BENEFITS OF DARK CHOCOLATE

Hi again fitfam! Hope you had an amazing morning full of energy and positivism! Are you ready to discover something new today?

A few days ago my dearest friends and blog colleague Ema, dedicated a post on the benefits of drinking green tea. (If you haven´t read it yet I strongly recommend you to do so! I guarantee that within 5 minutes you will be going to the nearest store to buy some.) Today, I am coming back to you to talk about the benefits of the best product that Mother Nature gifts us with, used in cakes, sweets and desserts…what is this mysterious food? DARK CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate is our top 1 comfort food, a sure–fire stand-by in times of stress, a reliable source of consolation when life has let us down, and a mood-enhancer and romance-inducer in more positive circumstances. But it is really healthy? It really depends on the kind of chocolate you choose and the quantity you eat; forget about white chocolate and the ones filled with cookies, nuts or any other caloric substances, and eat only one or two ounces per serving. The pure, dark chocolate, with a cocoa percentage of around seventy per cent or more is the one which is really good for us, being beneficial for the heart, circulation and brain and an extra help to fight against autism, obesity and diabetes.

Dark chocolate is packed with beneficial minerals such as potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of dark chocolate provides 67% of the RDA of iron. It has also been shown that consuming cocoa reduces levels of “bad” cholesterol and raises the levels of the “good” one lowering the risk of a cardiovascular disease. Moreover, and even though hard to believe, it has been proofed that chocolate can help you loose weight. A recent studio showed that a small square of good chocolate melted on the tongue 20 minutes before a meal triggers the hormones in the brain that say “I´m full”, decreasing the amount of food you will subsequently consume. The same happens when you eat a small piece after your meal, it will make you feel satiated and even reduce subsequent snacking.

Here comes the final and best benefit of all! Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, (PEA), which is the same chemical substance that your body releases when you´re falling in love, so PEA encourages your brain to release feel-good endorphins. In other words, you will feel happier and more cheerful!

So now you know my dear readers, never feel guilty when eating dark chocolate, as long as you do it with moderation, as it will benefit your body and soul in many ways. I hope you enjoyed reading the post as much as I did writing it, have an amazing day and never forget to visit our site and see what news your 2 beloved fit brunettes have to tell you.

Photo by: Clean Indulgence

Juliet