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4 Great Reasons to Eat Chocolate

A day never passes with me taking my daily dose of chocolate. What I like most is to drink it rather than indulging myself with chunks ;-) What's best about chocolate is not it's cravenly taste, it's really good for your health.

An August study in the journal Neurology is the most recent evidence of this.  Researchers found that chocolate may help older people keep their brains healthy and their thinking sharp. Study participants showed an 8.3 percent increase in blood flow to the brain who drank two cups of cocoa daily for 30 days, and they improved their scores on memory and thinking tests.

Though this new finding is promising, it is not the only health benefit that seems to come as a result of eating chocolate. Above is only one, here are three more reasons why you should not be guilty indulging yourself with chocolate.

Heart Healthy 
According to a 2012 study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), daily chocolate consumption may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in some high-risk patients.

Potentially Slimming 
You may want to reacquaint yourself with chocolate if you've always thought of this tasty treat as a fat-inducing food.  One study found that people who eat chocolate regularly are more likely to be thinner than those who don't. According to the 2012 study published the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, people in the study who admitted to eating chocolate five times per week or more had a lower BMI (Body Mass Index) than those who ate chocolate less frequently.

Appetite Control
Chocolate contains a natural appetite suppressant, which is filling fiber. So, you may end up eating fewer calories than if you tried to avoid chocolate, if you give in to that chocolate craving.

It is also important to be smart about your consumption even though there are many reasons to enjoy chocolate. Here are some tips so you can retain all of its nutritional goodness when choosing high-quality chocolate.

The darker the chocolate, the better for your health. Pure chocolate is actually quite bitter, which is why it is almost always combined with other ingredients in a chocolate bar. But the chocolate part of that bar is what contains the good stuff: fiber, magnesium and antioxidants.

Make your own hot cocoa.  Hot cocoa that comes out of a packet is convenient, but it could be better for your health. Buy unsweetened powdered chocolate, and add your own sweetener, to boost the nutritional profile of your hot cocoa. Also, keep it as dark as you can handle.

Get creative with cocoa. If you don't like the idea of eating a dark chocolate bar or drinking cocoa regularly, you have some other options. Try sprinkling powdered cocoa in your oatmeal or cold cereal. Much better, you can try "champorado", one of our breakfast or "merienda" delicacy here in the Philippines ;-)

Cheerio!
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