I have many things that I love in this world including Moosetracks Ice Cream from Walgreens, sushi, the mountains, (my husband - can't leave him out), and of course chocolate! My grandmother makes an amazing chocolate cake that has a little piece of heaven on top. I could have her cake for breakfast - mmmmm makes me happy just thinking about it. Well, I was very happy to find out that cocoa and chocolate is actually good for you! Not all cocoa is healthy and I wish there was a bunch of antioxidants in an entire bag of Reeses, but that is not the right chocolate to have. I recently made Vegan Fudge and it was delightful - See next posting. It was pretty dark in flavor but my hubs and I LOVE dark chocolate! woooooo!
Chocolate products have a higher total flavanol content on a per weight basis than many other plant-based foods and beverages, such as apples and red wine. That's right - go get you some chocolate. Flavonoids are the wonderful little things in food that have properties to be anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial. If nothing else - remember the word Flavonoid and eat as much as you can find! Studies show that flavanols and other flavonoid components in chocolate are rapidly absorbed in humans in a dose-dependent manner. The potential health effects of flavanols in certain chocolates are seen in a variety of functions, including antioxidant properties, reductions in platelet activity, and regulation of immune response. Flavonoids can scavenge free radicals and chelate metal ions which basically means it is great for an anti-cancer diet.
Cocoa has also been shown to help lower blood pressure and help with mood stability. Cocoa contains calcium, critical for maintaining strong, flexible bones and connective tissue. Cocoa contains manganese which is crucial for healthy skin, bone and cartilage formation, as well as for glucose tolerance. Cocoa polyphenols decrease the risk of certain diabetic side effects and increase insulin sensitivity. Contains a variety of antioxidants and other nutrients that may fight the effects of cardiovascular disease. Cocoa also has more antioxidants than found in green tea!
Other fun facts
1. Unprocessed cocoa powder has 100grams has almost 8 times as much antioxidant properties compared to 100grams of broccoli.
2. 67% of the important flavonoids in cocoa are lost during the process that commercial chocolate undergoes.
3. one billion people ate chocolate today.
Not all chocolate is considered the same - which means you can't go out and eat Reeses or Hershey milk chocolate and get the same effect as a darker chocolate. The higher percentage of cocoa, the better the cocoa will be. Hersheys milk chocolate usually has only 20% cocoa which means it is not as beneficial than dark chocolates that are 80% cocoa. Chocolate you can find in a candy bar has been processed and has lost the majority of the antioxidant properties. So rule of thumb is to buy dark chocolate greater than 75% cocoa and organic cocoa powder that has not been processed. Here are some specifics when you are buying chocolate:
- Has not been alkalized
- Has been dried and cool-pressed rather than roasted
- Consists of at least 70 percent pure cocoa
- Contains cocoa butter instead of milk fats or hydrogenated oils
- Contains natural, low-glycemic sweeteners such as raw cane rather than refined sugar
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