Chocolate is fattening, it is Satan dressed up as food meant to lure you into sin… commonly held belief. Anything that delicious must be bad for us right? Not Quite! Now while a lot of the ‘research’ was probably funded by product manufacturers and their marketing budgets, there is evidence to show that chocolate can actually be good for us. So as long as you don’t have too much of it, and have the right kind of chocolate (dark chocolate that is low in sugar and high in cocoa) you could be doing yourself a favour by eating chocolate!
Chocolate is nutritious
Chocolates
We may not associate chocolate with fibre, but a 100-gram bar of good quality chocolate can have up to 11 grams of soluble fibre. It also has minerals such as iron, manganese, copper and magnesium.
Chocolate can lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol
Chocolate being whisked for preparation
There is some evidence to suggest that chocolate improves blood circulation by lowering resistance to blood flow and can have a positive impact on the lining of the arteries. Ergo, lower blood pressure! There is also evidence to suggest that eating chocolate could lower bad cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
Chocolate is a good source of antioxidants
Chocolate goes in many recipes
Chocolate apparently has polyphenols, flavanols, catechins. Now that sounds gibberish, chocolate can help combat cell damage from free radicals. Still gibberish? Well, chocolate helps prevent premature ageing; that’s how wonderful it is!
Chocolate makes you smarter
Eating chocolate is a delight
While you may not see your IQ leaping up the evolutionary scale, your cognitive performance could, in fact, get a short-term boost with the help of chocolate. It is the caffeine that is seen to improve blood flow to the brain, improve verbal fluency and even improve short-term memory.
Chocolate makes you happy
Drool factor
It is more than the sheer sensuous delight of feeling the chocolate meltingly coat your tongue, and the taste of it permeating your being and delighting your very soul…chocolate is actually thought to trigger the release of certain hormones such as endorphins and serotonin. These can give you the euphoric boost that makes you view the whole world in a kinder light.
