Chocolate can be, not just good for you, but one of the best foods you can consume. Chocolate, in it's earliest stages, is highly nutritious and an incredible food to incorporate into your diet.
My teachers love of chocolate is a taste so many of us have. It could be to do with the fact that raw chocolate can contribute to our mental well-being. It is full of Anandamide, which is also known as 'the bliss chemical', which helps anxiety and depression. It is also high in Phenylethylamine, 'the love chemical', giving you that happy, giddy high often associated with falling in love. If all we need is love and love can be found in chocolate...dig in (to the real thing)!
In its initial stages, chocolate originates as a fruit which holds the cacao (ka-cow!) bean inside and actually starts off as a rich purple, rather than the brown we are used to seeing. But don't fret, turning brown is part of the natural process and is actually the component of chocolate that protects you from ageing and increases longevity!
You can buy cacao beans, cacao powder or raw cacao nibs and incorporate them into your diet in a variety of ways. Personally, my favourite way to ensure I am getting the benefits of cacao is to add some cacao powder (which has the highest levels of antioxidants in the world) into my frozen banana smoothie mixture, then after blending it together, enjoying some raw, vegan chocolate ice-cream.
You can buy cacao beans, cacao powder or raw cacao nibs and incorporate them into your diet in a variety of ways. Personally, my favourite way to ensure I am getting the benefits of cacao is to add some cacao powder (which has the highest levels of antioxidants in the world) into my frozen banana smoothie mixture, then after blending it together, enjoying some raw, vegan chocolate ice-cream.
Why else would you want to incorporate cacao into your diet? Because it is rich in vitamins and minerals, which support your health, your mind and your physical appearance.
Cacao has been shown to make the brain more alert and attentive - maybe it's not the staple food we should be reaching for when drowning our sorrows on the couch, unless we really want to remember the experience...but it has been shown to relieve stress, so it's your call!
Another important feature to keep in mind, especially for my female friends, is that chocolate is rich in iron and magnesium (which many of us are deficient in). Both of these minerals are important for us especially when it comes to that time of the month, where our iron levels are at risk of depleting, leaving us feeling tired and drained.
Reach for cacao if you want to take advantage of its many medicinal properties, such as preventing the flu, lowering the risk of diabetes and surprisingly enough, reducing belly-fat!
Chocolate has gotten a bad reputation because of the extra ingredients it is associated with, like dairy, but real chocolate is simply the cacao on its own. The chocolate you find on the shelves of supermarkets isn't the type of chocolate we should be reaching for in order to feel the benefits of this amazing food. Instead, we should go for chocolate with high cacao content, or better yet, raw cacao without the extra ingredients.
There is no reason to feel guilty eating this wonderful food that has been provided for us, just make sure you're reaching for the right kind.
There is no reason to feel guilty eating this wonderful food that has been provided for us, just make sure you're reaching for the right kind.
Sources:
ROMERO-CORRAL A, SOMERS VK, SIERRA-JOHNSON J, KORENFELDY, BOARIN S,KORINEK J, JENSEN MD, PARATI G, LOPEZJIMENEZ F. Normal weight obesity: a risk factor for cardiometabolic dysregulation and cardiovascular mortality. Eur Heart J 2010; 31: 737-746.
Kamei M et al, "Anti-influenza virus effects of cocoa." J Sci Food Agric. 2015 Apr 2. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.7197. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25847473
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