Chocoholics now have a reason to rejoice. Studies show that chocolate can actually do wonders for your health! So go ahead and indulge.
If you have a sweet tooth and love chocolates, but the calories stop you from indulging yourself, here are a few reasons why you don’t have to feel guilty.
Reasons to have more chocolates
Nutritional punch: Both milk and dark chocolate give your body enough calcium and vitamin E to prevent any deficiency disorder. Consuming around two ounces of dark chocolate a day may actually help you live longer, and stay miles away from heart diseases, and even cancer!
Get smarter: Loaded with flavonoids that increase blood flow to the cerebral portion of the brain, chocolate can actually help you get smarter. It increases the production of blood and brain cells, boosting cognitive function (process in which one becomes aware of ideas). And that’s not just the dark chocolate - it’s also the regular milk chocolate that makes for good grades.
Flash the pearly whites: Theobromine - a compound found in chocolates is now thought to be as efficient as fluoride in hardening the tooth enamel, making you less susceptible to tooth decay and cavities. This, however, doesn’t mean you can trade your toothbrush for a chocolate bar.
Heart happy: You are probably already aware that dark chocolate helps fight away heart problems, specifically stroke. A study showed that weekly consumption of dark chocolate reduced the chances of stroke to a good 37%. Dark chocolate is also wonderfully efficient at reducing LDL (low density lipoproteins) - the bad cholesterol. Also, it manages to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 31%. Packed with vitamin E, dark chocolate keeps away the metabolic disorders, heart disease and diabetes. Now isn’t that impressive!
Soul soother: What made you obsessed with chocolate is the feel-good-feeling that you get right after you eat it. It stimulates the neural activity in the brain that gives that feeling of pleasure and satisfaction, helping ward away depression and stress.
Eye care: Consuming white/dark chocolate has demonstrated an improvement in vision among 300 people in the US. These impressive numbers came from the fact that the flavonols (a class of flavonoids) increase the blood flow to not only the brain, but also the retina.
Beauty SOS: Cocoa butter has made its way into many of your cosmetic products now, and it’s not without a reason. Cocoa rejuvenates the skin and accelerates production of new skin cells, thus effectively fighting skin ageing. Cocoa also has a high concentration of flavonols-a plant compound that improves blood circulation making the skin visibly smooth, and antioxidants that protect the skin from sun damage.
Lastly, chocolate effectively fights inflammation and free radical damage, giving you the glow you’ve always coveted.
