Seven health benefits of dark chocolate

Add a few squares of dark chocolate to your daily diet and reap health benefits.

Aug 10, 2014 10:00am
By Donna Fleming
It’s sweet and full of calories, so it has to be bad for you, right? Yes, unfortunately, most versions of chocolate, as great as they may taste, are not your friend if you have them as more than an occasional treat. Dark chocolate, however, can be good for you, thanks to a compound it contains called flavanol. This comes with all kinds of health benefits.

Take a look at seven caffeine-free ways to boost your energy here.

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Dark chocolate protects your heart

It encourages the growth of good microbes in the gut, which produce compounds that act as anti-inflammatories. They enter the bloodstream and help to protect the heart and arteries from damage. Flavanols also have a similar effect to a type of drug called ACE inhibitors, which help to lower blood pressure. This also helps to cut your chances of having a stroke.

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It improves mental ability

Flavanols widen blood vessels and increase blood flow to the brain, which improves your ability to think clearly.

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It stops you from feeling hungry

Dark chocolate decreases levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite. Volunteers in a Danish trial who ate chocolate containing 70% cocoa solids went on to eat nearly 20% fewer calories at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, compared with people who ate milk chocolate.

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It makes you less stressed

Dark chocolate can help ease anxiety. One study found that when people who described themselves as prone to being anxious ate dark chocolate every day for two weeks, levels of stress hormones in their blood dropped significantly. In another trial, volunteers who ate seven grams of high cocoa chocolate a day reported feeling far more serene after a month.

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It may improve cholesterol

In one trial, ratios of good HDL cholesterol – compared to bad LDL cholesterol – improved in people who ate around 5g of dark chocolate a day.

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It lowers insulin

When mice were fed the human equivalent of 10 tablespoons of low-sugar, low-fat cocoa powder every day, their insulin levels dropped to a third less than the mice in the trial that didn’t eat cocoa powder. Research is still ongoing, but scientists says humans are likely to notice similar benefits.

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It can improve your skin

German researchers found women who drank a high-flavanol cocoa drink every morning for 12 weeks had better blood flow to their skin, which they noticed was thicker, more moist and less scaly than before the experiment started.

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But before you pig out...

Make sure it contains at least 70% cocoa solids. Don’t kid yourself that all chocolate has the same health benefits. And only have one or two squares a day. It’s energy dense, so eating a lot can contribute to weight gain.

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