A long time ago, when I was a kid, I had this undying penchant for dark chocolate (not that I don’t have now). Chocolate was what I had after waking up, and chocolate was what I chewed on as I drifted off to sleep.
Chocolate was everything.
Little did I know back then that that was one of the healthiest choices anyone can ever make.
Now I am not saying you should toss all the other foods into the garbage bin and sit with bucketfuls of chocolate every day. What I want to tell is chocolate, I mean, dark chocolate, is way healthy than you had thought.
Especially when it comes to treating high cholesterol, dark chocolate is the king. And maybe is the queen as well.
Hard to believe? Well, that won’t be the case once you are done with this post.
This might be one of the most unwanted questions posed in the history of mankind. Of course, who doesn’t know what dark chocolate is? And who doesn’t love it in the first place!
However, let me continue.
Dark chocolate also goes by the name of ‘bittersweet’ chocolate. This is because it contains a higher percentage of cocoa (more than 60 percent), making it bitter than its peers (1). Also, dark chocolate has only a little or no added sugars, and has an intense flavour.
Is dark chocolate good for cholesterol? Yes. Dark chocolate. For cholesterol.
There was a time when dark chocolate was further darkened with baseless accusations. It is bad for health, they said. It makes you fat, they said. And they also said it doesn’t do much to you other than sweeten your tongue.
But hey, those days are gone. Here’s why.
Dark chocolate is one very good source of flavonoids (2), which are basically chemical compounds synthesised by plants (3). These flavonoids exhibit antioxidant properties (4), and here comes the most important part, inhibit the accumulation of bad cholesterol (5).
Yes, dark chocolate lowers cholesterol. And in addition to reducing bad cholesterol, dark chocolate increases good cholesterol as well (6).
No, not really.
In one research conducted by the Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh, it was found that polyphenols, which are present in dark chocolate, help in regulating body weight (7).
In another study conducted by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, it was found that cocoa contains certain compounds that prevent weight gain and obesity (8).
Yes.
The study consisted of 15 women aged between 20 and 40 years who had excessive body fat. The subjects were made to eat dark chocolate that contained 70 percent cocoa, for a period of 7 days. The results showed a reduction in total body cholesterol. A decrease in the abdomen circumference was also observed (9).
A total of 50 subjects (25 men and 25 women) were taken for this study. All the subjects were made to consume flavonoid-rich dark chocolate for a period of 3 weeks. It was concluded that intake of dark chocolate can improve the lipoprotein profiles in humans, thereby preventing cardiovascular diseases as well (10).
Lipoproteins are soluble proteins responsible for the proper transportation of fats through the bloodstream (11).
In the words of Dr. Ann, a distinguished nutritionist and bestselling author (12), high quality dark chocolate can lower bad cholesterol (13). And according to the California Department of Aging, more than half the fat found in dark chocolate comes from acids that do not raise bad cholesterol levels (14).
Now this is supremely important. Not all kinds of chocolates are healthy. If you want chocolate that helps you reduce inches from your waistline, these are the points you must keep in mind.
This is all about dark chocolate and cholesterol. So, the next time when someone says chocolate is unhealthy, give them a piece of your mind, and a piece of dark chocolate.
Oh yeah, the dark chocolate rises.