Dark Chocolates: A Healthy Alternative!

Dark chocolate is considered a healthier alternative to milk chocolate since it contains more cocoa, which is assumed to be good and nutritious for your body. Dark chocolate is rich in indigestible fiber and is also highly enriched with minerals.

You might be wondering when to eat it, let us tell you that it can be consumed whenever you have cravings for it but we will provide tips for one who wants to lose weight. These people must eat on an empty stomach or within 30 minutes after eating a meal. Let us brief you more so that it gets clear to you that dark chocolate is quite a healthy alternative.

Here we start with the benefits of consuming dark chocolates:

1.     These are very nutritious as they are rich in soluble fiber and are enriched with minerals. If you are having 85% dark chocolate then, 100gram of it contains 11grams of fiber, 58% of the daily value (DV) for magnesium, 67% of DV for iron, 98% of DV for manganese, and 89% of DV for copper. Furthermore, it contains a lot of zinc, phosphorus, selenium, and potassium.
2.     It is a potent supplier of antioxidants, which means that they are loaded with natural substances that are active biologically and function as an antioxidant. So, these organic compound includes flavonols, polyphenols, and catechins. Moreover, they contain more antioxidants than most other foods.
3.     Dark chocolate consumption may lower blood pressure and helps to improve blood flow. This happens because the cocoa in that chocolate contains bioactive compounds that help to improve the flow of blood in the arteries and cause a small but substantial decrease in blood pressure.
4.     It reduces the risk related to heart disease. Cocoa used in it can significantly reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) and increases HDL (good cholesterol). Additionally, the flavonols used in it reduce insulin resistance which is another common risk factor for heart diseases and diabetes. A study says that if you eat dark chocolate more than five times a week, you can reduce your heart disease risk by 57%.
5.     85% dark chocolate protects your skin from the sun as flavonols included in cocoa protect against sun damage by improving blood flow and increasing hydration and skin density.
6.     It also helps to improve brain functioning. Eating high flavonols cocoa for consecutive five days improves blood flow to the brain. Not only this but cocoa also contains two other substances such as caffeine and theobromine which help to improve brain function in the short term.

These reasons are enough to tell you that consumption of these dark chocolates is beneficial to everyone’s health. But that doesn’t mean that you should start consuming it in more amounts. If done so, then it may reverse its effect by harming your body as it is still loaded with calories. Having a square or two of it is enough for the day.

One can make sure how much nutritious it is by just looking at the percentage of cocoa it contains. The benchmark should be 70% or more as it contains less amount of sugar. Hence, if you are willing to eat dark chocolate then go for 85% dark chocolate.