Dark chocolates and their uses

Jan 22
10:23

2009

Garret Lloyd

Garret Lloyd

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Dark chocolate contains a substance called flavonoids which has a number of benefits. Dark chocolates are regarded as antioxidants.

mediaimage

There have been numerous questions as regards the dark chocolates and their health benefits. Scientists from the time of their invention have been doing researches to find out whether dark chocolates are really beneficial for the human body or not. There are numerous health benefits of dark chocolates. They are the following:

Dark chocolate contains a substance called flavonoids which has a number of benefits. Dark chocolates are regarded as antioxidants. Most diseases are caused by oxidation of the cells of the body. When the cellular oxidation reaches a certain level,Dark chocolates and their uses Articles then various kinds of diseases occur in the body. In order to prevent cellular oxidation, it is important to take a lot of green tea as well as dark chocolates. Green tea and chocolates also possess an anti ageing property.

The function of the dark chocolates is to capture the free radicals which are harmful to the body. Some of the dark chocolates have more anti oxidizing property than others. This is because of the flavonoid content of dark chocolate. Some dark chocolates contain 70% flavonoid while some contains 75%, 80% or even 90%. Truly speaking there is no dark chocolate which contains 100% flavonoid.

Another important function of the dark chocolate is to reduce the blood pressure. This is possible because of high content of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is considered to have hormonal effect and reduces blood pressure. If the hormonal balance is maintained the blood pressure remains normal. This is the reason why dark chocolates, when consumed by people with chronic heart disease and other pulmonary problems give some relief.

Dark chocolates are considered to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol as much as ten percent. They stimulate the production of endorphins and serotonin. Dark chocolates contain caffeine, theobromine and other stimulants, and have a good taste as well.

It is also important to note that dark chocolate is a fairly fatty food. About one third of the fats in chocolate are monounsaturated, and two thirds are saturated. This means the fats are able to affect your cholesterol levels. Moreover there is also a high sugar content in the chocolate. Thus there is a high possibility to gain weight on too much consumption of chocolates. It is said according to research result that three and a half ounces of dark chocolate can be taken each day to enjoy its benefits. This comes to an intake of about four hundred calories, similar to having two small doughnuts.