Chocolate is often considered to be junk food. But, dark chocolate has been found to have health benefits. To reap the health benefits of dark chocolate, you must exercise portion control and avoid dark chocolate that is combined with common, unhealthful candy bar ingredients, such as nougat and caramel.
About Chocolate
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, obtained from the cocoa tree. Varieties of chocolate include white, milk, semisweet, bittersweet and unsweetened. Semisweet, bittersweet and unsweetened are considered to be dark chocolate.
What Makes Dark Chocolate Healthy
Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids, which provide antioxidant power to repair cell damage and shield the body from environmental toxins, such as cigarette smoke. White and milk chocolate do not contain enough flavonoids to provide a health benefit.
Other Health Benefits
Dark chocolate benefits the heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing LDL, or bad cholesterol. Dark chocolate also stimulates the production of endorphins, which can give a feeling of pleasure, and serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant.
Beneficial Amount
Eating too much dark chocolate can negate its healthy effects. The amount of chocolate that should be eaten is being debated, but a study by Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, of Germany's University Hospital of Cologne, limited daily chocolate intake to an amount the size of a Hershey's Kiss.
Fun Fact
Dark chocolate contains from 5 to 25 mg of caffeine. This is a relatively small amount when compared with the 65 to 192 mg of caffeine found in brewed coffee.
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