Chocolate, it's not just our sweet tooth that loves it... but also our body, provided we eat a few pieces (only) a day. So, take out your dark chocolate bars (rich in cocoa and low in sugar), bite into them raw for a little bit before discovering the 5 incredible virtues of chocolate.
Tasting cocoa is always good in the event of a hard blow... 1/ because it's good, 2/ because you have the impression of becoming a child again having a snack in front of cartoons, 3/ because the dark chocolate contains molecules close to endorphins and more than 110 mg of magnesium per 100 g (count 60 mg for milk chocolate).
However, magnesium is known to reduce stress, anxiety, "slackness" and therefore boost morale! Moreover, by focusing on a diet rich in magnesium, the risk of occurrence of a myocardial infarction (-27%) or a stroke (-48%) is considerably reduced. Impressive figures all the more understandable as chocolate also lowers blood pressure...
A German study published in the journal Jama showed that consuming 6 grams of dark chocolate per day (about two squares) would lead to a significant drop in blood pressure. People in the "test" group who followed an 18-week diet of 6 grams of dark chocolate a day saw their blood pressure drop significantly. Their propensity for hypertension even fell from 86% to 68%. Not bad at all!
Good news also for pregnant women, since a study published in the journal Epidemiology claims that eating dark chocolate every day can reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia, a complication of high blood pressure, by 69%.
Thanks to its flavonoids and minerals (zinc, copper, manganese), with antioxidant properties, cocoa reduces the concentration of bad cholesterol in the blood and promotes the production of good cholesterol. Contrary to popular belief, the antioxidant capacity of cocoa is up to 5 times higher than that of black tea and 3 times higher than that of green tea!
And in addition, that slows down cellular aging! What more could you ask for?
A study published in Nature Neuroscience claims that consuming chocolate curbs age-related cognitive decline, thanks to cocoa flavanols (a subgroup of flavonoids). These substances present in the beans can indeed slow down the deterioration due to old age of a specific region of the brain called "dentate gyrus", acting on memory.
Conclusion:After ingesting a drink rich in flavanols for 3 months, the function of the dentate gyrus of the test subjects would have greatly improved. "If a participant was at the level of a 60-year-old at the start of the study, after three months, they got the memory of a 30- or 40-year-old. said Scott Small, study co-author and researcher at Columbia University in New York.
Chocolate also contains methylxanthines, natural molecules found in stimulating plants, such as coffee or tea. One of them is theobromine, present at 1.6%, which stimulates the central nervous system and improves muscle performance. Who said eating chocolate before exercise was stupid?
It should be noted (in passing) that dark chocolate, eaten in reasonable quantities (about 4 squares per day) does not make you fat! We therefore prefer bars containing the words "chocolate containing only cocoa butter without other added fats" (which will make our scales and our arteries cry).
