Chocolate as a Health Food?
Eating chocolate to stay healthy? Well, why not?
Nothing beats a good piece of chocolate. It’s rich, smooth, creamy and makes us feel good, until the guilt sets in. Chocolate’s mood-enhancing qualities are an obvious reason why it is so strongly associated with Valentine’s Day, as a gift for lovers and loved ones.
How much do we know about chocolate? Fat? Sweet? Do we know that chocolate does bring health benefits to us? Chocolate is a product based on cocoa solid or cocoa fat, and finely powdered sugar to produce a solid confection. It is a popular ingredient and is available in many types such as dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, semisweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate.
Chocolate's Dark Secret
There’s no getting around the fact that chocolate is a high fat food. But there is growing evidence that, in small quantities, some kinds of chocolate may actually be good for us. Dark chocolate is naturally rich in flavonoids (or more specifically, flavanols, a sub-class of these antioxidants). These compounds are thought to lower blood pressure and help protect against heart disease—among other things.
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Based on some of my previous readings on relevant articles, it was shown that recent studies conducted both in the U.S. and Europe seem to support chocolate’s beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, encouraging chocolate manufacturers, such as Mars, to develop proprietary methods of processing cocoa beans aimed specifically at preserving flavonoid content. Traditional roasting and fermentation methods are thought to destroy up to three-quarters of these compounds. Mars uses its Cocoa pro trademark on some of its products, indicating the use of this of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body. Antioxidant-rich diets have been linked to a lowered risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, arthritis, asthma, Alzheimer’s and more. So it stands to reason that if chocolate is chock full of antioxidants, it’s actually good for us.
Antioxidants bond to free radicals and whisk them from our body via digestion and other means. No doubt, there are many other food containing antioxidant, such as green tea, pomegranate, blueberries, strawberries and etc. However, chocolate topped all of them. Among so many types of chocolates, dark chocolate contain the most antioxidant.
Chocolate is said to contains up to four times the anti-oxidants found in tea. Sounds too good to be true? In fact, that was the conclusion of a recent study by which by Researchers found that chocolate - specifically dark chocolate - contains 53.5 mg of catechins per 100 grams. (Catechins are the powerful anti-oxidants that fight against cancer-causing cells and help prevent heart disease). By contrast, 100 ml of black tea contains a mere 13.9 mg of catechins. Chocolates also often contain other ingredients, such as saturated fats, that more than outweigh the health benefits to be gained from cocoa's cancer-fighting chemicals.
Additionally chocolate also holds others benefit, such as stimulation endorphin production, containing serotonin which arcs as an anti-depressant, and containing theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are functioning as stimulants.
Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:
Dark chocolate is good for our heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep our heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:
• 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 in FOOD ENDURANCE
Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:
Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making us happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Our stress-free life helps us maintain our youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, that is why we tends to eat lots of chocolate.
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
Doesn't Chocolate Have a lot of Fat?:
Here is some more good news. Some of the fats in chocolate do not impact our 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 us.
Chocolate Tip 1 - Balance the Calories:
This information doesn't mean that we should eat a pound of chocolate a day. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits.
One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If we eat half a bar of chocolate a day, we must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.
Chocolate Tip 2 - Taste the Chocolate:
Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it. Professional chocolate tasters have developed a system for tasting chocolate that include assessing the appearance, smell, feel and taste of each piece.
Chocolate Tip 3 - Go for Dark Chocolate:
Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.
Chocolate Tip 4 - Skip the Nougat:
We should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of the benefits we may get from eating the chocolate.
Chocolate Tip 5 - Avoid Milk:
It may taste good but some research shows that washing our chocolate down with a glass of milk could prevent the antioxidants being absorbed or used by our body. So maybe it’s better to stop taking any milk after eating our chocolate.
We simply can't avoid the existence of chocolate in our daily life. Most of food that we consume may have contain or be based from chocolate in the ingredients. As such, listed below I may share some of our common daily food receipes or cookings that has been in our common temptation interest.
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Strawberries and chocolate: what a glorious combination. Surprise your sweetheart with a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries after your Valentine's meal or serve some as a light summertime dessert.
Ingredients:
• 1 pound of medium-sized whole strawberries
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Preparation:
Microwave chocolate in a glass bowl, stopping after 30 seconds, then every 10 seconds until almost melted. Stir until smooth and glossy. Wash strawberries and pat them dry (any moisture from the fruit will spoil the texture of the melted chocolate).
Dip each strawberry into the melted chocolate, covering the lower half of the strawberry. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Per Strawberry: Calories 48, Calories from Fat 18, Calories from Fat 2g (sat 1.1g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 0mg. Carbohydrate 6.8g, Fiber 1.1g, Protein 0.5
Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies
It's hard to believe these chocolate chip cookies are low fat. By using half the normal amount of butter, and substituting an egg white for a whole egg, these make a wonderful and almost guilt-free indulgence. The chocolate flavor is enhanced by using cocoa powder as well as the chocolate chips. And by using mini chocolate chips, we're making a smaller quantity go a long way.
Cook Time: 9 minutes
Total Time: 9 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg white and vanilla and mix until well blended.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Gradually add flour mixture to egg and sugar. Use a wooden spoon to work the dough together. Don’t worry if the dough seems a little crumbly at first. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop cookie dough by the teaspoonful on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat if you have one.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 30 cookies
Per Serving: Calories 65, Calories from Fat 21, Total Fat 2.3g (sat 1.8g), Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 44mg, Carbohydrate 10.3g, Fiber 0.5g, Protein 0.7g
Reduced Fat Chocolate Pudding
Enjoy this rich chocolate pudding as a special treat. For Valentine's Day, put a candy sweetheart on top, or perhaps a fresh raspberry.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use miniature ones)
• 2 cups non-fat milk
• 2 tbsp brewed espresso
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation:
Whisk sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and chocolate chips in a small saucepan. Add milk and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and stir until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in espresso and vanilla. Pour into four 4-ounce ramekins. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and chill.
Serves 4.
Per Serving: Calories 290, Calories from Fat 50, Total Fat 5.6g (sat 5g), Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 67mg, Carbohydrate 53.2g, Fiber 4.7g, Protein 6.8g
Low Fat Brownies
When you need that chocolate fix, these little low-fat brownies should hit the spot. Although not as dense as full-fat brownies, they're still full of chocolatey goodness, with no odd aftertaste, which some low-fat brownies seem to have. These are perfect for kids' lunchboxes or as an after-school treat.
I suggest cutting the end result into 16 squares for a modestly sized brownie, but one reviewer felt this yielded too small a brownie. Feel free to cut into 9 or 12 squares instead.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch Process Cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 4 ounces unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, combine oil, applesauce, vanilla, egg and egg whites. Gradually stir in dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined. Pour into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, until sides pull away from edge of pan. Cool in pan and cut into 16 squares.
Makes 16 brownies
Per brownie: Calories 74, Calories from Fat 21, total Fat 2.4g (sat 0.6g), Cholesterol 13mg, Sodium 45mg, Carbohydrate 11.6g Fiber 1g, Protein 1.7g
Reduced Fat Chocolate Chip Muffins
I can't claim that these muffins are actually good for us, but they aren't as bad for us as other chocolate chip muffins. Whole-wheat pastry flour adds some fiber, and keeps the muffins tender, while canola oil means we don't need to use butter. As for the chocolate chips, well, they wouldn't be chocolate chip muffins without them, now, would they? So use miniature chocolate chips, which ensure more little chocolate chips per muffin than normal-sized ones.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 16 minutes, Total Time: 31 minutes
Ingredients:
• 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add oil, egg, milk and vanilla extract. Stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes.
Yield 12 muffins.
Per muffin: Calories 225, Calories from Fat 71, Total Fat 7.9g (sat 3.2g), Cholesterol 20mg, Sodium 199mg, Carbohydrate 34.3, Fiber 3.1g, Protein 4.2g
CHOCOLATE in SKIN TREATMENTS
DO DARK CHOCOLATE SKIN TREATMENTS WORK?
One of the latest craze in the skin care industry is dark chocolate skin treatments.
Until recently, nobody would have dreamed of using chocolate could be used as a skin softener in cosmetics. People used to call chocolate junk food. In fact, chocolate has been blamed for many beauty problems including acne. However, things are different now. We can even find chocolate boutiques in every corner in everywhere. Dark chocolate is now considered as a health food and it contains powerful anti-oxidant properties.
Cosmetics manufacturers are now jumping on bandwagon. Increasingly, they are adding chocolate as an ingredient into their skin care products formulas. Since the chocolate has skin softening properties, chocolate skin treatments have become the latest craze. Therefore, chocolate is used due to its golden properties as a skin softener. It is also used to smooth wrinkles due to its anti-oxidant properties.
Many beauty salons have started to use dark chocolate in their skin treatments.
Firstly, chocolate does seem to help soften the skin. It could be due to the cocoa butter.
Secondly, the anti-oxidant properties in cocoa could prevent free radicals from damaging the skin’s elastin, collagen and other protein.
This is however theoretical and scientific evidence to back up this premise is lacking and some doctors are skeptical about the effectiveness of chocolate in skin treatments.
Researchers are aware that cocoa’s anti-oxidant potential is comparable to green tea. Dark chocolate, in particular, has a very high anti-oxidant potential. Chocolate is considered dark if it has 35% percent cocoa.
What is the quantity of cocoa in a jar of skin cream? The top 3 ingredients listed on the label are the most significant. Is cocoa one of them? However, for cocoa to be effective as an anti-oxidant, it would need to be absorbed and penetrate the dermis which is the lower layer of skin. Many doctors think that cocoa molecules are too big and doubt that it can penetrate that far.
As can be seen, in spite of all the hype, a lot of further study should be carried out. However, while all the benefits of using chocolate in skin treatments are still unclear, we still can enjoy the benefits of the skin softening properties.
Healthy Skin is So Sweet
Chocolate is one of beauty's tastiest secrets. Chocolate lovers rejoice. In spite of the myth that chocolate causes acne, the rich substance has made its way to the ultimate relaxation resource - the spa. Spas and salons throughout the country now offer massages, body scrubs, manicures and pedicures all with the beautifying benefits of chocolate. Chocolate is very rejuvenating for the skin. It is moisturizing and good for cell renewal. Applying the sticky substance to the body may seem a little unusual, but the mid-19th century is when we first started seeing cocoa butter being used as a moisturizer.
Chocolate's antioxidants are powerful in fighting the environmental stressors that impact the skin and lead to aging. By eating foods that are rich in flavanoids, we definitely arm our skin with natural defenses that help to maintain collagen and reduce sun damage. A small German study even showed that subjects given a high flavanol cocoa product had improved skin texture, along with increased skin density, thickness, and hydration. Eating chocolate works its magic from the inside out, but applying it to the skin appears to be beneficial too.
As the quintessential comfort food, it is no surprise that chocolate's impact goes beyond mere beauty. Chocolate food can impact upon different parts of the brain because it has substances that produce feelings of euphoria.
Is Chocolate Really Good For Us?
My previous readings also indicate that Researchers reported at the 2004 American Society of Hypertension Annual Scientific Meeting in New York, that consuming dark chocolate and cocoa improves the function of blood vessels.
In one new study, consumption of cocoa in healthy volunteers, aged 18 to 77, resulted in significantly improved vascular responsiveness. (The measure the researchers used looked at the "stiffness" of blood vessels. In patients whose blood vessels are "stiff," hypertension is common.) The beneficial effect was most pronounced in patients over 50 years of age.
In a second study, after volunteers ate 100 grams of dark chocolate (the sacrifices one performs for science!) vascular responsiveness was again significantly improved.
And in a July, 2005 report in Hypertension, Italian investigators showed that feeding 100 grams of dark chocolate daily to hypertensive patients improved their systolic and diastolic blood pressures - and lowered their LDL cholesterol levels. (Control patients fed white chocolate had no beneficial effects.)
Investigators postulate that it is the flavonoids in chocolate that causes vascular improvement. Dark chocolate contains more flavonoids than lighter chocolate - and adding milk to chocolate (i.e., milk chocolate) inhibits the absorption of flavonoids. So any benefit gained by eating chocolate may be limited to dark chocolate (and cocoa).
WHY I LOVE CHOCOLATE
My personal experience on chocolate is, it helps for menstrual cycle pain. I’m not sure what make chocolate to be a “pain-killer” for our period pain, but it really does. Taking chocolate always makes me feel pleasure in mood, especially when you are in the dilemmas of moody mood. That is why I make sure to carry a bar of chocolate to be shared in part of any stressful traffic jams, meetings or at work. At least it manages to control my mood swings from being too stress out.
….chocolates is not fattening at all, right? The main issue is actually when we tend to overeat it. Chocolates are in so many ways, very tempting and a bit is practically not enough. Therefore, it is up to us….
Its finger licking items....and so sweet for being messy.... :-) Its CHOCOLATE !!!
And I won't be leaving to work without my chocolate bar....
Coz...Chocolates really know how to make my day.... :-)
so..........
with........ CHOCOLATES !!!
The wild, if you have never been watching, is very awesome. Even if you are not that far away from civilization but just far enough to feel, enjoy the beauty. I some time take for granted what we have here. I enjoy travelling and being friendly with the natur anytime I got the chance to do so and just realized, what a great place we live in. Beauty is all around us for us to enjoy.
The important thing that I learned from my life so far is, when we pass a certain stage of our life, we do not have all the information we need at those moments. We need others to share their experience and guidance; so that we can avoid the mistakes they made and make new mistakes, which others can avoid in the future. We as a member of society has responsibility to share our knowledge and experience with others so that others can do the same and people can learn from each other and grow personally and professionally.
