5 major reasons to eat dark chocolate

Image courtesy of Pixabay/Alexander Stein

I proudly admit, I am a chocoholic! A friend of mine said, if wine, garlic and chocolate are healthy and good for you, we live in a pretty awesome world!  Makes sense, right?

Every week I visit my 95-year old grandmother, who frequently sends me home with a chocolate bar.  Most of the times, I don’t eat it.

 Instead, I melt the chocolate to make something more exciting out of it and often bring some back to share with her.  If you’d like to know how to add more excitement to your chocolate, read on.

I don’t remember the first time I discovered that chocolate is an incredible power food.  I’ve been paying careful attention to the science and art of chocolate for quite some time.

The name for cacao (or Theobroma cacao in Latin) comes from Greek, meaning “the food of Gods.”  

Wouldn’t you agree, it’s quite appropriate and perfect?The plant originally comes from Americas (most likely from southeastern Mexico).  As you probably know, cacao is one of few sources of caffeine known to men.It’s always exciting for me to learn more about this plant and what it has to offer.  I remember that initially the chemical composition and difference between white, milk and dark chocolate came a shock to me.I used to love white and milk chocolate and clearly preferred them to the dark variety.  Similarly to learning about coffee, good wine, cheese or beer, however, you learn to appreciate what makes dark chocolate superior in many ways.

Let me share with you why dark chocolate is better for you from medical perspective.

A lot of chocolate research looks at activity of polyphenols, procyanidins and flavonoids.  Dark chocolate contains the highest amounts of these healthy ingredients and nutrients in comparison to white chocolate that doesn’t have any of these.

If you already love dark chocolate, here’s five of many important reasons to continue including it in your diet.

1. Heart Health

Numerous human studies show that diet high in flavonoids reduces the risk of heart disease.  Flavonoids in chocolate serve as antioxidants, they lower blood pressure and platelet clumping, they improve function of the entire cardiovascular system.

2. Brain Health

Eating chocolate appears to improve blood circulation to your brain, it helps to create new cells, decrease risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease and so much more.

3. Fatigue Reduction

Research in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome shows that those consuming chocolate have decrease in fatigue, anxiety, depression and improved overall function.

4. Diabetes Prevention

There is some preliminary research suggesting that insulin resistance can decrease with consumption of cocoa.

5. Weight Loss

Another area where preliminary research suggests that eating small amount of dark chocolate helps to lose weight better than eating a non-chocolate snack.

A couple of years back I attended the American Herbalists Guild Symposium. One of the sessions, lead by a dear friend and colleague Bevin Clare, changed my life – at least, in terms of my chocolate routine.

I learned that if you melt 1 pound of chocolate (in a double boiler, so it does not burn) and add 1/2-1 cup of coconut oil, you can pour this mixture into a Pyrex dish and freeze this.Right before I take the mixture off the stove, I add a huge amount of spices to it. I call this my “medicated chocolate”.  And if you’ve ever taken classes with me in the past few years, you’ve probably experienced this creation.If you prefer to just buy your chocolate, these are some good rules to follow and companies to explore.  It’s quite scary to realize the world might be headed for a chocolate drought because of this high demand.Questions: What are your favorite brands of chocolate? Do you have interesting recipes? Have you ever looked at dark chocolate from the medical or health perspective? This is a great opportunity to express your undying love for chocolate 🙂