A Healthy Addiction?
I’ll admit it upfront. I’m a straight up, hard core chocoholic. I eat chocolate twice a day, every single day and have been for years. That being said, I’m a little picky. It’s got to be dark chocolate and as dark as possible at that. Lucky for me, dark chocolate comes with a whole slew of health benefits so I can feel a little better about my “addiction”.
Most dark chocolate bars contain antioxidants as well as the compound called epicatechin, which is a member of the plant flavoniods group. These flavoniods keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries. So, by eating a small amount of dark chocolate daily, you may actually be reducing your risk of a heart attack. Milk chocolate, on the other hand, has been found to have the lowest amount of both epicatechin and antioxidants.
However, not all chocolate is equal. In order to reap the benefits, you have to seek out the chocolate with the highest percentage of cocoa and make sure that the flavoniods have not been destroyed in the manufacturing process, as they sometimes are. Interestingly enough, consuming dark chocolate while drinking milk has also been shown to counteract the positive benefits, just like milk chocolate. And remember, also, that chocolate still is high in calories so be sure to portion a small amount for yourself rather than consuming the whole bar on one sitting (tough, but doable).
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Craving chocolate is a rare occurrence for me and usually it is dark. However at Christmas I am a sucker for those chocolate covered dry fruits and while usually health conscious never consider epicatechin levels. Maybe I have enough of the stuff.
For more than 20 years my wife and I have been enjoying Valrhona Guanaja 70% dark chocolate after dinner. We also drink red wine with our chocolate. Well, we drink red wine with almost everything. At any rate, we like to attribute our zero calcium scores to wine and chocolate.
I like your posts, although I would like to see them a little longer with more content. Not so much as to be boring and tedious. Just a little more. Similar to wanting just one more bite of dark chocolate with one more sip of red wine. Aloha
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[...] a specific year's harvest from a specific heavily guarded plantation; Marcoli more… A Healthy Addiction? – True/Slant – trueslant.com 08/21/2010 A Healthy Addiction?True/SlantI eat chocolate twice a day, every [...]
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