Can chocolate deliver antioxidants?
Eating dark chocolate in moderation can deliver antioxidants and minerals and may help protect from heart diseases. It also contain high amounts of calories and sugar
- Dark chocolate is full with nutrients that can positively affect your health.
- According to the research studies show that dark chocolate can improve your health and lower the risk of heart disease.
- A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate contains with 70–85% cocoa.
- In addition, it has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium.
- The fatty acid profile of cocoa and dark chocolate will be good.
- The fats consist mostly of oleic acid (a heart-healthy fat also found in olive oil), stearic acid, and palmitic acid.
The stearic acid has a neutral effect on body cholesterol. Palmitic acid can raise cholesterol levels, but it only makes up one-third of the total fat calories. According to research, the polyphenols in dark chocolate may help lower some forms of LDL or bad cholesterol when combined with other foods like almonds and cocoa.
Many studies shows that dark chocolate and cocoa can improve blood flow and lower blood pressure. Eating dark chocolate supplemented with the flavanol lycopene was found to significantly decrease levels of total cholesterol, LDL or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides and thus helps to prevent heart diseases also