Don’t you just love chocolates? Well, who doesn’t? They are the best comfort foods that nature could ever have given us. But don’t think they are just full of high-calories that will make you put on weight. Yes, if you eat it in excess then that is possible. But keep the count of how much you eat and there will be no problem. Now you need to stop feeling guilty about that bar of chocolate you ate last night because we are going to tell you about the health benefits of chocolates.
1. Prevents heart diseases
A bar of chocolate can help you to prevent heart diseases as it contains some chemicals that keeps your cardiovascular system running smoothly. Dark chocolate can especially reduce the risk of a heart attack by almost 50% and that of coronary diseases by 10%. So it’s okay to eat a bar or a piece of chocolate everyday!
2. Lowers blood pressure
Chocolates, just like some dark vegetables, come from plants and thus both of these have similar properties and benefits. Chocolates contain flavonoids which are antioxidants. These antioxidants help to lower your blood pressure by producing nitric oxide. This also balances the hormones in your body.
3. Lowers cholesterol
Eating chocolates will also reduce your cholesterol. It helps in reducing LDL, that is the bad cholesterol in your body. So if you are fighting the excessive cholesterol in your body, you know what you need to eat. Moreover, it also helps in increasing the ‘good’ cholesterol in your body.
4. Serves as an anti-depressant
Are you feeling sad or totally down in the dumps? Don’t worry, because your ultimate friend – chocolate is here! Yes, chocolates can also enhance your mood. This is because chocolates contain serotonin which is a natural anti-depressant.
5. Has a low fat option
Cocoa powder which is the main ingredient in chocolates is low fat. So if you love chocolates but don’t want to put on weight, then have chocolates and more chocolates! In this way, you can have many chocolates and not even gain weight. But everything needs to be done in a limit and you should not have them in excess. Also, make sure that the chocolates you consume have more than 60% of cocoa in them.
6. Improves blood circulation
Flavonoids, as mentioned earlier, are present in chocolates and they also help in improving blood circulation for 2-3 hours after you consume them. By dilating the blood vessels in the brain, flavonoids increase the blood flow. So whether you drink red wine or green tea which are known to improve blood circulation, now having a piece of chocolate can also do the same.
7. Avoids chronic fatigue
Chronic fatigue is a threat to the health and happiness of a person. He/she suffers from headaches, body pain, heart and respiratory problems apart from many others. But eating about 50 grams of chocolate everyday helps to avoid the chronic fatigue syndrome. If someone already suffers from this syndrome, chocolates help in fighting it off too!
8. Postpones aging
Another advantage of consuming chocolates is that it helps in avoiding aging for sometime. This means you don’t get premature wrinkles or those horrible lines on your face so soon. Again, antioxidants are responsible for this benefit.
9. Leads to happier babies
A study conducted for finding the health benefits of chocolates brought light on an interesting fact. Those pregnant women who consumed chocolate had happier babies than those who didn’t have chocolates. Also, babies of the chocolate consuming mothers showed less fear to new situations when compared to babies whose mothers didn’t consume chocolate.
10. Decreases premature death
This proves to be the best reason to eat more chocolates and also why they are so good for your health. People who eat chocolates throughout their life live longer for about one year than those who don’t consume chocolates. This fact came to notice after various researches . It was also found that chocolates decrease premature death by almost 8%.
We are sure now you will head along to the supermarket to get your hands on those oh-so-lovely chocolates! But be careful ladies, don’t go too wild as too much good of something is bad.
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