Healthy Fitness Ideas

For cen­turies, choco­late has been a sweet tast­ing sen­sa­tion.  One thing that clouds the pop­u­lar­ity of this all-time favorite treat is the belief that any­thing that tastes really good must be bad for your health. For this rea­son, many peo­ple are cau­tious when devour­ing choco­lates, espe­cially those who are health– conscious.

But sci­ence has dis­cov­ered that choco­late might not be so bad after all.   In fact, there are health ben­e­fits that are asso­ci­ated with choco­lates and it can be ben­e­fi­cial for those with a love for choco­late.  This is par­tic­u­larly true if  choco­late fans pick and con­sume choco­lates wisely.

The good news is that dark choco­late con­tains over 300 chem­i­cals, many of which have been inves­ti­gated by  sci­en­tific orga­ni­za­tions and uni­ver­si­ties.   So far, this is what researchers have dis­cov­ered regard­ing the health  ben­e­fits of dark chocolate:

1.  It was found that the main com­po­nent of choco­late, the cacao, has  antibac­te­r­ial activ­ity that actu­ally helps fight tooth decay.    So much for the tra­di­tional cau­tion that eat­ing too choco­late can ruin your teeth.

2.    Choco­late is believed to be a mood ele­va­tor because it con­tains phenylethy­lamine, an amino acid that influ­ences neu­ro­trans­mit­ter lev­els and lifts mood.

3.    The aroma of choco­late actu­ally causes  peo­ple to relax and low­ers stress lev­els, due to the    fact that it increases theta brain waves.

4.    Con­trary to pop­u­lar belief, choco­late can be good to peo­ple hav­ing prob­lems with bad cho­les­terol.  The health food con­tains a kind of monoun­sat­u­rated fat, called oleic acid, which raises good cho­les­terol lev­els in the blood.

5.    Choco­late can really be good for peo­ple who are weight-conscious.  One hot choco­late cup taken before meals can help reduce appetite.

6.    Choco­late also con­tains flavonoids, which are instru­men­tal in keep­ing blood ves­sels more elastic.

7.    Choco­late con­tains chem­i­cals called that help increase antiox­i­dants lev­els in the bloodstream.

8.    It was also dis­cov­ered that men can add one year to their lives if they con­sume chocolates.

9.    Choco­late con­tains car­bo­hy­drates, which are  good for main­tain­ing a sense of well-being, because car­bo­hy­drates help increase sero­tonin lev­els found in the brain.

10.    Choco­late has been used by the Mex­i­can heal­ers to treat insect bites and bronchitis.

In addi­tion to the above find­ings, there are other research stud­ies that dis­prove  some half-truths about choco­late.  Here they are:

1.    Although choco­late can con­tain stim­u­lants includ­ing bromine and caf­feine, these are present only in tiny quan­ti­ties and con­sum­ing choco­late does not lead to ner­vous tension.

2.    Choco­late is not addictive.

3.    Choco­late does not con­tain chem­i­cals that cause acne.

4.    Choco­late doesn’t make any­one high.  You would have to con­sume about 25 lbs. in one sit­ting,  a huge quan­tity,  to expe­ri­ence any notice­able effect.

5.    Choco­late will not increase bad cho­les­terol lev­els and it actu­ally con­tains a neu­tral fat called stearic acid.

But just like any other food, mod­er­a­tion is the rule.  Choco­late has some cau­tions too, along with the many health ben­e­fits found:

1.    Peo­ple with migraines are not advised to eat choco­late as it can trig­ger a migraine.

2.    If choco­late is con­sumed with milk, it can con­tain extra sugar, sat­u­rated fat, and high calories.