The Dark Side of Chocolate
Seriously, what’s actually the world’s most beloved “food group”? Chocolate, of course!
I grew up, like most of you, with a taste for chocolate. In fact, I probably ate more than my fair share as a child. You see, my Uncle, who was born and raised in Berlin, Germany would provide my brothers and I with a regular supply shipped directly from his Homeland. Because of our “European connection” my siblings and I were indulging in rich, dark chocolate a decade before any of its flavor or health benefits became the rage here in the US.
So why all the media buzz surrounding dark chocolate? In a word, antioxidants. Because dark (milk-free) chocolate contains a much higher concentration of cocoa solids than milk chocolate it has been found to be a wonderful source of cocoa-derived flavanols, the antioxidant which gives chocolate its pungent flavor. Flavanols, and hence dark chocolate, have the same age and disease-fighting compounds which are found in blueberries, red wine, black tea, and citrus fruits. The free radical fighting nature of the antioxidants found in dark chocolate was also discovered to lower high blood pressure (in a German research study—go figure—which appeared in the JAMA August 2003.)
As you seek to Get Healthy for Heaven’s Sake in 2019, why not be sweet to yourself and add a small square of dark chocolate to your daily diet in place of a calorie-laden cookie or a hunk of non-nutritious milk chocolate or candy bar. Savor its rich, deep flavor allowing one small nibble after another to melt in your mouth, all the while imagining how its chocolaty goodness is fighting all those nasty “free radicals” in your body. You’ll satisfy your chocolate craving and get healthier all at the same time. Now what could be sweeter than that?