Chocolate has been known to cause breakouts and to go straight to the human thighs if consumed excessively. Other myths state that chocolate can cause diabetes. Recent studies, however, have provided evidence that chocolate is really good for your health.
The most recent study was done in August and is featured in the Neurology Journal. Researchers have concluded that chocolate can possibly help older people maintain healthy brain functions, including those people with mild cognitive impairment.
Not any regular chocolate will benefit consumers; it’s the dark chocolate that will help improve thinking abilities the most. According to livescience.com, researchers for this experiment enlisted older adults to consume various amounts of flavonols, phytochemicals found in chocolate. The participants either consumed low, moderate, or high amounts of the flavonols in hot cocoa beverages every day for a total of eight weeks.
Researchers found that there was a link between the amounts of flavonols consumed and the performances on cognitive function tests; the higher the amount of flavonols consumed daily, the better the participants performed on the cognitive function tests. Participants were able to get through the tests more quickly and were able to remember more information.
Researchers also found that participants had an increase in blood flow to the brain. This was about a ten percent increase. Researchers concluded that people should eat dark chocolate every day to achieve similar results.
In addition to being beneficial to the brain, dark chocolate has other health benefits. According to a 2012 study in the BMJ Journal, eating dark chocolate daily can possibly reduce the risks of hearts attacks and strokes in high-risk individuals.
According to a 2012 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, dark chocolate can be slimming and those who eat it more (five times or more a week), tend to have lower Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) than those who eat less. Chocolate also controls appetite due to the fiber it contains.
I love chocolate and I would have never expected it to have so much health benefits. In a way, I can see how chocolate can be slimming because as a child, I ate chocolate of all kinds all the time and I’m smaller than most people my age.