Chocolate the wonder food…
I just love it when science finds that not only is eating chocolate okay — it’s even good for you. Of course, not for all of us — a friend of mine gets migraines if she has too much chocolate, or even a bit of it. But then for the rest of the chocoholics of the world — go for it.
It seems that half a bar of dark chocolate per week is good for your heart. Believe me I’m not looking this gift horse in the mouth (which is why I didn’t even try to find the original research paper), but the article in PhyOrg.com says:
“We started from the hypothesis- says Romina di Giuseppe, 33, lead author of the study- that high amounts of antioxidants contained in the cocoa seeds, in particular flavonoids and other kinds of poly-phenols, might have beneficial effects on the inflammatory state. Our results have been absolutely encouraging: people having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. In other words, their inflammatory state is considerably reduced.” The 17% average reduction observed may appear quite small, but it is enough to decrease the risk of cardio-vascular disease for one third in women and one fourth in men. It is undoubtedly a remarkable outcome”.
The most amazing thing is it works better in women than in men. And since chocolate also seems to lock to the same receptors in the brain that get stimulated with sex — hey, this is a really good thing on lonely nights. But I think we actually may need more than half a bar per week.
Actually, I’m really so-so on the chocolate thing but my husband is a chocoholic — big time. So, this is right up his nutritional menu plan. However, when I do have chocolate, it’s the dark chocolate that I like. I’m especially fond of bittersweet dark chocolate bits or bars. I loved the Chantico drinking chocolate that you used to be able to get at Starbucks — a bit too sweet for my taste but boy did it pack a caffeine wallop. Six ounces and you buzzed for hours. They don’t have it anymore in the winter — wonder if it’s because of the buzz.
Anyway, take another look at your milk chocolate stash and when it’s gone replace it with dark, rich, dark, chunks, of dark chocolate. Afterall, science is on our side.