Chocolate lovers can celebrate: The evidence that dark chocolate is good for your health just keeps piling up. Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids, plant compounds with potent antioxidant activity. In fact, Natural Solutions magazine reports that 100 grams of dark chocolate provides as many antioxidants as 100 grams of spinach, kale, raisins and other healthy foods, combined. That doesn't mean you can start gorging on chocolate, though--given that chocolate is also high in saturated fats, it's only beneficial if you eat it in small amounts.
Eliminates Free Radicals
Dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants, which are well-known to help protect cells against the damaging effects of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules that destabilize and destroy healthy cell molecules. They are thought to increase the risk of various illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Benefits the Cardiovascular System
Dark chocolate can also provide substantial benefits to the heart. A 2010 study led by Dr. Brian Buijsse and published in the European Heart Journal found that people who ate a half bar of dark chocolate a week had lower blood pressure than those that did not. The study, which included over 19,000 subjects, also found that the dark chocolate-eating participants had a 39 percent lower risk of heart attack and stroke. The researchers emphasize, however, that the subjects only ate roughly one square of dark chocolate per day and that higher amounts would likely be detrimental to one's health.
Decreases Stress Hormones
Chocolate fans have long considered chocolate an antidepressant--but now there's scientific proof to support their claims. In 2009, the American Chemical Society's Journal of Proteome Research published a study led by Sunil Kochhar that showed that dark chocolate reduced the presence of stress hormones. Study participants, all of whom suffered from anxiety, ate 20 grams of dark chocolate twice per day. After two weeks, blood and urine tests showed that the subjects had less stress hormones and other biochemical markers associated with stress than at the start of the study.
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