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| Chocolate Addiction |  Dark chocolate, and especially the cocoa in the chocolate, has demonstrated significant health benefits in the last years in numerous clinical studies.
The matter is that cocoa is high in polyphenols. These substances help to reduce inflammation in the body, boost the immune system, and extract free radicals. Recently study found that cocoa also helps to reduce blood pressure.
Polyphenols are a type of bioflavonoid that we normally connect with fruits and vegetables, not chocolate. But what we often forget is that chocolate does come from a plant. But by the time it comes at our mouths it has been processed and things like milk, fat, and sugar have been added to make it more enjoyable to our palate.
Chocolate, or cocoa in its primary form, contains more than 60% of procyanidins. This special type of polyphenol is absent in as high amounts in teas, fruits or vegetables, and it appears this type is the most effectual on blood pressure.
To determine the effect of polyphenols on blood pressure explorers compared the regular use of black tea, green tea, and cocoa on blood pressure. They discovered that cocoa, consumed regularly for two weeks reduced blood pressure to the same degree of prescription medicines. Black tea and green tea did not have such an effect.
The scientists concluded that cocoa's effect on blood pressure could have a serious impact on cardiovascular health and deaths because of the stroke and heart attack. They measured potential decrease of 10-20% risk of stroke and heart attack.
But beware. Cocoa is the active agent here, not chocolate. Read the ingredient list on your favorite chocolate bar and you will see that cocoa is farther down than you would expect. Nevertheless, this can be remedied for chocolate lovers by seeking out the dark chocolate bars.
Some manufacturers of chocolate bars will offer a 70-85% cocoa bar with minimal added sugar and fat.
Try to avoid white chocolate. Because even though the flavor is excellent, white chocolate has had actually all the polyphenols removed. Because of its comparatively low polyphenol content, it does not offer any of the health benefits mentioned above.
Don’t forget that the health benefits of dark chocolate are found in moderation. Excess consumption of dark chocolate on a daily basis may cause weight gain and body fat increase. But when eaten in moderation, the health benefits are very apparent.
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