Stay confident!!! This blog encourage to stay healthy and at the same time maintaining our health in a proper way.
"Being thin doesn't mean that you're healthy because size does not determine your health".
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
I Love Chocolates...!!!
Mouthwatering with sweets and bitter taste.
Attention to all chocolates lovers (especially the dark chocolates), there's some information regarding the benefits of chocolates...!
1. It is HIGH in antioxidants.
Cocoa contains flavanols, a type of flavanoid that is only found in
cocoa and chocolate. Flavanoids are naturally-occurring compounds that
occur in plant foods that act as antioxidants and help counteract free
radicals in the body.
2. LOWER your blood pressure.
Dark chocolate has been shown in studies to lower blood pressure in people with elevated blood pressure.
3. LOWER your LDL Cholesterol.
Eating dark chocolate on a regular basis has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol by as much as 10 percent.
4. A Natural Anti-Depressant
Chocolate contains serotonin, a natural anti-depressant. Chocolate also
stimulates endorphin production, which creates feelings of happiness
and pleasure. In fact, one study found that melting chocolate in the
mouth produced feelings of pleasure longer than passionate kissing.
This may explain why many people naturally reach for chocolate when
they're depressed.
5. A cancer FIGHTER!
Several studies have found chocolate to be one of the best cancer-fighting
foods along with foods like red wine, blueberries, garlic, and tea.
Two ways that chocolate works as a cancer fighter is by inhibiting cell
division and reducing inflammation, though research is ongoing and will
probably find additional ways in which chocolate fights cancer.
6. PREVENTS tooth decay.
Research has found that the theobromine in chocolate prevents tooth decay by eliminating streptococcus mutans, a bacteria found in the oral cavity that contributes to tooth decay.
7. Have a Longer Life and Less Disease!
Dutch study followed 200 men over 20 years and found that those who
consumed large amounts of chocolate, both milk chocolate and dark, lived
longer and had lower overall disease rates than men who ate little or
no chocolate.
A Harvard study on the Kuna tribe of Panama resulted in similar
findings. The Kuna consumed large amounts of raw cacao every day and
the study found them to have lower overall disease rates and longer life
expectancy than neighboring tribes who did not consume as much raw
cacao.
To further strengthen the case for dark chocolate as a life extender,
the world's longest-lived person, Jeanne Louise Calment, lived to the
age of 122 and many ascribed her longevity in part to her consumption of
2.5 pounds of dark chocolate a week.
8. HIGH in magnesium.
Cacao is higher in magnesium than any other plant. Magnesium is an
important mineral that helps in the regulation of the digestive,
neurological, and cardiovascular systems. Since many people are
magnesium deficient, adding magnesium-rich dark chocolate to the diet
can improve overall health.
9. Artery clean up
Studies have shown that the antioxidants in cacao work like brooms in sweeping plaque out of the arteries.
10. GOOD for brain health.
Studies have shown that dark chocolate is good for the brain.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that it can protect the
brain after a stroke by shielding the nerve cells from further damage.
Dark chocolate has also been found to improve memory. Researchers at
California's Salk Institute found that a chemical in chocolate called
epicatechin improved the memory of mice.
11. Help you to LOSE WEIGHT!
- Reduce insulin resistance with dark chocolate
Insulin, which
is released by the pancreas when blood sugar rises, has the job of
escorting blood glucose into the cells. Repeated release of insulin due
to too much sugary food causes the cells to develop resistance to
insulin preventing it from doing its job and depriving the cells of
needed nutrition. Now the body fears starvation, calls for more food and
signals a need to store fat to protect against starvation. The result?
Weight gain.
Substituting dark chocolate for some of the sugary foods may help reduce insulin resistance. A 2005 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
reported on research in which 15 healthy individuals ate either white
or dark chocolate for 15 days. At the end of this time those who ate the
dark chocolate experienced significantly higher insulin sensitivity and
significantly lower insulin resistance compared to the white chocolate
group. As a nice bonus, the dark chocolate group also experienced lower
blood pressure.
This is not an isolated study. Research published in 2012 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
and based on a meta-analysis of 42 studies of chocolate and cocoa,
supported the connection between dark chocolate consumption and
significant reductions in serum insulin which caused resistance to
insulin to decrease. They also found chocolate associated with
consistent reductions in blood pressure.
- Chocolate helps stop food cravings
Reductions
in food cravings between meals can help prevent overeating and this
means foods that promote feelings of fullness can be important for
weight loss. Once again healthy dark chocolate may be part of the
answer. A study from Denmark reviewed in a 2008 edition of Science Daily found that dark chocolate, compared to milk chocolate, was more filling and also lessened cravings for unhealthy foods.
Sixteen
lucky study subjects ate either dark or milk chocolate and then gave
feedback on how hungry they felt over the next several hours. At the two
and a half hour mark they were given as much pizza as they could eat.
Researchers recorded calorie intake for each individual and found that
it was 15 percent less for those who had previously eaten dark
chocolate. The same group also noted lower cravings for snack foods
(sweet, salty or fatty) compared to the milk chocolate group.
- Chocolate reduces stress and cortisol levels
Stress
triggers release of cortisol which causes the body to secrete more
insulin leading to overeating. In a 2009 study published in the Journal of Proteome Research,
30 subjects who suffered from anxiety consumed 1.4 ounces of dark
chocolate daily for two weeks. Urinalysis showed a resulting reduction
in the excretion of cortisol prompting the scientists to conclude
chocolate can alter human metabolism.
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