Few studies have proved that chocolate has health benefits. Findings have resulted to the fact that chocolate food can be actually good for the health since it contains more than 300 chemicals, where health benefits derive from. This is in contradiction to the old myth that anything that tastes good can be bad. It used to be that old folks warn their children against eating too much chocolate or other folks being very cautious believing that eating this food can be causative factor of certain illnesses.
But researches conducted demonstrated that there is quite a large amount of antioxidants, found in chocolate, and is relatively higher than other high-antioxidant foods. See one of the results of researches:
Cocoa powder – is found to contain the highest quantity and quality anti-oxidants.
Dark chocolate – is found second to cocoa powder. Results also showed that dark chocolate has eight more times of the polyphenol antioxidants than those found in strawberries.
Milk chocolate – is the third kind of chocolate food that contains high antioxidant contents.
Furthermore, in a research conducted in 2001, 23 participants who included in their diet dark chocolate and high flavonoid-rich cocoa powder were found to have higher HDL cholesterol, also called the good cholesterol, concentrations as opposed to other control participants. Although the investigation about the health effects of chocolate was done in a relatively small group of people, it suggested that there is more to what the chocolates were believed to have.
Subsequently, another research was done in 2005, where another small test group was involved. The output was similar, suggesting that dark chocolate can actually lower the blood pressure in individuals suffering with hypertension. It produced the comparable result as with the other research, wherein LDL cholesterol levels, or the bad cholesterol, were found to drop by at least 10 percent.
In these few researches alone, it can be concluded that chocolate food contains high amount of good chemicals, which therefore almost completely opposes the old myth and half-truths established long ago how it can never be good part of anyone’s diet. This must not be reason though for people to consume chocolate products at their own discretion.
Remember that there are chocolate foods that can be good to your health while there are others that can be bad, especially those that are highly-processed and poorly made. Some of those are chocolate candies and bars, which you often find in stores and are high in calories, sugar, and fat.
It does not necessarily mean that you have to entirely avoid these kinds of chocolate; however, take them in moderation. If you want to enjoy health benefits of chocolate, you can opt for the healthier version such as the three mentioned above.
Note too that health benefits found in chocolate are not good for your pets. This is for the reason that the food contains theobromine, a kind of stimulant and which pets cannot digest. Even baking and dark chocolate is not advised to be administered to pets. The same is true in cake, puddings, ice creams, candy bar, and cookies that contain chocolate.
For people with health concerns, it is a must to do a lot of researches about chocolate. Health benefits of chocolate may not be beneficial at all if you have a serious condition, so it will likewise help if you consult with your trusted doctor or nutritionist to avoid unnecessary medical consequences.
