Give your Loved One's Heart the Gift of Dark Chocolate, Health Benefits, Healthy Heart & Anti-Aging

If you are going to be treating yourself or a loved one to chocolates, why not make a better choice and choose dark chocolate?. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with a piece of white or milk chocolate from time to time (everything in moderation). Studies have shown that there is many healthy benefits to adding a little dark chocolate to your diet everyday. It helps to lower high blood pressure and been shown to reduce the bad LDL cholesterol.

Chocolate and cocoa products do grow on trees! It is a plant-based food. The seeds, known as beans, come from pods from a small tropical tree called "cacoa". The beans are actually very bitter and sticky with pulp. They have to go through a fermentation and drying process. This makes the beans less bitter and the taste more "chocolatey".

Studies have shown that raw cacoa powder has more antioxidant flavanoids than any other foods including red wine, green tea and blueberries.

Antioxidants protect our bodies from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease.

"Minerals present in Cacao are Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Copper, Sulfur, and Potassium. Cacao also contains many chemicals that enhance physical and mental well-being, including alkaloids, proteins, magnesium, beta-carotene, leucine, linoleic acid, lipase, lysine, and some neurotransmitters such as dopamine and anandamine."

 I am contemplating adding raw cacao powder into my families diet.  I found this to be an interesting link on the subject:

Of course the higher the percent in the cocoa the more nutrients but be aware that it will be on the bitter side. So to sum it up, dark chocolate is good for your heart, mind body and soul.

With Valentines Day on the 14th I must also share with you what Dr. Perricone from "Forever Young" wrote:

"Extra dark chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a chemical believed to produce the feeling of “being in love.” We all know how good chocolate makes us feel. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that women who enjoy a piece of chocolate every day had a more active sex life than those who didn’t." (His link is provided under the chocolate heart photo above.)...........

I'm just saying............

Be good to your heart and your loved ones!