Chocolate, Candy and More

Most diets want you to limit your intake of sugary and fatty foods. Sweet treats definitely falls into that category. A lot of people do have a sweet tooth and find trouble in curbing their sugar consumption. Sweets should be controlled and eaten in proper portions rather than being gorged upon, but what if you were to learn that not all sweets were bad for you? Chocolate, something that most people would try to cut out of their diet, is actually something that offers health benefits. It's all about knowing what kind and how much of it to eat.

Chocolate comes from the cacao, which is a plant and thus has the benefits that dark green vegetables have. It has flavonoids which act as antioxidants. Not all chocolate is healthy for you. The best kind is a dark chocolate, the darker the better. Milk chocolate contains a higher fat ratio from the cocoa butter and milk, rendering the antioxidants much less affective. Studies have also shown that milk may actually block the body's ability to absorb the antioxidants, so it's recommended that you don't consume milk when you eat dark chocolate.

The health benefits in dark chocolate stem mainly from said antioxidants. It contains a large number of them, about eight times the amount as strawberries have. What they do is they work at getting rid of free radicals in the body. These are destructive molecules that are known for causing heart disease and other illnesses. It's also been said that they help to reduce the signs of aging.

Dark chocolate is also known for helping to lower blood pressure. It's the cocoa phenols found in dark chocolate that makes this so. The United States does offer dark chocolate on the market but if you're wanting something very rich in antioxidants, try looking for dark chocolate from Europe; the cocoa phenols are much higher.

But just because studies have found the consumption of dark chocolate to be helpful doesn't mean that it should be gorged upon. Be aware of how many calories are inside the chocolate you're eating. Lessen your calorie count from somewhere else in your diet to make up for the new calories you're consuming. Just a small piece of dark chocolate on a daily basis can help you live longer. If you're thinking of adding chocolate to your daily diet, remember the key is in portion control.