Sunday, February 12, 2012

Luxury Chocolate - Is It The New Health Food?

Luxury chocolates contain just as much fat, if not more, then common chocolate but fat isn't the only thing to think about when considering how eating chocolates affects your health. The quality of the ingredients certainly has an effect and the more expensive or gourmet chocolates are made with higher quality ingredients. Of course, if you are really concerned you will want to eat only chocolate made with organic ingredients.

In fact, it has been found that eating chocolate can be good for you - but not cheap chocolate. Luxury chocolate made with 60% or more cocoa solids contain nutrients and vitamins and has a large amount of magnesium which is beneficial for the cardiovascular system and hypertension.

Chocolate has also been found to contain catechins, the same antioxidants found in green tea, which can help prevent cancer and heart disease so eating chocolates in moderation can be healthful!

Dark chocolate is the healthiest of the luxury chocolates as it has less sugar and fat and a higher concentration of cocoa solids. Cheap chocolate is a bad choice as it contains much more (and lower quality) fats and sugars and has less than 20% cocoa solids. Put side by side, you will find that eating chocolates of a higher quality will be much more enjoyable and well worth the extra expense for the taste if not the extra health benefits!

Some of the health benefits of dark chocolate include positive effects in fighting cardiovascular disease, aging and even cancer. In fact, some recent studies have shown that dark chocolate reduced blood pressure and increased blood flow as well as having potential anti clotting properties. Not only that but it also has a low glycemic index so it helps you manage your blood sugar better whereas other snacks will spike your blood sugar leaving you craving more, dark chocolate will keep it even making it a perfect treat that you won't be tempted to overindulge in.

Dark chocolate even contains some vital minerals that you might not already be getting in your diet. Iron, copper, calcium and magnesium are all present in chocolate. It contains 8% of your RDA for Calcium, 7% of your RDA for iron, 14% of the RDA for copper and 12% of the RDA for magnesium as well as being a natural source of potassium.

No comments:

Post a Comment