The Facts about Chocolate

 

Who does not know chocolate? it tastes good and sweet to make the audience more and more addicted to trying. It turns out a delicious taste behind it contained a tremendous benefit as well. So that makes the audience reluctant to reject it.Apparently one or two cups of hot chocolate a day is a practical way to increase the intake of antioxidants. The reason, recent studies suggest that antioxidant-rich chocolate more flour than other beverages such as tea and even red wine. 

Be drunk

Researchers from Cornell University found that hot chocolate contains more antioxidants per glass. In addition, this beverage is a delicious alternative to obtain and maintain a healthy diet rich in healthy antioxidants. Antioxidants are chemicals that become effective against cancer, heart disease and the aging process.Should be drunk? According to researchers, although cocoa powder can be found in various products, such as chocolate bars, drinking is the most effective in maximizing the benefits of healthy. This is because the chocolate bar rich in saturated fats. One 40 gram chocolate bar for example, contains about 8 grams of saturated fat. This amount is far greater than the amount of saturated fat in the average cup of hot chocolate (0.3 grams).In addition, drinking pure cocoa powder can help you get a variety of positive benefits in terms of blood pressure regulation and glucose metabolism. However, people tend to eat processed chocolate which already contains a variety of unwanted components (such as sugar, corn syrup, milk fats / dairy cream, and that has been hydrogenated oils). In processed products, the content of cocoa powder is usually less than 20%.

Reduce the risk of disease 

Drinking chocolate could otherwise reduce the risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes to less than 10%. Natural cocoa powder contain high levels of epicatechin. Epicatechin is one of a group of chemicals known as flavonoids (serves to improve the circulation and other factors supporting heart health).Facts show that the Kuna people (Indians who live on the island of San Blas) who drink a lot of flavonoid-rich cocoa powder (3-4 glasses a day) rarely develop high blood pressure and signs of other cardiac diseases. In addition to improving blood circulation, laboratory tests also showed that flavonoids can relax the blood vessel network.The content of flavonoids in cocoa are believed to maintain heart health because it can change a number of pathological processes involved in the development of cardiovascular disease. Flavonoids are working with:Inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol by free radicals (the initial step the formation of plaque in arteries / atherosclerosis). Suppress the tendency of small blood cells (platelets) sticking to each other and form a clot. This is known as the effect of aspirin.Regulate inflammation and immune response in the vessel wall.Regulate blood vessel flexibility, or the contraction of small blood vessels, which also influence high blood pressure.

Other benefits. Although most studies focus on cardiovascular health, scientists are also studying the effects of cocoa flavonoids in the fight against cancer and diseases related to inflammation or impaired immune function. The study reports that address the potential cocoa powder flavonoid in diarrhea because it can inhibit the secretion of fluid in the small intestine.Another study suggests that women need chocolate consumption in large quantities in order to reduce the risk of stroke. It expressed the researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, as reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.Chocolate consumption in women has been shown to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the short-term experiments. Chocolate has also been shown to improve endothelial function and platelet counts and increased insulin resistance.PhD Susanna Larsson and colleagues conducted a study on 33 372 women aged 49-83 years with no history of stroke, coronary heart disease, stroke, or diabetes.As quoted by Reuters Health on Monday (10/10), researchers found that women who ate at least two bars of chocolate per week had 20 percent lower risk of stroke when compared with other women with similar age and weight but rarely or never eat brown.

Research has also shown dark chocolate can improve visual acuity in low contrast conditions.In a British study of vision of the respondents note increased 17 percent in terms of contrasting light conditions after they mengasup compared with the dark chocolate and white chocolate. The study participants also have the brain function better in the test results.The content of flavonoids in dark chocolate is known to increase blood circulation in the body, including to the eye. "The retina requires a lot of energy but often lack of blood supply. Flavonoids in chocolate will enhance the function of peripheral blood vessels into the eye so that the visual function was better," said David Field, professor at the University of Reading, UK, who conducted this research.Field and his team tested the participants two hours after they mengasup dark chocolate bars. But he said the actual effects of flavonoids could be felt an hour after consumption.Regarding the amount of chocolate that have not been convinced diasup Field. In his research he uses chocolate bar contains 773 milligrams of cocoa flavonoids. Unfortunately most manufacturers do not list the amount of cocoa flavonoids in the packaging.The researchers explain that cocoa contains flavonoids, powerful antioxidants that can reduce LDL, low-density lipoprotein, which can lead to stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.