Happy International Chocolate Day! 🍫🍫🍫
Is Chocolate Bad For You?
If you are a chocolate lover (like me) then I have some good news for you: chocolate does not have to be bad for you.
Now you’ve probably read that dark chocolate is good for you – and it is. The darker the better.
Here are a few reasons why:
Health Benefits of Chocolate
❤️ A Healthier Heart
Dark chocolate contains antioxidants that seem to lower blood pressure, reduce blood clots and increase blood circulation to the heart.
💪 Keeps Us Healthy
Dark chocolate is known to decrease oxidative stress, the imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body which can cause many unwanted health conditions.
💙 Improves Blood Sugar
Epicatechin found in chocolate can improve insulin resistance – yes, very dark, no-sugar chocolate can help with blood sugars.
🏃 Makes Us More Athletic
Epicatechin can also increase the production of nitric oxide in the blood, which improves circulation while enabling us to use less oxygen during sports.
🤓 Makes Us Smart
Flavanols in dark chocolate are believed to impact brain function, enabling us to react more quickly and improve memory.
😄Decreases Stress
Research has confirmed that chocolate reduces cortisol, the stress hormone.
Choose Your Chocolate Wisely
Please note, these benefits are all found in dark chocolate. The darker, the better. Aim for at least 70% cocoa. Milk and white chocolate are not going to provide these benefits. Sorry, not sorry.
Please make sure that you read the label of your chocolate and understand what is in it. If there is a lot more in there than chocolate, or a lot of sugar, move on.
While we know a lot, we still don’t know how much is enough, or how much is too much.
What we do know is that small amounts of dark chocolate seems to be helpful to health.
And today is International Chocolate Day so I’m going to celebrate. Join me?
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