Chocolate is probably the most famous and consumed treat in the world. It’s no surprise that most people think you need to cut down your consumption of chocolate when you’re pursuing a healthier lifestyle. In the end, anything that’s sweet and delicious must be bad… or not?
The truth is you can keep on enjoying chocolate because it’s not as terrible as people think. In fact, chocolate has a great number of benefits for your health!
Chocolate’s health benefits
Coming from a mixture of cocoa beans, cocoa butter and sugar (and milk in some cases). The key to obtaining the most benefits is choosing the purest form of chocolate that you can find, which is dark chocolate with 70/75% of cocoa. With this amount of cocoa you get more of the cocoa solids, which are the ones carrying all the minerals and antioxidants.
Some dark chocolate benefits are:
Cardiovascular support
Antioxidants and flavonols in chocolate can help you lower bad cholesterol levels as well as blood pressure.
Stimulating properties
Theobromine is a compound found in chocolate, which has a similar effect to caffeine, giving you energy and a better mood.
Magnesium
Chocolate is high in magnesium, which means it will help you with issues related to magnesium deficit like cramps.
40 grams of chocolate contain around 142 calories, 2 grams of protein, 10 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fibre and 11 grams of sugar. This means moderation is key when eating chocolate, as you can get the benefits mentioned above, but you also get a high amount of sugar and carbs, which is a good amount of energy to burn.
The recommended daily amount of chocolate is about 20 to 30 grams per day, depending on your own diet and exercise routines. 20 to 30 grams is commonly two large squares of a regular chocolate bar.
How to include chocolate in your diet
Chocolate can be included in small quantities in your pre-workout snacks, to enhance the flavor and give you an extra amount of energy.
1- Dark chocolate chips that you can add to your parfait, yogurt, or oatmeal.
2- Melted chocolate with peanut butter and banana.
3- Chocolate shavings to garnish a plant-based milk latte
4- Two large squares of chocolate as a snack will help you ease your sweet cravings.
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