What Is Chocolate?
What Is Chocolate : Many have enjoyed the indulgence of eating chocolate for its own sake, especially since it has often been associated with chocolates past, present and future. Chocolate is indeed very healthy, as it has a power of preventing us from many diseases. Like any other food with high antioxidant content, it contains many important nutrients that have a great role in keeping us healthy.
We all know that antioxidants are present in all flavonoids. So what is this antioxidant goodness that makes chocolate such a nutritional super-star?
Chocolate is rich in cacao phytochemicals, which have some amazing benefits. This antioxidant content has been proven to lower blood pressure, improve blood vessel elasticity, and prevent plaque build-up in our blood vessels. The recent studies made on the composition of flavonoids in chocolate shows that out of 33 types of flavonoids, the composition of chocolate offers the best antioxidant activity by far.
In addition to containing these helpful antioxidants, chocolate is also rich in several vitamins and minerals. Just recently, a researptic determined that pure cocoa powder also contains up to 40% antio oxidants that can help keep away from heart problems and other health problems.
A recent study also showed that chocolate can reduce the frequency of urinary tract infections. We all know that the importance of maintaining a healthy urinary tract can not be overstated. Another very important contribution of chocolate in keeping healthy urinary tract is by its effect on the bacteria present in the urethra, close to the bladder. By decreasing the activity of E. coli, chocolate can also prevent kidney troubles.
Intake of chocolate is also believed to decrease the risk of cancer, as it contains many types of carcinogens. The recent researches have shown that high consumers of chocolate are almost 20% less exposed to risk of cancer, than low consumers.
Finally, chocolate is known to give amazing benefits to our brain. As you may know, the layer of our brain called the cortex is very important for combining information from different senses, such as sense of sight, smell and taste. The trick of making sure that the cortex is not overloaded by light and sound can be seen in the choice of candies and chocolates that we buy. The chemicals that give chocolate its taste are also, responsible for providing us this experience.
That is why it is believed that eating chocolate can make you smarter. It is believed that if people eat chocolate regularly, their brains will have a reaction that would normally never happen if they did not have enough chocolate intake.
Now, we know that consuming chocolates does wonders to our body, but we also know that consuming too much of chocolate will do harm to our brain. How much is too much?
In conclusion, chocolate is really favorite that all. Although we know that the dark type of chocolate is the best for giving a lot benefits to our body and brain, everybody is entitled to enjoy a cup of chocolate every now and then. At least, 50 grams of chocolate would be great for our body and brain.