In fact, dark chocolate is believed to have a lot of great health benefits, due to cocoa, its main ingredient. This is rich in great chemicals such as theobromine and flavonoids which transform cocoa into an effective shield against disease.
Great Health Benefit of Dark Chocolate: Healthy Heart
Keeping your heart protected is certainly a great health benefit provided by eating dark chocolate. Studies have revealed that eating a small bar of this delicious treat every day can keep your heart and cardiovascular system in good order. Dark chocolate can also help lower blood pressure, when consumed daily. Moreover, it has also been shown that it can reduce LDL cholesterol level.
Best Health Benefits of Chocolate: Prevents Diabetes
Diabetes prevention is one of the best health benefits of chocolate. A study has revealed that the insulin resistance of its participants has dropped considerably. They had to eat one dark chocolate candy bar every day for 15 days. As a result, the flavonoids in dark chocolate have increased the production of nitric oxide, which helped keep under control participants’ sensitivity to insulin.
Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate: Weight Loss
Weight loss should also be included among the most important health benefits of dark chocolate. Recent studies have shown that this tasty snack is in fact very filling, thus offering you a feeling of satiety. So, dark chocolate will lower your cravings for delicious, yet unhealthy foods. Bearing this in mind, you should eat just a small quantity of this product on a regular basis. This way, you’ll get to both satisfy your sweet tooth and you won’t gain extra weight.
Potential Health Benefits of Chocolate: Sun Protection
Sun protection seems to be one of those surprising potential benefits of chocolate. Some researchers decided to test if flavanols found in chocolate can protect you against sun rays. At the end of this 3-month study, results have revealed the following: the skin of their subjects took twice as long to redden. It’s also important to mention the fact that the volunteers involved ate chocolate bars that were high in flavanols.
Good Health Benefit of Chocolate: Relieves Cough
Cough relief is another good benefit of chocolate. It has been discovered that the theobromine found in chocolate can act like codeine in relieving cough. Furthermore, unlike the latter, this great treat doesn’t make you feel sleepy.
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