Dark Chocolate And Anti-aging

When nutritionists talk about how chocolate is good for you, what they are usually talking about is dark chocolate. It is the dark chocolate that is usually associated with the many health benefits that you hear of. And that's because dark chocolate has the highest percentage of cocoa in it which is really where the antioxidants come from.

When contrasted with the amount of sugar and fat in it, milk chocolate has a really small amount of cocoa. And white chocolate which, in reality, is not chocolate at all, has even less cocoa. In fact, technically, white chocolate consists of cocoa butter, not cocoa. So, if you are looking for the healthiest type of chocolate, you want dark chocolate which has over sixty percent of cocoa.

Many people believe that dark chocolate is a good anti ageing food. Mainly they believe this because of the high amount of anti oxidants in dark chocolate. Anti-oxidants helps the body to ward off diseases which many experts believe has a direct effect on lifespan.

Others believe that chocolate helps to reduce stress which has been linked with aging. The consumption of dark chocolate increases the amount of endorphins in your system which generally releases stress from your body making you more relax.

What you may not realize is that chocolate is designed to be addictive. The natural average temperature of humans is around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. As chance would have it, the melting point of chocolate is around 97 degrees Fahrenheit - or just lower than the average resting temperature of man. When the chocolate starts to melt in the mouth, the taste buds are excited and endorphins are released from the brain. The feel good sensation generated by the eating of chocolate is similar to the effect that many drugs have on the body. You want to obtain that feel good sensation again, so you eat more chocolate.

Many people believe that chocolate causes acne or skin breakouts. But there is no proof for either suspicion. In fact, acne does not seem to be related much to diet at all. Others avoid chocolate because of the caffeine in it which they are trying to avoid.

But, a milligram of chocolate has only about a third of the caffeine that a cup of coffee has. And others avoid chocolate because they fear that it causes cavities. And while that is no doubt true of the many candies that have chocolate as an ingredient, it is the sugar in those candies that cause cavities, not the chocolate itself.

In study after study, dark chocolate is being found to have beneficial effects on the body. Test show that participants eating a small amount of dark chocolate per day, lowered their blood pressure by a measurable amount. In addition, when their antioxidant levels were measured, the levels had increased in everyone.

White chocolate was also included in the tests and, unfortunately, for those who love white chocolate - it had no effect on the blood pressure. However, these test result are not a license to self medicate your blood pressure with dark chocolate. You still need to talk to your doctor about that.

By: Jim Allen

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