Health Benefits of Chocolate

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables as part of your anti-aging diet. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants.

Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease.

Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

In fact, cocoa and chocolate products have been used as medicine in many cultures for centuries.

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it every day can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well.

Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.

Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Chocolate also holds benefits apart from protecting your heart:

It tastes good

It stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure

It contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant

It contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Here is some more good news -- some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol.

The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid.

Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.

Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.

Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.

Source: about.com