I am sure by now many of you had heard that dark chocolate actually has some health benefits besides comforting you on a particularly bad day. But many of you may not know why. Since it is Heart Awareness Month and Valentine's Day is Sunday what better time than now to discuss the health benefits of dark chocolate!?
Good heart health depends on wide open, flexible arteries that are free of blockages and can deliver blood efficiently throughout your body. Many studies have shown that consumption of dark chocolate or cocoa may help with all those vital functions. Natural compounds in cocoa and dark chocolate may aid the cardiovascular system by improving blood flow and reducing blood pressure. Scientists have also discovered that cocoa may help maintain healthy arteries.
Recent research shows that dark chocolate and cocoa may:
- Help your arteries relax and widen, lowering blood pressure, promoting good blood flow and reducing the strain on the heart.
- Help prevent the build-up of plaque that can block arteries.
- Have mild anti-blood clotting effects.
Scientists attribute the power of dark chocolate and cocoa to their surprisingly high amount of antioxidants, plant-based compounds also found in red wine and green tea. People sometimes forget that chocolate, like wine and tea, starts out as a natural product. Chocolate comes from the cacao bean (the seed of the fruit of the cacao tree) which is a particularly potent source of antioxidants. The antioxidants in chocolate are called polyphenols, a large class of compounds found in fruits and vegetables like oranges, soybeans and berries. Dark chocolate and cocoa are particularly high in a sub-class of these compounds called flavanols, which are also found in red wine and tea.
The flavanols in dark chocolate and cocoa are key to heart health because they deactivate unstable molecules in your blood called free radicals. Free radicals are basically unstable oxygen molecules that can trigger changes in the structure of normally healthy cells. This damage is thought to be an underlying cause of many chronic diseases. Free radicals can aggravate the bad cholesterol in your blood and lead to the clogged arteries. Flavanols have also been shown to stimulate the production of nitric oxide, a key gas inside artery walls that relaxes and widens arteries, allowing for the easy flow of blood and reduced blood pressure. It's the role these flavanols play in promoting heart health that has grabbed researchers' attention.
In fact, ounce for ounce, dark chocolate and cocoa have more antioxidants than do foods like blueberries, green tea, and red wine...now that's something to smile about!
I generally recommend the higher percentage of cacao. The cacao content refers to the total cacao content in the chocolate. The three cacao components are: 1. Chocolate Liquor 2. Cocoa Butter 3. Cocoa Powder. If you see a dark chocolate bar that says 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate, then you know that 60% of that bar is made up of cocoa butter and chocolate liquor and the remaining 40% is made up of sugar, vanilla, and other ingredients. So you can see why the higher percentage the better. But just know that the higher the percentage the less sweet the chocolate is...so don't expect to bite into a 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate bar and taste milk chocolate. If you only like milk chocolate right now, I recommend starting at about 50% Cacao Dark Chocolate, and then working your way up from there.
With all this said, I am not telling you to go and make your whole diet based around dark chocolate. What I am saying is that it is a good treat. So enjoy-in moderation, just like everything else in life!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Dr. Vanessa. I love 90-95% dark chocolate, however, I did have to work up to that! When I want an extra special treat, I smear a little natural almond butter on the pice of chocolate... yummy!
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