat a little.
- Quality is needed – the higher the cocoa solid content, the better the quality, which means it’s more expensive.
- It contains over 300 trace compounds – some which are mood enhancing.
- Go easy on cheaper chocolate with less than 25% cocoa solids. This means the rest is made up from milk solids, sugar and vegetable fat, which contain the artery clogging trans-fats.
- Cocoa beans contain substances called polyphenols. These are antioxidants which help to combat the damaging effect of free radicals.
- The darker the chocolate the more cocoa it contains – the best choice would be a chocolate bar with more than 60% or 70% cocoa solids
The cocoa in chocolate is a rich source of minerals, especially magnesium, potassium and copper. These nutrients play a variety of roles in the body including the production of energy and healthy blood circulation.
The cocoa beans that are used in the production of chocolate contain fatty cocoa butter, but its three main types of fats are oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid. These fats are said not to have any effect on blood cholesterol levels.
If you’ve ever reached for a bar chocolate in those pre-menstrual moments, you should know that stomach cramps are associated with a drop in the body's level of magnesium, and your body could be craving the replacement of this and other minerals. Of course it could just be a “lift” you’re after, which is fed by the huge amount of trace elements – some of them mood-enhancing.
So for health and happiness a little chocolate is okay, but think dark, not light or white!
See here for a chocolate tasting club.
