Chocolate has been in the world since the beginning and has its own history. Studies have shown that it is a great cure for diseases like depression. It contains compounds that trigger the hormones that controls feelings like safety, happiness, etc. and as a result can help in changing the mood of a person. That is why people tend to eat a lot of chocolate, especially if they want to enlighten their mood or to ease away depression.

If consumed in moderation chocolate, especially dark chocolate is really beneficial to health. It contains chemicals known as flavanoids which act as antioxidants and help in reducing the effects of free radicals on the body. It helps in protecting body from all the chemicals that enter the body through air or through unhealthy foods. In turn they protect the body from the signs of aging and also help in preventing heart diseases. Another important function that these antioxidants perform is that they help to relax the blood pressure and also help in balancing hormones in the human body.



A small quantity of dark chocolate helps in the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system and thus helps in preventing heart diseases. Eating chocolate can reduce the possibility of getting a heart attack by almost 50%. It helps in reducing blood pressure in people who suffer from a very high pressure. It also keeps the heart healthy by lowering the percentage of bad cholesterol in the body. Chocolate contains serotonin that works as an anti-depressant and helps in calming the nerves. It also contains chemicals like caffeine, theobromine, etc. which are stimulants. They help in calming down the nerves and making person relaxed.

It encourages the production of endorphin in the body which gives a feeling of pleasure. These are actually chemicals that are released by the brain. They help in enhancing the mood of a person. Chocolate also contains vitamins A, B1, C, D and E and a number of other nutrients like potassium, sodium, iron and fluorine that are necessary for a healthy body. After eating chocolate, the flow of blood to the brain increases and it helps in reducing tiredness, drowsiness and even ageing effects. It also increases the metabolism of the sugar present in the blood. This reduces the chances of getting diabetes. In fact chocolate can also lower insulin resistance thus assisting the process of glucose effectively.

With so many advantages of eating chocolate, now you need not feel guilty while taking a chocolaty bite. But looking at the health benefits, do not think that you can eat pounds of chocolate.

As mentioned earlier, having a moderate amount daily will provide you with all the health benefits that you need. Chocolate contains very high calories. So if you eat chocolate containing 100 calories, make sure that you eat 100 calories less in your other meals. Instead of eating only chocolate, eat foods covered in chocolates. Also avoid chocolate with nougat, caramel and such other fillings. They only increase calories. Avoid drinking milk after eating chocolate. Some researchers say that this could slow down the process of absorption of the antioxidants into the body.

Keep these few points in minds and you can have the pleasure of eating chocolate plus the health benefits and minus the calories.

Chocolate is shrouded in legend, tradition and social customs. It’s scientific name Theoibroma cacao means ‘Food Of the Gods’ and the Aztecs believed that Quetzalcoatl bequeathed the cocoa plant to humanity. Both the Maya and the Aztecs used cacao beans as a form of money and ground them to make a beverage. In latter days chocolate became a luxury item, reserved only for the gentry in the 18th century, where it could be found in ‘Chocolate Houses’.

These days chocolate is available to all and sundry and the U.S. consumes over a staggering 2 billion pounds annually (That equates to over 11 pounds per person). However, this is rumored to be less than half the amount that the Swiss eat per year and yet obesity is a greater problem in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world. This lends weight to the fact that perhaps it is not chocolate that is solely responsible for this statistic.

Chocolate is blamed for a great many things regarding health. Some of this blame is justified, and some of it has been proven inaccurate by modern science.

• When it comes to weight loss issues, and the facts surrounding the amounts of fat and cholesterol unfriendly components in chocolate, there are inconsistencies. It has been frequently implicated in heart disease because it is often listed as a source of saturated fat. Indeed, 25% of the fat in chocolate is palmitic acid which is highly saturated and may have cholesterol-elevating qualities. However, chocolate is a vegetable product and none of the fat contains cholesterol. The other 75% is composed of either oleic acid (mono-unsaturated) or stearic acid (saturated, but not cholesterol elevating). This is good news for chocolate lovers who have a ‘high’ cholesterol count.
• Nutritional composition varies depending upon the type of chocolate. Milk chocolate contains the most calories (147) as compared with bitter chocolate (135). Cooking chocolate contains 143 and cocoa 75, however cooking chocolate has more fat with 15g/oz compared to 11.3 for bitter, 9.2 for milk and 5.4 for cocoa.
• Chocolate is thought to be a substantial source of caffeine and people who have a problem with caffeine often want to avoid it for this reason. Milk chocolate contains 6mg/1oz and cooking chocolate has 35mg/1oz. These figures seem small in comparison to those of coffee and tea however. Percolated coffee, for example, contains a whopping 93-154mg/5oz and canned ice tea 22-36mg/5oz. Therefore, people with caffeine allergies may want to pay more attention to the amounts of tea and coffee they are drinking on a daily basis.
• Addiction to chocolate is often attributed to its caffeine content. This is true to a certain extent, but it is largely down to the presence of chemicals called phenylethylamine and theobromine. Phenylethylamine is known for causing emotional highs and lows associated with mood swings, love, pleasure and indulgence. Theobromine triggers the release of endorphins in the brain and works as a natural anti-depressant. However, these chemicals, although stimulating endorphin and catecholamine release, do not replace and regenerate the chemicals used. In the long run this can lead to eventual lows.

Surprisingly though, it would seem that chocolate can actually offer a health benefit. A One ounce chocolate bar has been found to contain about the same amount of a petrochemical called phenolic acid, as a 5 ounce glass of red wine. The scientific suggestion here is that phenolic substances can act as antioxidants, which may offer some protection from both cancer and antioxidants.

But when you next reach for a chocolate bar and think of this beneficial aspect, keep in mind also the other points that I have raised. Also remember that when we get phytochemicals from chocolate, we are not also getting the benefits of fibre, vitamins and minerals that a piece of fruit would give us. By only snacking on chocolate occasionally you are ensuring that whilst you get the associated highs, you are not overdoing it sufficiently to induce the lows.

Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/art/Chocolate-51595624

About The Writer: I’m a professional Freelancer writer. A personal fitness coach and the writer of my new blog Your Body Weight