Staying Healthy with Chocolate
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But there's more to using chocolate as a health product than eating it. Granted, eating chocolate is this writer's personally preferred way of interacting with the fruit of the cacao, but health spas and cosmetic companies are using cocoa powder, cocoa butter and soft, hot chocolate liquor in body wraps, facial and moisturizing treatments, chocolate "mud" baths and everything from lip balm to candles. Granted, if you love the taste of chocolate, you probably love the smell too: now you can envelope yourself from head to toe in cocoa.
Chocolate Hearts
Research is ongoing, but for some years now, studies have found that chocolate has similar properties to aspirin when it comes to blood-thinning capacity. Components in chocolate keep platelets from sticking together, forming clumps or adhering to the walls of blood vessels. Chocolate also has a positive effect on the way your body processes nitric oxide, resulting in lower, healthier blood pressure. Who knew-eating chocolate is heart-smart!
Chocolate: Good for What Ails You
If you're on board with the idea of chocolate as the latest weapon in the dietary fight against cancer, and familiar with the newest research on chocolate's ability to fight degenerative neurological disorders, you may be interested in the hormonal and other chemical properties of chocolate. Some research has shown that eating dark chocolate may have a beneficial effect on your blood flow, with potential benefits in fighting Alzheimers and other illness related to memory loss. Chocolate has even been shown to help in weight loss efforts-dark chocolate (70%) provides a sweet, deep taste and mouth feel that helps cut cravings so you can stick to your diet.
Ditch the Tobacco: Try a Chocolate Cigar
Smokers can somewhat ameliorate the near-catastrophic effects of tobacco on their arteries by sucking on a bite of high-polyphenol chocolate. (If you smoke but you really want to enjoy your chocolate, slap on a nicotine patch and buy a box of candy. In two weeks of a smoke-free lifestyle, your tastebuds will treat you to a complexity, depth and richness of flavor you'd forgotten existed, and the rest of your body will thank you, too.)
Sugar Free Chocolate
The downside to chocolate is the sugar that comes along with it. Diabetic chocolates have existed for a long time, but taking a hard look at the impact of artificial sweetener on the human body makes one think that there must be a better way. Forget saccharine and even Equal-more and more research indicates that this new sweetener holds horrors we are just beginning to explore. Sucralose (Splenda) may be okay, but the editors of this site will research and report on it very soon. If you want sugar-free chocolate, consider one of the health food chocolates sweetened with the herb stevia: there are no awful side effects, it's not chemically engineered out of goodness knows what: it's just a plant leaf, ground to powder, and intensely sweet.
You will notice that when we talk about healthy chocolate, we're talking about dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is composed of somewhere between 60-100% chocolate, with no added milk products. The rest is sugar (or sweetener), with a dash of vanilla and maybe a little lecithin to add shine. Dark chocolate, like wine, may be an acquired taste: if you grew up in Three Musketeers bars, you may not enjoy your first bite of 85% pure chocolate. But start with 62% and over time, you'll come to appreciate the other qualities in chocolate-not just the sweetness. And in the same way that a child loves a taste of a sweet grape wine that would make a wine lover choke, you'll find that over time, your tastes will deepen. And think about it: every step you take up the chocolate ladder is that much better for your health.
Your Chocolate Life
There's still a lot to learn about chocolate and its place in our lives. While perusing the rest of our site, catch up on your health. Sit down with a plate of bite-sized brownies, a big cup of hot chocolate, or a slice of deep, rich chocolate cake. And if you want to complete your healthy meal, eat an orange for dessert.
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How Chocolate is made