Did you know that dark chocolate is healthier for you compared to milk chocolate? That’s right, dark chocolate is made from the seed of the cocoa tree which is one of the best sources of antioxidants. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that dark chocolate can improve your health and lower the risk of heart disease.
That is why dark chocolate is the true healthy form of chocolate to eat if you want to be healthy. Or in other words, to lose weight by eating. Heck yeah! So no matter how happy or heartbroken you will be, always stock dark chocolate in your fridge. Let’s take some bites of your choco and learn its benefits with us together.
1Dark Chocolate Helps Improve Brain Function
Feeling forgetful? Perhaps dark chocolate can help you with that. One study of healthy volunteers showed that eating high-flavanol cocoa for 5 days improved blood flow to the brain. Research has shown that dark chocolate may enhance neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself. Apart from boosting your memory, it also assists your reaction time, attention span, and problem-solving abilities. Now you know what you need before taking a test!
2Dark Chocolate Helps You To Lose Weight
Studies have found that eating chocolate 20 minutes before and five minutes after lunch and dinner can help you lose weight. That is because it cuts your appetite by up to 50 percent due to the flavonoids that decrease the potential for insulin resistance. At the same time, it contains healthy fats which slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. That means it prevents an insulin spike which directs sugar straight into your fat cells.
However, that does not mean you can just eat dark chocolate every day to lose weight at all. If things are that easy, well, every one of us would be a supermodel by now. Always make sure to consume them in the right amount, and give your body some time to adjust to the change. Studies have shown that we should consume only 20 – 30 grams of dark chocolate per day. It reduces cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty foods, and it makes you feel full for a longer time. Give that a try, shall we?
3Dark Chocolate Is Beneficial For Your Health
Rich in nutrients, dark chocolate contains fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. The best part is that it is rich in antioxidants that protect both your health and your skin. It has the free radical fighting ability that fights against environmental toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis.
More than that, the antioxidants in dark chocolate also prevent oxidative stress as well.
Oxidative stress refers to the damage that excessive amounts of free radicals can inflict on cells and tissues in the body. It also contributes to the natural aging process that makes you look older while developing a variety of diseases as well. The benefits of dark chocolate can help you reduce the chances of having heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and eye disease. With so many benefits, a bar of dark chocolate once in a while would be great.
4Dark Chocolate Is Good For Skin
Since dark chocolate contains flavanol, it can help the skin to look its best the longer you consume it. Again the antioxidants, it also helps your skin to protect itself from UV damage. At the same time, it also increases blood flow which results in fewer wrinkles while boosting a healthier glow as well. Flavanol in dark choco has been found to improve skin hydration and thickness which is ideal for healthy-looking skin. Worth a try, indeed!
5Dark Chocolate Reduces Cholesterol
This type of snack contains compounds such as polyphenols and theobromine that lower bad cholesterol in your body. There are two types of cholesterol in our body: LDL (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Doctors often refer to LDL cholesterol as bad cholesterol while HDL cholesterol is good cholesterol. Dark chocolate lowers the levels of LDL cholesterol while increasing the levels of HDL cholesterol in your body. How good is that?
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