7 surprisingly healthy reasons to treat yourself on World Chocolate Day

Monday 7 July is World Chocolate Day, marking the day that chocolate first reached Europe in 1550.

Back then, it was often thought to be a healing tonic. These days, with the help of sugar and advanced food technology, there’s a whole range of chocolate on offer.

While not all chocolate can be said to be good for you, high-quality dark chocolate provides multiple health benefits.

Sadly, a Mars, Twix, KitKat, Snickers, or similar confectionary won’t cut it. And before you ask, no, the fruit and nuts in a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut, don’t make it healthier, either!

How to choose the best dark chocolate

Ideally, you should aim for chocolate that’s at least 70% cocoa. The higher the cocoa level, the more fibre, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants you’ll gain.

Three to look out for:

• Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate (85% cocoa)
• Lindt EXCELLENCE Dark 90% Bar
• MONTEZUMA’s Absolute Black (100% cocoa).

Alternatively, you could try cacao nibs – a less processed alternate to chocolate.

While the list above focuses on the highest cocoa content, in general, 70% is a good minimum to start with, if you’re hoping to enjoy any significant health benefits.

7 surprisingly healthy reasons to eat dark chocolate

Ultimately, the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. Here are seven healthy reasons to eat dark chocolate.

1. It’s choc-full of nutrients and antioxidants

High-quality dark chocolate contains a fair amount of soluble fibre and is packed with minerals.

A bar of high-quality dark chocolate typically contains:

• Fibre
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Manganese

It also delivers a decent dose of potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium.

Dark chocolate is also loaded with healthy antioxidants. These can help to protect brain cells by neutralising free radical damage and preventing premature brain cell aging – more on this later.

2. It can improve your heart health and lower your blood pressure

Research has revealed that eating high-quality dark chocolate could improve blood vessel function, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease – whether or not you have preexisting health conditions.

This is thanks to flavanol and theobromine, two polyphenols found in chocolate.

Over time, consuming flavanol-rich cocoa or dark chocolate can help improve cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, and protect against conditions like heart disease.

In 2019, a study showed that two hours after eating 85% dark chocolate, women experienced slightly elevated blood pressure levels. And yet, eating the dark chocolate during periods of stress actually helped lower blood pressure and heart rate slightly.

No two people are the same and what works for you may be different. Certainly, relying on dark chocolate to cure high blood pressure isn’t recommended, but eating it may not be as bad as you may think.

3. It improves learning, memory, and focus

Eating dark chocolate with a high concentrate of cocoa provides flavonoids that enter the brain and accumulate in regions involved in learning and memory – especially the hippocampus.

It also contains some caffeine, which can boost your brain and, in low doses, could improve both mental and physical performance.

The amount of caffeine in dark chocolate varies by product, so if you’re sensitive to it, check the label before you buy.

That said, eating it in moderation isn’t likely to contain enough caffeine to make you feel wired.

4. Dark chocolate could protect your brain for life

Scientists have found many positive benefits for how dark chocolate can be used to treat brain-related conditions like strokes and dementia.

Eating flavonoid-rich foods – like cocoa – could potentially limit, prevent, or even reverse age-related brain deterioration.

As such, the powerful antioxidants found in dark chocolate could help to reduce the risk of dementia. In fact, one study found that the more chocolate older people ate, the less likely they were to develop dementia.

5. It can help control food cravings

Chocolate is among the top most-craved foods. And eating cheap, mass-produced confectionary like Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate and the popular bars mentioned above will almost certainly fuel cravings for more sugar.

In contrast, eating just a small amount of high-quality dark chocolate has been shown to reduce cravings for all kinds of junk food, including sweet, salty, and fatty treats.

Ultimately, eating high-quality dark chocolate is incredibly satisfying and you should find you need to eat less of it. As such, it could help you to make healthier food choices.

6. It can make you happy

The flavanols in dark chocolate stimulate the release of endorphins, and can help to boost your mental wellbeing.

To get more “science-y”, endorphins bind with opiate receptors in the brain, leading to feelings of euphoria, similar to the kind joggers experience from running.

It’s also a good source of tryptophan; an amino acid that’s a precursor to serotonin – the neurotransmitter of happiness and positive mood.

7. It’s good for your skin

You’ve already read about the antioxidants in dark chocolate and these are also great skin defenders.

Studies suggest that the flavanols could help:

• Protect against sun damage
• Improve blood flow to the skin
• Increase skin density and hydration.

Though chocolate can’t replace sunscreen, if you’re planning a summer holiday, consider enjoying some extra dark chocolate in the weeks and months before you jet off. Bet you didn’t expect to read that!

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.