You’ve all seen at one time or another a news report or article about the health benefits of dark chocolate. More research has been done on one of our favorite confections in the last ten years giving chocoholics everywhere a chance to rejoice.
There is very little health benefits in milk chocolate and none at all in white chocolate. Dark chocolate has medicinal properties and thanks to scientific studies we have learned it helps your heart health, promotes weight loss, helps keep blood sugars in diabetics stable and reduces the chance for diabetes, improves mood, improves cognitive function, helps to protect the skin from UV damage, promotes and increases energy levels and aids in reducing inflammation inside the body. It sounds too good to be true, right? The good news is it is true.
Dark chocolate has a high cacao measurement and that means it also has more antioxidants present. However, on the flip side any dark chocolate that has been heated loses up to 80% of the beneficial flavanols found in cacao but you are still getting ‘some’ of the catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidins. Exactly how many cannot really be determined because store chocolate does not list those measurements on their packaging. The warning that science has for consumers who go to the store to buy dark chocolate is to make sure to read the list of ingredients. Commercial dark chocolates contain a good amount of ‘refined white sugar’ and sugar has been in the news quite a bit.
All of these medical studies have shown time and time again that flavanols are extremely beneficial in aiding cardiovascular disease. The Theobromine found in the cacao bean is a natural vasodilator. That means that it helps open up the veins and let blood flow easily thus reducing blood pressure and cholesterol. Another benefit to eating dark chocolate that is high in antioxidants is the ability for the compounds found in chocolate help to fight free radical damage and oxidation which is killing your DNA. You can’t escape oxidation! Oxygen is something you need it to live and it’s all around you. Each time you take a breath and exhale not all of that oxygen leaves the body. What is left inside turns into free radicals and begin to attack your cells, killing them. Athletes are put at a higher risk for further oxidation damage due to the amount of oxygen intake during exercise. Studies performed on athletes who ate dark chocolate on a regular basis showed a reduction of free radical damage by these scavengers.
It is amazing what science and the medical world are unveiling through their clinical tests and it truly shows us that dark chocolate has medicinal properties. Consider eating raw organic chocolate to help bring the body back into balance naturally instead of taking synthetic medications. People who consume raw organic chocolate have stories to tell and that is because they have experienced the power of raw!
When you select the right type of chocolate it is like giving your insides a hug. EVERYONE needs a chocolate hug…
Love it Jean. I don’t have a sweet tooth… however.. I do love dark chocolate. If portions are controlled (hard to do:) it’s a great thing to add to your diet on a regular basis. Great info and thanks for sharing.
Todd, the good news is: IT IS GREAT that you do not have a sweet tooth 🙂 Dark chocolate is powerful and just a little bit every day helps a lot! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know how much you appreciate this info 🙂
Excellent Blog Jean! Very informative. I think a lot of people have misconceptions about chocolate and especially Dark chocolate. They ususally always think of the processed chocolate Co’s eg. Hershey’s etc. I especially love the focus on the health benefits and the info that dark chocolate contains many vitamins and minerals that are high in antioxidants and flavanoids. Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for stopping in and sharing Sebastian. We have all been taught and know about candy with chocolate in it but very few of us know about pure dark chocolate and it’s medicinal properties. I hope that the information in this blog enlightens the audience to understand what the differences are between them. Chocolate HUGS 🙂
Cacao has both medicinal and an aphrodisiac, and used to be a warrior’ elixir for strength before battle.
AND according to the lore, Montezuma drank Xocolatl every day 50 times from golden vessel, often before going to his harem… so, yes women and MEN should have more of this drink/health food ;-))
Jean, this is a fantastic post that is well written and researched. You hard work is evident here and I learned some new things about dark chocolate! Thank you for sharing this information and I’m very happy to have made your acquaintance on FB, Twitter and EAV!
@Lydia so true! Research also done by Dr. Norm Hollenberg on the Kuna Indians revealed that they drink up to 40 cups of cacao a week and there is little disease. As soon as some have migrated to the mainland and began eating differently disease followed.
@Terri, I am happy to hear that you learned something new! I do quite a bit of research and hope to educate as many people as I can between candy with chocolate in it vs true pure unadulterated chocolate that is very medicinal. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you as well 🙂
Thank you both for taking the time to stop in and share your thoughts and facts. It is very much appreciated!
Dear Jean,
You are such a wealth of health knowledge when it comes to the real truth about how dark chocolate is beneficial. The big corporations have diminished the nutritional value of chocolate and you are such a chocolate warrior to raise so much awareness. Great job on this post. Dark chocolate is something we all should consume daily.
June thank you for taking the time to visit and contribute. I once used to be the average person who thought ‘chocolate is tasty but it’s bad for you and makes you fat’. I have learned a lot and hope to help others learn the health benefits of dark chocolate. It’s what God gave us to eat to keep us healthy. What man did to is another thing; they removed the medicinal properties by processing it.
I wonder if people realize that raw chocolate is complete food it is listed under the MEGA food group!
Thank you for stopping by San and commenting. I don’t know how many people know for sure but I do get quite a few comments from people that leads me to believe they don’t. I am hoping to change that by sharing information on this website.