Stop Tinnitus Permanently
Powered by MaxBlogPress 

Best Health

All Information About Health, Balancing Our Life By More Healthier

Facts About Chocolate – One of the World’s Healthiest Foods!

Posted on | August 25, 2010 | No Comments

Easy AdSense by Unreal

Is it about chocolate that capture’s everyone’s interest? Is there any other food that offers so much sensual pleasure and elevates your mood as well? Do you know anyone who doesn’t get excited about it?

If that wasn’t enough, chocolate (specifically the dark varieties), is beginning to be recognized for its amazing health properties. It’s known for its exceptionally high antioxidant content, and offers all of the antioxidant benefits of foods such as green tea and red wine. Let’s take a look at all of the facts about chocolate that are contributing to its new-found reputation.

The known history of chocolate goes back as far as 1500BC, when the Olmec Indians, a Pre-Columbian civilization living in south-central Mexico, grew cocoa beans as a domestic crop.

Mayan and Aztec civilizations were the next to discover the value of the cacao bean, the natural source of what we know as chocolate. In the 16th century, Mayan nobles brought gift jars of cocoa with them on their first visit to Eurpoe, introducing it to western civilization for the first time. From there, the use of chocolate spread widely across the rest of Europe – and then, the world.

Facts About Chocolate: The Cacao Tree — the Source

The cacao tree is a tropical plant that grows only within 20 degrees latitude of the equator. The main cacao-producing countries are the Ivory Coast and Ghana, although there are numerous smaller markets in South America and Africa.

Cacao is the seed (nut) of a fruit of an Amazonian tree. The cacao tree produces pods all year long, so a typical tree would have pods in every stage of ripeness. Because of this, most harvesting is done by hand, with machetes.

Types of Chocolate

Here are the common types found in most areas, from the least-processed to the most-processed:

  • Raw chocolate
  • Unsweetened chocolate
  • Bittersweet chocolate
  • Dark chocolate
  • Semisweet chocolate
  • Milk chocolate

Milk chocolate, the least healthy variety, is also the most popular type in North America — 71% of consumers prefer milk chocolate.

Nutritional Facts About Chocolate

The raw cacao bean is one of nature’s most nutritious superfoods, due to its mineral content and wide array of unique properties, including a high level of antioxidants called flavonoids.

Cacao contains the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food in the world. These antioxidants include polyphenols, catechins, and epicatechins. By weight, cacao has more antioxidants than red wine, blueberries, acai, pomegranates, and goji berries combined.

Dark chocolate (65 percent or higher cocoa content) has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two varieties have very few of the health benefits of dark.

Most commercial chocolates are highly processed and do not have the nutritional value of raw cacao. The more it’s processed (through things like fermentation, alkalizing, roasting, etc.), the more flavanols are lost.

Facts About Chocolate: The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

The high antioxidant level in chocolate provides benefits for your cardiovascular system, prevention of osteoporosis, cancer prevention, and improved mental alertness. Dark chocolate also possesses powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties.

Enjoying the Taste of Chocolate

For best tasting, chocolate should be at room temperature. This allows it to begin to melt the moment it hits your mouth. Cold chocolate doesn’t release its flavors and aromas as quickly, altering the tasting experience. While melting, it should feel rich and luscious in your mouth. You don’t need to chew it at all, just let the flavors release on their own.

In addition to the ingredients, texture depends largely on the processing. The "made with love" concept certainly applies; the longer it’s processed, the silkier the texture.

Discover more of the benefits of dark chocolate and learn how to choose the healthiest type of chocolate to eat.

Stan Mrak has had a passion for antiaging nutrition and preventive health for over 30 years. Pay a visit to his website at http://www.antioxidants-for-health-and-longevity.com and discover more about the importance of antioxidants for staying young and preventing disease.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stan_Mrak
http://EzineArticles.com/?Facts-About-Chocolate—One-of-the-Worlds-Healthiest-Foods!&id=4818412

Category: Healthy Food
Tags: > > >

Comments

Leave a Reply





captcha service

  • Partner links