Naturally Gorgeous | Guilt free chocolate

If you see chocolate as your ‘downfall’, as your main ‘weakness’ in life then maybe it is time to think again. Scientists are now telling us that far from being bad for us, chocolate may actually be able to do us some good.

Like all other plants, the cocoa bean from which chocolate is made is rich in super nutrients. While carrots are well known for their orange supernutrient pigment beta carotene that helps you to see in the dark, cocoa beans are especially rich in potent antioxidant supernutrients called flavanoids. Research suggests that these antioxidants seem to make blood vessels relax which in turn may help to reduce blood pressure and may even help to lower ‘bad’ cholesterol.

The darker the chocolate, the more chocolate liquor (a thick brown paste made from pure ground cocoa beans) it contains and the more potentially protective flavanoids you get.
Of course, chocolate also gives us saturated fat which is usually not good for your heart. But interestingly a third of chocolates fat comes from stearic acid, a type of saturated fat which, confounding all the usual rules about saturated fats being bad for you, is a type which seems lower the risk of blood clots.
Obviously chocolate is pretty rich in calories because it contains fat and sugar. But the good news is that the sugar it contains is digested slowly – chocolate is actually Low GI - because of the fat, which means that it doesn’t give you a big sugar rush after eating.
A 30g bar of chocolate gives you less 7mg of caffeine compared to 80mg plus in a cup of coffee so it won’t get your nerves jangling.
And as far as our teeth are concerned, chocolate is one of the ‘better’ sweet treats in which to indulge. Dental researchers have found that the cocoa butter in chocolate coats the surface of our teeth, creating a form of physical barrier against attack from sugar and bacteria which damage enamel and cause decay.
Chocolate is the only food which actually melts at body temperature (and therefore in your mouth) which is one of the things we love so much about it. Once in your mouth it stimulates your taste buds which when excited, make your brain release ‘happy’ chemicals called endorphins. Chocolate also contains a substance known as ‘anadamide’ which may well excite the part of your brain that makes you feel relaxed and happy.
Aztecs first used cocoa beans to make a drink they called ‘xocoatl’. The bean was introduced to Spain in the 16th century and the first bar of chocolate was made in Switzerland in 1819. It was in 1875 that milk chocolate was invented.