Many frown at chocolates, believing it can cause your blood sugar levels to rise and leave you stacking up medicine for diabetes for the rest of your life. However, studies show that eating chocolates, especially dark ones, can actually be beneficial to your health. Here’s how, in case you’re wondering:
It’s Good for Your Heart
There’s actually a scientific reason why men give women chocolate for Valentine’s Day. In a 9-year Swedish study that involved 31,000 women, those who eat one or two servings of chocolate every week had their chances of having heart failure reduced by a third. It just shows that chocolates contain properties that help you fight off high blood pressure and lower your levels of low-density lipoproteins, which is also known as bad cholesterol. And because of its anti-inflammatory traits, it also helps you reduce the risk of having cardiovascular diseases.
It Makes You Feel Full
A lot of people would tell you to stay away from chocolates if you want to have or maintain a slim and sexy figure. However, according to Dr. David Katz, chocolates, especially dark ones, actually help silence your stomach’s grumbling, making you feel full and eat less!
It Reduce Your Bad Cravings
Eating dark chocolates also curb your cravings for other foods sweet, salty, and spicy. In a study undertaken in the University of Copenhagen, 16 young men were instructed to eat 100 grams of dark chocolates and as much pizzas as they like. But after chocolates are gone, the participants refrained from eating the pizzas, saying that they didn’t want to eat anything salty.
It May Help You Fight Diabetes
Yet another benefit of eating dark chocolates is that it could help you fight diabetes. That’s because it has properties that can make your cells more sensitive to insulin, allowing your blood sugar to enter them which in turn lowers the levels of glucose in your blood.
It Improves Your Skin
You’ve probably heard from dozens of people that eating chocolates can cause you acne and pimples. Nothing can be further from the truth! In fact, you should add it in your diet if you want to have better skin! Chocolates, especially dark ones, contain flavonoids, antioxidants that combat aging and offer protection against UV radiation from the sun which is harmful to your skin.
It Can Quiet Your Coughs
While it’s confirmed that chocolate can trigger asthma attacks in some people, it can also actually help silence coughing bouts. Theobromine, an ingredient that can be found in chocolates, reduces the activity of your vagus nerve, which is responsible for coughing.
It Improves Your Brain Functions
Geniuses love chocolates, and not just because it’s sweet. Believe it or not, the flavanols found in that sweet brown stuff improves blood flow to key parts of your brain, boosting short-term mental alertness and performance.
Whether you’re stressed, happy, hungry, or just plain craving for it, you can always find a good reason to eat chocolates. And now that you know that it’s good and healthy for you as well, you can your guilty pleasure anytime you want—minus the guilt!