Health secrets of dark chocolate

Many of you love chocolate for its taste and enjoy it almost every week. How about having some other good reasons for loving chocolate? In the recent years, researchers have shown many health benefits of chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is believed to help protect your cardiovascular system, the reason being that the cocoa bean is rich in different plant nutrients called flavonoids that have antioxidant power, contributing to the health of your heart. (1) Flavonoids help protect plants from environmental toxins and help repair damage. They can be found in a variety of foods, such as fruits and vegetables. (2) Antioxidants are believed to help the bodys cells resist damage caused by free radicals that are formed by normal bodily processes, such as breathing, and from environmental contaminants, like cigarette smoke. If your body does not have enough antioxidants to combat the amount of oxidation that occurs, it can become damaged by free radicals. (3) An increase in oxidation can cause low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol, to form plaque on the artery walls(4) Flavanols are the main type of flavonoid. Flavanols have other potential influences on vascular health, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow to the brain and heart, and making blood platelets less sticky and able to clot. Besides the health of your heart, chocolate protects you from other diseases, such as: (1) Diabetes, as found by a study from 2005, which shows that eating chocolate increases insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing risk for diabetes(2) Calming down cough, an ingredient in chocolate called theobromine seems to reduce activity of the vagus nerve, the part of the brain that triggers hard-to-shake coughs(3) Relieving stress, according to Huffington Post, chocolate improves the mood and makes people feeling less stressed...

...