It is believed that the safest, and even useful is bitter, that is, dark chocolate. The point here is not the taste preferences of the majority, but the fact that dark chocolate contains a higher percentage of cocoa, which means that it is more natural than other varieties of this delicacy. However, some people prefer milk chocolate to any other because it tastes so good. Is it much inferior to dark chocolate in terms of useful qualities and safety? It is worth understanding this issue in more detail.
Among other things, dark chocolate does not undergo the huge number of treatments and metamorphoses that are necessary for the manufacture of white and milk chocolate. This allows you to save more of the nutrients contained in cocoa. In addition, dark chocolate lovers claim that it has a deeper, richer flavor. However, it is for these reasons that many people do not like it, because most sweet tooths want to feel the delicate taste of milk chocolate, which, from the point of view of specialists, is not useful for the body.
Is it true that dark chocolate is healthy to eat?
Experts say that dark chocolate contains special substances - flavonoids, which can improve blood flow, which means nutrition of all internal organs. Flavonoids also have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the nervous system, they are able to remove toxins from the body, help normalize blood pressure, especially in cases where it is low. Of course, milk chocolate also contains these special substances, just much less of them than dark chocolate.
If you eat 6 grams of dark chocolate a day, you can lower the level of C-reactive protein in the body, and this can reduce the risk of various inflammatory processes.
Milk chocolate is made by adding sugar and milk and contains no more than 60 percent cocoa. In dark chocolate, this figure is different, it is up to 90%. Real dark chocolate is not contraindicated for diabetics, on the contrary, studies have shown that it helps people with this condition increase their insulin sensitivity. It is also curious that cocoa contains a substance that speeds up metabolism and allows you to fight obesity.
If you consume 50 grams of dark chocolate a day, then in two weeks you can reduce the level of cortisol in the blood, and this stress hormone can harm the entire body, which is why it is called the "death hormone".
Dark chocolate can have a positive effect on a person's overall well-being, reduce anxiety levels and increase stress tolerance. The fact is that cocoa lowers the level of stress hormones in the blood, which means it calms the nervous system. It's also nice that dark chocolate can help with a decrease in libido. Many consider it to be a good stimulant of sexual desire. There are sources confirming that chocolate has been used to increase desire since ancient times, which means that it is a time-tested remedy. But what to say, because only from the use of chocolate in food you can get a lot of pleasure.
Why is chocolate harmful?
- The first thing that comes to mind is that chocolate contains too many calories, which means that you can easily gain excess weight from it. The increase in body weight entails many negative consequences in the form of various chronic diseases and poor health. Using simple math, you can calculate that a bar of chocolate contains about the same number of calories as two kilograms of apples.
- Chocolate contains quite large amounts of caffeine. Too high a concentration of caffeine in the body can provoke nausea, heartburn and various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Because of caffeine, chocolate is contraindicated in people after a stroke or heart attack, because it increases the heart rate and blood pressure.
- Men should not overuse chocolate. The fact is that theobromine contained in this delicacy can negatively affect the functioning of the male body. In large quantities, chocolate is harmful to everyone, because it can accelerate the leaching of calcium from the body, and can lead to weakness of bones and joints.
