Do we really need more reasons to indulge in this wonderfully decadent food? Well, even if we don’t, there are plenty more reasons to let your teeth sink into this world of dark goodness and that is exactly what we want to talk about today!
Dark chocolate, apart from being one of the most delicious foods on the face of the Earth, also happens to be loaded with a whole lot of nutrient goodness and all these nutrients can easily lead to many positive benefits for your overall health! We are sure that you know that dark chocolate is derived from the seeds of the cocoa tree, but did you know that it also happens to be one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet?
However, you need to realize that when we say “Dark Chocolate”, we are talking about genuine dark chocolate and not its sugar-filled counterpart that is available in the market!
High in Nutrients
When you decide to make dark chocolate a part of your life, be sure to buy some good quality dark chocolate, where the cocoa content is high; essentially more than 70%. The higher the cocoa content, the more nutritious it will turn out to be. Loaded with soluble fiber and plenty of minerals, dark chocolate should definitely be included in your diet!
A mere 100gms of 70-85% dark chocolate can easily contain 11 gms of fiber, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, copper and selenium, and these are only some of the nutrients that we have listed! Just imagine, something that is so luscious having so many amazing qualities! A win-win situation now, isn’t it? We, however, are not advocating the consumption of 100gms of dark chocolate daily, since the 100 gms also comes with its fair share of calories. Just remember, moderation is the key to maintaining your health flawlessly!
Improves Blood Flow and Lowers Blood Pressure
Did you know that the lining of your arteries can produce the gas, Nitric Oxide? So fascinating, isn’t it? This very nitric oxide is what sends signals to the arteries to help them relax when they are tensed up. This, in turn, helps in lowering the resistance to blood-flow as a result of which blood pressure also reduces.
Now you must be wondering what dark chocolate has got to do with this! Well, dark chocolate, which happens to be full of flavanols, helps in stimulating the endothelium, i.e. the lining of the arteries, thus helping in the productions of the nitric oxide! But you also need to keep in mind that every food has a different effect on different people, so it may not be necessary that if dark chocolate helps lower the blood pressure of someone you know, it will do the same for you too!
Heart Disease Preventer
There are so many risk factors that can easily lead to developing a heart disease that it gets hard to count them sometimes. The consumption of dark chocolate though has been proven to improve several of these very factors considerably! In many studies, it was noticed that dark chocolate helped in increasing the HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which is also called the “good” cholesterol and decreased the total LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, i.e. the “bad” cholesterol level too!
It also reduces the oxidization process of the LDL and prevents it from reacting with the free-radicals present in your blood. As a result of this reaction, the LDL particles themselves become capable of damaging the lining of the arteries in your heart. So when you consume dark chocolate, you end up preventing a lot of these issues that might befall your body! Apart from this, dark chocolate also reduces insulin resistance, thus helping in preventing and controlling the onset of diseases like diabetes too!
Need we say more? High-time isn’t it that you indulge in some good quality dark chocolate already? So what are you waiting for? Go forth and shop people, but remember to only sink your teeth into 70-85% dark chocolate everyone! Anything less than that isn’t going to help!
