Dark chocolate has become the “go to” healthy dessert for health conscious people.
The increased popularity is due, of course, to its taste and the never-ending list of scientifically proven health benefits.
Good dark Chocolate is a very strong antioxidant, meaning it can disarm free radicals in our body. Studies have shown its antioxidant capacity is even stronger than that of Acai and blueberries, which makes it an amazing and delicious “superfood” that doesn’t taste like carton.
The benefits come specifically from the flavanols found in dark chocolate. One of the benefits is that they can stimulate the lining of the arteries to produce Nitric Oxide (a gas). The mission of NO is to send signals to relax the arteries, in turn reducing blood pressure.
We have all heard that dark chocolate lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. This is due to its capacity of decreasing LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and increasing HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol). In the long term, this causes less cholesterol to lodge in the arteries, and therefore less risk of cardiovascular disease.
One study also showed that cocoa improved blood flow to the brain, in turn improving cognitive function in elderly people with mental impairment. The list of benefits of dark chocolate does not finish here, there are also studies showing chocolate can protect your skin against sun damage, so it’s a delicious sunblock.
Needless to say, all the benefits are thanks to the flavanols content found in cocoa beans in the dark chocolate. Usually the higher the cocoa content, the higher the benefits will be (and lower the sugar).
Chocolate companies have taken advantage of this trend but beware of the marketing scam! There are many brands available but not all of them are created equal.
When choosing dark chocolate there are several guidelines we should follow for it to be a real healthy indulgence.
The easiest guideline to follow is to choose a cocoa content of 70% or higher. Basically the darker the better! However, I wish it could be as simple as choosing one that is 70% cocoa but it’s not. This is the guideline most health professionals tell you to follow but there is a secret story behind choosing the right kind of dark chocolate. The ingredients and processing methods will always differ.
When it comes to the ingredients, it is always best to choose one that has as few ingredients as possible. The highest quality dark chocolate should always have chocolate liquor or cocoa beans listed first. The ingredients in the label are always written in decreasing order of quantity, meaning that the first ingredient is the one in the highest amount. You want chocolate liquor or cacao beans listed first because this is where the health benefits come from.
Another important thing is to make sure it is made with cocoa butter instead of fats such as palm oil, which is very high in saturated fats.
Sugar is usually added to dark chocolate to balance the bitter taste. It is very strange to find a dark chocolate without any sugar. However, some brands add too much. Make sure sugar is never the first ingredient in a label.
Dark chocolate should never have milk, if it does, it’s not real dark chocolate.
Many dark chocolates have flavorings added to it. The safest and most common one is vanilla. Unfortunately, it is hard to prove if a flavoring is natural or not. To make sure that they are not artificial, choose organic dark chocolate.
Here comes the tricky part, beware of the method used to process the raw cacao beans, as this may affect the amount of flavanols (good stuff) found in the chocolate. If the label says “processed with alkali” stay away from it! This process is called dutching. Dutching is a method of processing raw cacao beans that ads alkalizing agents to give the product a milder taste in turn reducing the amount of flavanols. So, if you are buying 70% dark chocolate for the health benefits and it has been processed with alkali, you are really not enjoying any health benefits, it is all a marketing scam.
Some Lindt chocolate bars are processed with alkali and some are not. Hershey’s, Dove, Nestle, M&M’s, and Milky Way are usually processed with alkali. These are basically dark chocolate without the healthy stuff!
Stay Happy and healthy <3
Nati
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