Dark Chocolate The Healthy Valentines Day Choice

Dark Chocolate is being heralded by researchers and consumers alike because it is one of the few sweet indulgences that have tremendous health benefits. In extensive scientific research, dark chocolate has been found to contain flavanoids, which is good for your heart - what a perfect gift for your Valentine!

The importance of antioxidants is their ability to protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark Chocolate contains nearly eight times the number of flavonoids found in strawberries.

Flavonoids have also been found to help blood pressure and even balance hormonal levels in humans. Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Besides these outstanding benefits, dark chocolate stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure. It also contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant. Dark chocolae also contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants.

Chocolate does contain fat but only one third of the fat is bad for you. That's because dark chocolate contains Oleic Acid which is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil. It also contains Stearic Acid which researchers have shown to have a neutral effect on cholesterol levels in the body. The "bad" fat in dark chocolate comes from the Palmitic oil, which is a saturated fat that does raise cholesterol and heart risks.

The benefits of dark chocolate are obvious, however it has a high calorie content. Most of the studies show that only 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate are enough to get the health benefits.

Eating half a bar of dark chocolate (200 calories) instead of a whole bar (400 calories) is enough to get the benefit and save you 200 calories.

One note: researchers now believe that washing down chocolate with a glass of milk may prevent the antioxidants from being absorbed and used by your body.

Many people ask why does dark chocolate have more benefits that milk or white chocolate. The answer is simple. Dark chocolate has a 65% or higher level of cocoa content.

Dark chocolate is a perfect gift for Valentines Day. It's sweet, healthy, and shows that special someone that you really care!