Got your attention, didn’t I? If you are looking for a reason to indulge into that dark rich heavenly piece of food, well, look no further. Here’s the catch – a recent Study says that consumption of dark Chocolate can actually reduce stress and inflation. And who doesn’t want to become stress-free!

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Everyone but the fitness-freaks love chocolates, but interestingly, dark chocolate is in fitness and health trend these days. Chocolate is no more just a gourmet but it is actually picked up by ‘wellbeing’ devotees and fitness cravers; because of the potential health implications of dark chocolate, especially in lowering high blood pressure and weight loss. And now, there’s yet another reason to actually involve dark chocolates in your consumption list – and make it a regular component, thanks to its numerous benefits.

The published study was conducted by a group of researchers from Loma Linda University of California by conducting experimental surveys which indicated that consuming dark chocolate in moderate amount can help in reducing stress and inflammation and can also boost memory, mood and immunity as well. The flavonoids present in cocoa are extremely rich sources of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory components. To conduct the experiment, the team used electroencephalography (EEG) response to consuming 48 g of dark chocolate (70 per cent cacao) after an acute period of time (30 minutes) and after a chronic period of time (120 minutes), on modulating brain frequencies 0-40Hz, specifically beneficial gamma frequency (25-40Hz).

The study says that regular consumption of cocoa “up-regulates multiple intracellular signalling pathways involved in T-cell activation, cellular immune response and genes involved in neural signalling and sensory perception – the latter potentially associated with the phenomena of brain hyper-plasticity.” So you (and me) might want to gobble up those luscious chunks of black goodness in breakfast, lunch and dinner but behold! The study says that consuming dark chocolate in controlled portions and regular basis can be helpful, so yeah don’t just binge away. After all, eating a lot of dark chocolate means staking up the sugar contents which is not what we want. Remember to pick organic dark chocolate, and not just the ones which are available all around in grocery stores.

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