Chocolate - a Health Food?

Believe it or not, chocolate is good for you. I can hear all the chocolate lovers throughout the land cheering the happy news. However, we are not talking about your typical candy bar here or even your typical chocolate like a Hershey's Kiss. The kind of chocolate that has the medical community cheering its value is the kind that has at least 71% real cocoa; usually referred to as dark chocolate. The important point to remember is the darker the chocolate, the less sugar and the better it is for you.

Who isn't aware of the warm, fuzzy feeling we get when we eat chocolate. The emotional benefits have been documented for ages. Some women have been known to freely admit that they would prefer chocolate to sex! Chocolate intake has been linked with the release of serotonin in the brain, which produces feelings of pleasure. A study done by the British indicated that melting chocolate in one's mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended. Wow, that's some endorsement for eating chocolate. You have no doubt heard that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. While there's no proof of that, a gift of chocolate given to your sweetheart is a favorite and common tradition.

If we dismiss the obvious pleasure that eating chocolate provides, it still holds some beneficial health properties. Chocolate's complex composition gives our bodies several helpful chemical compounds.

The phenols contained in dark chocolate, similar to red wine, are good for our cardiovascular system. The British Medical Journal reports that a daily dose of 100 grams of dark chocolate not only helps reduce blood pressure but decreases heart problems by 21%. Another benefit of the phenols found in red wine and dark chocolate are the antioxidants that help neutralize the free radicals found in our bodies due to poor eating habits, smoking, and air polution. You are also probably aware that cocoa butter is frequently used to help heal burned skin and scars. Look at any container of burn healing salve. I bet you most of the time you will see cocoa butter listed as an ingredient.

Don't think that chocolate is a miracle food. It does contain fat. However, there is even good news here. The fat in chocolate is unsaturated and helps to reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. The natural amount of magnesium in chocolate combined with some nuts can provide you with a healthy amount of phosphor and vegetable iron.

When you buy your chocolate, look in the natural food section of your grocery store or speciality store. The advantage of buying from a natural food source is the cocoa crop will not have the harmful pesticides you have with a "normal" chocolate bar made from a "normal" cocoa crop.

Another point that must be emphasized is chocolate is not a low calorie food. It has its ample share of calories. Eating dark chocolate can be very healthy but you must cut back of your other carlorie laden "goodies".