Is chocolate good for you?

The overall verdict seems to be that chocolate, at least the dark 70%+ variety, is actually good for you in many ways. Who are we to disagree!

There’s reams and reams on the subject of whether chocolate is good for you right across the internet and so we thought we’d just list the key health benefits that are becoming more increasingly reported for chocolate. We’re not talking your typical countline bar though and it is not a green light to eat as much as you can…

Chocolate is good for your brain

Dark chocolate can apparently protect your brain, especially from damage caused by having a stroke. This is apparently due to a compound call Epicatechin which is found in dark chocolate.

Chocolate stengthens your bones

The benefit of white chocolate is that a 50g bar will contain one sixth of your daily recommended allowance of calcium. Be mindful of the sugar level though.

Chocolate can help to lower your blood pressure

Recent research identified a statistically significant effect of chocolate lowering blood pressure, at least in the short term. This is due to the flavanols found in cocoa beans which help in the production of nitric oxide. This in turn stimulates the blood vessels to dilate.

Chocolate contains lots of lovely antioxidants

Dark chocolate contains significant amounts of antioxidants and we’re told that these are great to fight disease. They are also found in many green vegetables…and red wine.

Chocolate might help with PMS

Good news! As chocolate releases endorphins that help to calm us and contains much magnesium, it can be effective at that tricky time of the month.

Chocolate has the potential for cancer prevention

It’s clearly not the answer for all cancers but research is suggesting that some of the compounds found in cocoa can suppress some cancer cells dividing.

So perhaps a certain quality and quantity of chocolate really is good for you. More research is likely to develop this line of thought further I’m quite sure so in the meantime, I’ll remain loyal to my favourite bars of lovely dark chocolate…in the name of health you see.

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