Dark chocolates are good for skin , for improving Blood Pressure and even good for diabetics to some extent. There are several health benefits of dark Chocolate that you will find here in reading this article, and will fall in love with chocolates forever!

Chocolates are well-known to be mood-enhancer and romance-inducer, but apart from them you will also find some interesting facts that could benefit to your health.

Source and Properties of Dark Chocolate

Source of dark chocolate: Cocoa beans of evergreen plant Theobroma cacao, commonly known as cocoa tree.

The highly rich amount of flavonoids (catechins, epicatechin, and procyanidins) makes the dark chocolate highly beneficial for our health. These phenolic flavonoid act as a ‘reactive oxygen species scavenger‘ that demonstrate antioxidant effect on human body. following are some of the health benefits of dark chocolate:

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

1. Appeases the satiety centre, therefore regulates the appetite and controls craving for hunger

Study reveals that – dark chocolates promote satiety and lowers the desire to eat something sweet. And thus suppresses energy intake in our body as compared with milk chocolate.

So, now onwards if you want to regulate your appetite and planning to go for dieting, start eating dark chocolates today.

2. Alleviates the risk for diabetes

There’s a common misconception about the chocolates that they can’t be taken if you are a diabetic.

Dark chocolates are rich in flavonol. And study reveals that these flavonol help in increasing the NO (Nitrous Oxide) in the body that increases the Insulin sensitivity in our body, which along with the anti-inflammatory effects and blood pressure controlling properties of dark chocolates leads to the alleviation of diabetes.

But it is noteworthy that dark chocolate that you eat (if you are diabetic) should be sugar less and also not containing white chocolate or milk chocolate contents.

3. Act as a Mood Regulator

Dark chocolate stimulates the production of chemicals called endorphins in the brain that provides the feeling of pleasure. It also contains an anti-depressant chemical called serotonin, which also helps regulate our mood.

4. Protects the Skin from UV Damage

The antioxidant property present in dark chocolate scavenges the free radicals in the body and removes the early signs of aging (thus highly used in cosmetics and various topical preparations).

According to a study performed by German researchers, the flavonoids present in dark chocolate absorbs UV light, and found to increase the blood flow to the skin. It thus improves the skin’s hydration and complexion.

So, if you want to get healthy skin, you should start consuming dark chocolates today.

5. Shows Cardio-protective Effect

Study shows that daily consumption of dark chocolates helps reducing the cholesterol and reduces blood pressure in the body, which thus found to result in cardio-protective behaviour.

Gift dark chocolates to the one close to your heart, to help make their heart healthy.

6. Anti-Inflammatory Effects

Dark Chocolates are rich in flavonol. These flavonol modify the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the synthesis of eicosanoids, the activation of platelets, and nitric oxide-mediated mechanisms. Thus eating dark chocolate helps in reducing and controlling the inflammations in our body.

7. Neuro-protective Effect of Dark Chocolate

For proper functioning of brain, well maintenance of cerebral blood flow (CBF) is very crucial so as to maintain a proper sully of oxygen and glucose level inside brain, which in turn enhances the cerebral functioning. The polyphenols that are responsible for maintaing the CBF are mainly found in cocoa and some other plants.

Polyphenols also show neuro-protective effect by inhibiting neuronal death caused by process of apoptosis (programmed cell death) induced by various neurotoxins like oxygen free radicals.

8. Helps in Improving Blood Pressure

According to a review online published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. suggest that cocoa rich products have found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The flavonol found in cocoa have been shown to reduce blood pressure to some extent in short-term.

Now, when you are well aware of the facts about the health benefits of dark chocolate, it is the time to go and grab one and enjoy the benefits. Do not forget to share this article with your friends, family and colleagues and let them know how beneficial these chocolates are. You can comment your queries and views in the comment box below.