Oh Kolkata Team
I guess chocolate is among those foods which we often get confused about to whether avoid it totally or still have a bite. Despite its tempting taste, it’s often considered junk food for its high sugar, fat, and calorie content which is bad for health. However eating more chocolates is not at all good for health, but treating yourself with a little amount of chocolate can cause no harm. Rather, chocolate does have some health benefits as well. Do not feel guilty if someday you grab a small bite of chocolate. Because it so has some health benefits that can cure your health problems. However, it must not be an excuse to devour into chunks of chocolates every single day. Let’s see some really interesting possible health benefits of chocolates.
Chocolates can keep your hearts happy, I mean literally and possibly. The latest research shows that chocolate does have some cardiovascular benefits. In a prolonged 9 year Swedish study on more than thirty-one thousand women, it’s been tested and seen that those women who ate two servings of dark chocolate once a week has lowered the risk of heart failure than those who didn’t. Another study of Germany states that eating a square of dark chocolate per day can lower the blood pressure and risk of stroke and heart attack by 39 percent. Chocolate contains antioxidants and flavonoids that help increase the flexibility of arteries and veins.
Chocolate helps improve blood flow in the body. Chocolate is rich in cocoa. And cocoa contains anti-clotting properties. This helps improve blood flow and circulation of blood throughout the body.
Chocolate can keep you full. Dark chocolates especially are rich in fibres, which helps you keep your stomach full. Dark chocolate works better than milk chocolate. It can even reduce the cravings for salty food, fatty foods and sweets.
Eating chocolate can stop your coughs. Chocolate contains theobromine which seems to reduce the activity of the vagus nerve. Vagus nerve is in the part of the brain that triggers coughs. So next time you cough you can try a small piece of chocolate.
Chocolate helps boost mood. It happens to be a therapy for stress. An ounce and a half of dark chocolate can lessen their stress levels and also reduce the metabolic effects of stress. So instead of getting depressed, grab a bar of chocolate.
Chocolate helps reduce stress levels and boost brain power when you need it. So if you are banging your head behind any project or assignment, don’t be tensed, just grab a bar of chocolate. It helps memory power improvement as well. Research at the University of Nottingham found that drinking cocoa that’s rich in flavonols helps boost the blood flow in key parts of the brain for almost two to three hours, which in turn helps improve the alertness of mind and performance.
At the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute the scientists found that cocoa flavonoids that are present in chocolate it binds to a protein. It regulates the fluid secretion in the small intestine thus stopping the trots in the tracks. Therefore chocolate can also help in relief from diarrhea.
