9 Health Benefits Of Dark Chocolate - More Than You Think

By Justin French


1. Do you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, Diabetes or stroke? Well recent studies have shown a significant decrease in the risk of contracting them if dark chocolate is regularly eaten.

2. Stroke happens when blood thickens and causes a clot to lodge in the brain. Eating dark chocolate causes bacteria in your gut to manufacture anti-inflammatories which thin the blood, lessening the chance of you getting a stroke.

3. Daily consumption of dark chocolate lowered participants blood pressure by some 3 to 4 points. This was reported in 20 different studies on the subject.

4. A very good improvement in blood flow was observed even in young, healthy men who were given a small square of 70% dark chocolate every day for a month. The flow increase ranged from 14% to 23%.

5. Eating dark chocolate can increase the HDL or good cholesterol in your blood, thus lowering any bad cholesterol (LDL).

6. The benefits of eating dark chocolate seem endless! Diabetics were shown in one recent study to obtain improved insulin sensitivity, further, it showed the same insulin sensitivity improvement in non-diabetics too.

7. Imagine a candy that could improve the state of your teeth! Well a substance in dark chocolate called Theobromine has been shown to harden tooth enamel.

8. Dark chocolate improves blood flow to the skin surface giving you a healthy glow and protecting you from the sun.

9. A substance released by the brain called phenylethylamine is responsible for helping you feel happy and relaxed. This substance has been shown to increase on eating dark chocolate stimulating the production of the feel good hormones.

Advice On Choosing Chocolate

Do Buy clearly labelled 70% or higher dark chocolate. This was the strength used in the above studies. If you don't mind the taste, 80% or even 90% is even better. Don't buy the milky, sweet varieties. This is because the flavonols, which are responsible for the above benefits, have been stripped out of the milky, sweet chocolate to make way for the sweeter taste.




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