Chocolate

 -Helps your heart to stay healthy

Lots of studies reveal that the flavonoids in chocolate can help your veins and arteries to stay supple. Studies on over 114,000 participants served with dark chocolate a week showed that their risk of getting a heart attack was reduced by about 37 percent while the chances of getting a stroke were 29 percent less when they had a higher con­sumption of chocolate.

-Helps to improve memory in old age

Research has shown that when elderly people were given spe­cially prepared cocoa extracts which was high in flavanols, their cognitive function greatly im­proved. The only problem is that when it comes to eating choc­olate, the percentage of those cocoa flavanols is much reduced due to the processing and the addition of eggs, sugar and milk.

 – It can help to avoid sunburn

One study conducted in London found that women who were giv­en chocolate with a high flavanol content were able to withstand double the amount of UV light on their skins without burning, com­pared to those on lower doses.

-It may help lower cholesterol levels

The Journal of Nutrition carries an interesting article about the results of a study done to de­termine whether dark chocolate could have any effect on the LDL cholesterol levels. They found that when subjects were given bars of dark chocolate with plant sterols and flavanols, they were getting lower scores on their cholesterol levels.

-It may help people with Alz­heimer’s disease

As we know, the nerve path­ways to the brain get damaged when Alzheimer’s disease strikes, causing severe loss in certain mental functions. It is fascinating to read about how one extract from cocoa, called lavado, can actually reduce the damage done to these vital pathways.

-Very nutritious

Did you know that with a high cocoa content (75 percent to 85 percent) you are getting a very nutritious snack? Take the typical 100 gram chocolate bar. It has almost all of your RDA for copper and manganese. It contains over half your magnesium RDA and about two thirds (67 percent) of your RDA for iron. It also has about 10 percent of fibre. There is also lots of zinc, selenium and potassium too.

– Helps to lower blood pres­sure

You may not know it but having the right amount of NO (Nitric Oxide) in your body can help your arteries to relax. That will, in turn help to take some of the pressure off them and the result is a lower BP count. Just anoth­er benefit of the dark chocolate flavanols which help to produce this vital Nitric Oxide.

Source: thebftonline.com