Chocolate. It even sounds as amazing as it tastes. Now I have a huge sweet tooth, I mean I think I can safely say I'm definitely addicted to sugar. Chocolate is definitely at the top of my list of favorite things in the world, and I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like chocolate. But there's actually more to chocolate than just it's amazing taste, there are actually many health benefits to eating chocolate! Unfortunately, it's mainly dark chocolate that has all the health benefits, because milk and white chocolate have little content of the cacao bean and contain mostly sugar. That being said, eating chocolate in general (dark, milk, and white) makes people feel good, because it increases the levels of serotonin in your brain. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter responsible for an enhanced mood and acts as an anti-depressant, in other words, it releases the happy emotion in your brain.
Dark chocolate has far more health benefits than just making you happy. A small piece of dark chocolate is really good for your heart because it lowers your blood pressure and lowers your LDL cholesterol by up to 10%. Have you ever noticed that we crave certain foods when we're really stressed out? Well, since chocolate causes the brain to release more serotonin, that leads to significant reductions in anxiety when we're stressed.
So when you're stressed, depressed, upset, or when you suffer from high cholesterol or high blood pressure, eat chocolate! But not too much, because it is still high in fat and calories.
I too love dark chocolate! My parents send me those 1 lb bars from traders joes: amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love chocolate that's at least 60 percent cacao. But I must admit, I'd never turn away a white chocolate Toblerone bar or white chocolate-covered pretzels. With the amount of walking and lugging of books that students do, I think we can pretty much balance out any caloric-related guilt. (:
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