The All-Time Favorite: Dark Chocolates

Dark chocolates

Chocolates contain many health benefits of dark vegetables, since they are made from plants. Benefits include flavonoids that are antioxidants which protect the body from aging. Our body gets old because of free radicals that can cause some damages leading to heart disease. That is why you can hear that chocolates are good for the heart.

Go for dark chocolates instead of white, milk or ordinary chocolates. Ordinary chocolates have no health claims. Dark chocolate contains more antioxidants and has cocoa content higher than 65 percent.

Antioxidants in dark chocolates are about 8 times more than it is found in strawberries. By producing nitric oxide, flavonoids help balance certain hormones and relax blood pressure in the body. A small bar of dark chocolates everyday can help the cardiovascular system to run well. It has been noted that the two health benefits of dark chocolates related to the heart are: lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Studies show that dark chocolates reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL) by up to 10 percent.

Aside from tasting good, dark chocolates stimulate the production of endorphin, which gives a feeling of pleasure; they contain serotonin which acts as an anti-depressant; and stimulants such as theobromine and caffeine.


Fats in dark chocolates

The good news is: the fats in dark chocolates have less impact in your cholesterol. The fats are 1/3 palmitic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 oleic acid. Thus, only 1/3 of the fats in dark chocolates are bad for you. Palmitic fat, the only unhealthy fat found in dark chocolates, is a saturated fat that raises heart and cholesterol risk; stearic acid is a saturated fat which has a neutral effect in cholesterol; and oleic acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat found in olive oils.

Dark chocolates and diabetes

Studies have shown that dark chocolates improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Due to its flavonoids, dark chocolates can help battle against diabetes. For those who are already diabetic, eating dark chocolates can help counteract with insulin resistance.

Take note that these benefits can be applied only for dark chocolates, not the ordinary chocolates.

Balance your calories

This does not mean that eating excessive dark chocolates everyday for diabetics is highly-advisable. Chocolates are still high in calorie and fats. Studies say that you may eat no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces of dark chocolates to get the benefits.

Balance is still the key. One bar of dark chocolate has about 400 calories. If you eat half of it, you get 200 calories then cut out other snacks or sweets and replace them with dark chocolates to balance the total calories.