The benefits of dark chocolate
Eating dark chocolate can be beneficial for your health
Dark chocolate is abundant in vitamins and minerals:
- Magnesium: Prevents type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease
- Iron: Prevents iron deficiency, which causes anemia
- Copper: Prevents stroke and cardiovascular ailments
Health benefits of dark chocolate:
- Increases blood flow to the brain
- Lowers risk of heart attack and stroke
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Helps fight fatique
- Hardens tooth enamel
Choose dark chocolate with 65% or more cacao content.
Did you know…?
The higher percentage of cocoa solids, the higher the caffeine content. Two ounces of 70% dark chocolate contains about 50-60 mg caffeine. In comparison, an 8-ounce cup of coffee contains 100 – 200 milligrams of caffeine.
Just because dark chocolate can be beneficial for your health, this does not give you liberty to have a free for all – practice moderation – limit yourself to a square of dark chocolate per day.
Cacao vs. Cocoa
- Cacao refers to any food products derived from cacao beans (the seeds or nuts of the cacao tree).
- Cocoa powder is raw cacao that’s been roasted athigh temperatures. This processing lowers theoverall nutritional value.
What does the percent cacao mean?
It refers to the flavor intensity and the total percentage of ingredients by weight in the product that comes from the cocoa bean.
So, enjoy some dark chocolate today!