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The Easter bunny might be long gone, but it could be that you still have some chocolate eggs hanging around waiting to be eaten. Or not!
If you have and you are feeling guilty about finishing it off, we are here to tell you not to.
We have it from the powers that be, that chocolate is good for you.
Now, we aren’t talking about cramming down a family bag of mini eggs followed by a KitKat chaser, but as with most things, eating it in moderation doesn’t hurt.
It would seem that good quality, dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage of around 70% or more, can be good for the heart, circulation and brain, and could be beneficial for managing conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
Dark chocolate is full of health boosting minerals including potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of the really good stuff provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron – great for anyone looking to boost their iron intake!
Blood sugar levels are tricky to control but eating a square or two of dark chocolate can help maintain healthy levels of insulin sensitivity and turn this helps to lower blood-glucose levels. Win, win.
Research published in the British Medical Journal has suggested that eating a little dark chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third, and that’s got to be worth considering?
Eating an entire chocolate cake with a side of Mars Bar isn’t going to help your waistline but, a little can help control your weight. The scientist, Dr. Will Clower, believes a small square of good chocolate melted on the tongue 20 minutes before eating a main meal triggers the hormones in the brain that says you are full. so you eat less. Think about it and finishing a meal with the treat and trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.
Apparently one mug of cocoa (using pure cocoa powder) has double the antioxidants of green tea and we think it tastes way better too. It is also worth noting that two mugs of cocoa may help keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline, thanks to better blood flow. That’s according to scientists at Harvard Medical School, so it must be true.
Dark chocolate is jam-packed with the helpful flavonols that help to protect your skin against sun damage. You still need to layer on the sun cream but good to know that evening snack is helping your beauty routine.
Forget happy pills, if you want to feel good a little chocolate will boost your levels of dopamine, a natural painkiller, and serotonin, which produces feelings of pleasure. Eat up and feel the love.
We believe researchers in Finland found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of those mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents. Watch out for those new baby photos on Facebook to see who is snacking on chocolate.
The bad news! Yes, you know you couldn’t have it all. Sorry. However much goodness is packed onto a bar of chocolate, it is still pretty high in calories, fat and sugar – so make sure you eat in moderation if you want the good to outweigh the bad.
Team Pure Beauty
Good Living from Pure Beauty Online 