Who doesn’t love chocolate? From youngsters to adults, usually, everyone loves chocolate. Even I love chocolate. But, not everyone loves dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is the best kind of chocolate. Some people love it to death, whereas some love milk chocolate.
However, are dark chocolate healthy? Yes, it absolutely is healthy for you. Eating dark chocolate can be good for you because it has a lot of health benefits.
So, this means that your favorite yummy snack can give you benefits that will help with keeping a good bill of health.
But, what percentage of dark chocolate is healthy? And, how much dark chocolate a day should you eat?
Read the rest of the article, and you will get to learn all that and more about dark chocolate.
Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
There are a lot of health benefits to eating dark chocolate. Even if you cannot eat too much dark chocolate at once, it can be good for you in moderation. It is so much healthier than milk chocolate.
Let us look at the health benefits of dark chocolate.
Nutritious
If you are eating dark chocolate that has a high content of cocoa, it can be quite nutritious for you. It is more nutritious than milk chocolate and cocoa butter.
Dark chocolate nutrition includes a lot of soluble fiber as well as minerals like iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, and potassium.
Store-bought dark chocolate has a lot of sugar. That is why you should eat it in moderation.
Dark chocolate has fatty acids that are good for your body. Because of the oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid in the fats of cocoa, dark chocolate is good for you.
The stearic acid in dark chocolate helps lower cholesterol in your bloodstream. Dark chocolate even has caffeine and theobromine in it to keep you energized.
Antioxidants
ORAC is the antioxidant activity measurement of food, which means oxygen radical absorbance capacity.
Researchers have basically set a few free bad radicals against a good sample to see how the antioxidants can disarm these radicals.
Unprocessed and raw cocoa beans were tested, and the results were that they had the highest score among other foods.
Dark chocolates are filled with organic components that act as antioxidants. These may include flavanols, catechins, and polyphenols, among others.
A study has shown dark chocolate and cocoa to have more antioxidant activity, flavanols, and polyphenols than any other foods tested, including acai berries and blueberries.
Might Improve Lower Blood Pressure and Blood Flow
When is the best time to eat dark chocolate? It is when you have high blood pressure. Do not eat chocolate ice cream for high blood pressure, eat dark chocolate bars.
The flavanols that are in the dark chocolate bar stimulate the lining of your arteries or the endothelium to produce NO Or nitric oxide.
One of the things that NO does is sending signals to your arteries so that they would relax. What this does is lower the resistance of your blood flow to your blood vessels. This reduces your blood pressure.
Many studies have shown that dark chocolate and cocoa improve low blood pressure and blood flow. However, you get mild effects from dark chocolate.
But, one study on people with blood pressure that was high has shown no effects at all. So, you cannot agree with both kinds of studies. More research needs to be done on this.
Increases HDL and Protects Against LDL Oxidation
Is dark chocolate good for your heart? Yes, it can improve a lot of the risk factors that can cause different heart disease like coronary heart disease.
One controlled study found that the oxidation of the bad cholesterol LDL can significantly decrease in men because of eating dark chocolate.
It can also help increase the good cholesterol HDL in your bloodstream.
The oxidation of the bad cholesterol LDL means that this cholesterol reacts to free radicals. And, with the antioxidants found in cocoa and dark chocolate, this oxidation can be decreased.
The flavanols of dark chocolate can reduce the resistance of insulin, which is one of the known risk factors that can cause different heart disease. It is even good for people with insulin sensitivity. Even other qualified health provider would say that.
Might Reduce the Risks of Heart Disease
The components of dark chocolate and cocoa may protect you against the oxidation of the bad cholesterol LDL.
If you were to have a long-term relationship with dark chocolate, it should be able to reduce the bad cholesterol from becoming embedded in your arteries, which in turn will reduce the risk of many heart disease.
In fact, a lot of the studies done on this show a drastic improvement. And a study done on 470 more older men showed that cocoa reduced the chances of death from different cardiovascular disease by fifty percent over fifteen years.
In a clinical trial done in the year 2017, the patients who ate dark chocolate had improved levels of LDL cholesterol, which is a good thing for the heart.
Protects Skin from Sun Damage
The bioactive components of dark chocolate are great for the skin.
The cocoa flavanols that dark chocolate contains can protect you against any sun damage, increase the hydration and density of your skin, and improve the blood flow of your skin.
The minimal Erythemal dose or MED known as the minimum quantity of UVB rays that are required so that there is redness in your skin after 24 hours of exposure.
A study done on 30 people showed that the MED doubles after you eat dark chocolate for twelve weeks.
Improves Brain Function
Dark chocolate could actually improve your brain function. In a study with healthy adults, the blood flow to their brains improved after eating cocoa high in flavanols for five days.
In an adult who is older in age, cocoa may improve their cognitive function if they have cognitive impairment that is mild.
Cocoa could improve several risk factors for many diseases and verbal fluency as well.
In addition, cocoa consists of substances for stimulation like theobromine and caffeine, which could be good for brain function if you are considering short term.
Dark Chocolate Side Effects
Too much of nothing is ever really good for you. Eating a lot of Dark chocolate is not good for you either.
Is dark chocolate good for weight loss? It is if you eat dark chocolate in moderation. But, eating too much of it can help you gain weight because of its sugar content.
Because of its caffeine content, you may suffer from nervousness, sleeplessness, a faster heartbeat, and increased urination if you eat too much dark chocolate.
If you eat too much dark chocolate, you may also suffer from gas, stomach discomfort, nausea, and constipation.
So, my advice here would be that whatever you do, do not eat a lot of dark chocolate all at once.
FAQS
- Is dark chocolate good for weight loss?
Yes, dark chocolate is good for weight loss.
However, dark chocolate may also contains a lot of sugar and saturated fat. So, you cannot eat a lot of dark chocolate, thinking it will help you lose weight. You have to consume dark chocolate in moderation.
2. Is dark chocolate good for the heart?
Yes, dark chocolate is good for your heart.
Dark chocolate may reduce the effects of bad cholesterol and increase the effects of good cholesterol, which in turn makes it good for your heart.
3. Can you replace the dark chocolate with sunscreen?
No, you cannot replace the dark chocolate with sunscreen.
Although dark chocolate may help with sun damage, it is in no way a replacement for sunscreen. So, you should both use sunscreen and eat dark chocolate to protect your skin from sun damage.
