Organic Chocolate - A Natural Product Rich In Antioxidants
Author: Nia Rouseberg
Time for reading: ~2
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
In the production of cocoa powder and chocolate syrups, useful ingredients are destroyed. However, raw organic cocoa has a number of health benefits.
Due to the content of antioxidants, organic chocolate is good for the heart, it also helps increase alertness and improves mood .
In order to benefit, we must choose the right type of chocolate - prepared in a 100% organic way, with minimal processing.
The way in which cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are mass-produced contributes to the destruction of beneficial flavonoids . However, raw, organic cocoa and chocolate have extremely healthy content.
Natural chocolate supplies trace elements such as potassium, zinc, magnesium and iron . Cocoa temptation is a rich food source of antioxidants that neutralize the action of free radicals .
According to experts, organic natural chocolate contains even more antioxidants than some fruits, vegetables, tea or wine.
Natural chocolate helps lower high blood pressure, according to a study by the University of Cologne, Germany.
The study involved men and women aged 55-64 years with mild high blood pressure. Every day for two weeks they consume 100 g of different chocolate.
It turns out that those who eat dark chocolate have a significant drop in blood pressure - an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure. No change in blood counts was reported in the group of white chocolate consumers .
Another study compared how blood platelets respond to the flavonoids contained in a cocoa beverage and 80 mg of aspirin to thin the blood. The researchers found that the drink and aspirin prevented platelets from sticking together and forming clots.
According to the study, cocoa, rich in flavonoids, acts similarly to low-dose aspirin in stimulating normal blood flow and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Researchers at Cornell University have found that cocoa contains almost twice as many antioxidants as red wine and up to three times as much as green tea. For comparison - 40 g of milk chocolate has about 400 mg of antioxidants, as it is in a glass of red wine.
Dark chocolate has more than 13,000 ORAC units (units for measuring antioxidant content), and milk chocolate - about 6,700, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in McLean, Virginia.
Another study looked at healthy women and men aged 25-35 who consumed 100 g of dark chocolate, 100 g of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk or 200 g of milk chocolate. Researchers later found that those who consumed only dark chocolate had the highest amount of antioxidants in their blood, as well as higher levels of epicatechin , another beneficial plant ingredient in dark chocolate.
According to American scientists, epicatechin in natural cocoa reduces the risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that people who consume dark chocolate up to 3 times a month live almost a year longer than those who eat too much or consume lower quality cocoa products.
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