You’re So Sweet, How Are You Good for Me?

Nothing’s better than inhaling the scent of some of your favorite foods. It can bring about an overall feeling of nostalgia too. Remembering when you were a kid and the smell of fresh baked cookies just made your day. Now that you’re older and wiser, you may be seeking healthier alternatives to your favorite snack and try not to indulge in those cookies as much. The same thing relates to pretty much any food you have eaten in your life. What you viewed as being perfectly ok then, can have a few negative health benefits now. While this may seem a bit scary, there is no need to worry. There are many alternative options to fill that void in your nutritious life. 

As women, we can all admit there were a few times that we felt the need to indulge in chocolate when we get our monthly visitor—blame it on hormones? But as much as chocolate may seem like the “go-to fix” during that seemingly crappy week, there is indeed an alternative route you can take. Many studies have shown that people that eat or drink cocoa (hot cocoa or dark chocolate) have better cardiovascular health than those who do not. How sweet is that? According to the journal “Circulation Heart Failure,” they pointed out in their nine-year study that “women who ate one to two servings of high-quality chocolate weekly, had a 32% lower risk of developing heart failure than those that didn’t eat cocoa. Cocoa’s health benefits are based on its high concentrations of polyphenoids and flavonoids. These are anti-inflammatory compounds that help to protect the heart.” (Glatter, 2017). If you are in fact, looking to buy these types of chocolates, be sure to pick up ones that are dark chocolate that contain at least 74% cocoa solids. 

Dark chocolate also has some other hidden health benefits that everyone can be happy about. Did you know that when eating dark chocolate you are gaining a great source of antioxidants, improving blood flow/lowering blood pressure, reducing your risk for heart disease, preventing asthma attacks, fighting tooth decay, protecting your skin from the sun, and even improving your brain function? Amazing, right? But with anything, you should eat these chocolates in moderation. Overeating dark chocolate can cause periods of indigestion, headaches, heartburn, weight gain, dangerous swings in blood sugar if you are a diabetic, hypertension, and depending on the type of dark chocolate you consume, sickness from allergies.

With everything being said about how something that you thought could be bad for your health, actually has a somewhat hidden secret about how you can maneuver around your sweet tooth by indulging in its alternative form. So, if you’re in the mood for a sweet treat without much guilt, grab a piece of dark chocolate; your heart will thank you.

Article submitted by Sade Bolling.