Dark Chocolate and its Benefits

Good day, readers..!

This is my 1^st time writing here. I’m Lolol and this is Lolol’s Bhealthy.Bgood segment! ;p

Warning: I’m kind of a Jemah type. So, bear with my Jemah style. Hehe

                Basically, in Lolol’s segment I’m gonna talk about things that can make us healthier. So, for this very 1^st Bhealthy.Bgood segment, I would like to share with you about the Benefits of Dark Chocolate.

                Before we talk about its benefits, let us know a bit about chocolate. Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical cocoa tree. Do you guys know that cocoa has been cultivated since 1100 BC? Old, isn’t it? But that’s the fact! Well, there are 3 types of chocolates:

§  Dark chocolate: Contain >35% cocoa solids

§  Milk chocolate: Contain 20 – 35% cocoa solids

§  White chocolate: Confection based on sugar + milk + cocoa butter and without the cocoa solids

The main ingredient that makes a chocolate beneficial is cocoa. I think you can figure out which is the best out of these 3 types of chocolates. So, let us talk about its 5 benefits.

1)      Its antioxidant effects are fabulous!

-          Dark chocolate contains flavonoids. Flavonoids are antioxidants which help to neutralize free radicals, protecting our cells from being damaged. With this ability, dark chocolate claimed to have anti-cancer and anti-aging effect. Awet muda, u’olls! Tak pakai SK II pun blh shine jugak. Hehe.

2)      It’s good for our heart!

-          It helps our arteries relax and dilate and thus, promoting good blood flow. This may aid in lowering blood pressure.

-          High amount of antioxidants slow down the process of LDL oxidation. Hence arteriosclerotic plague formation can be prevented. Fascinating, isn’t it?

3)      It’s good for our brain!

-          It contains phenylethylamine (PEA) that encourages our brain to release endorphins. That’s why eating chocolate somehow will make us happier. Stress2, makan la chocolate.. =)

4)      It helps in controlling our blood sugar!

-          Well, most of us (even me myself) think that dark chocolate is just like other sweets. However, despite of its sweet taste, it is actually has low glycemic index! Yes, I know. This is bizarre! Haha.

-          By promoting vasodilatation, dark chocolate keeps our circulation unimpaired to protect against type 2 DM. Apart from that, it helps to reduce insulin resistance by helping our cells to function normally and regain the ability to use the insulin efficiently. However, it is still under some researches. So later jgn la ask diabetic patients makan dark chocolate pulak. Kang ada yg kena chased out from the wards. Hehe. It’s good to prevent Diabetes in healthy people but the effects toward diabetic patients are still unknown. Okay? ;p

5)      It’s high in minerals!

-          Magnesium, potassium, iron & copper were found in the dark chocolate. Nice, right?

So, readers, do you have interest to eat dark chocolate now? For those who never try dark chocolate before, try la. But don’t start with high percentage of cocoa. Terkejut nanti rasa pahit sgt. Maybe you can start with the 60 or 70% cocoa-containing dark chocolates. For those yg dah pernah rasa, how about you try other brands as well. For me, I would suggest you dark chocolates from Beryl’s, Swiss, Tugor Gold, Toblerone, Kisses and Ferrero Rondnoir. Try it and you will be healthy and be good.

Sincerely from, Lolol