Have you wondered if chocolate therapy is a real thing and not just the name of a fancy ice cream product? Well, it turns out that chocolate therapy is real—if it’s the right chocolate and if it’s consumed in the right amounts—but, unfortunately the Ben and Jerry’s famous ice cream product doesn’t quite make the cut.
Throughout history, eating chocolate has been viewed as extremely pleasurable, but not very healthy; however, multiple studies over the past couple of decades have more than revealed that a new day is dawning when it comes to eating chocolate for health reasons.
70 Ways Chocolate Therapy Can Improve Your Quality of Life!
Eating dark chocolate can:
- Reduce over-production of the toxic stress hormone, Cortisol
- Improve cognitive processing
- Improve visual-spatial awareness
- Improve abstract reasoning
- Improve scanning ability
- Improve spoken word recall
- Improve mental math ability
- Improve red blood cell distribution width (RDW)
- Improve function of lymphoid tissues
- Balance moods
- Optimize nutrition
- Balance blood sugar levels
- Normalize appetite
- Increase fiber intake to improve colon health
- Boost Endorphin levels to produce feelings of joy and euphoria
- Boost Endorphin levels to reduce sensitivity to pain
- Increase Serotonin levels (the respect hormone)
- Relieve inflammation
- Deliver theobromine (a natural energy booster)
- Block cravings for unhealthy food
- Increase flavonoid intake to help maintain heart health
- Improve blood sugar metabolism
- Cause the body to produce more Nitric Oxide – to unlock the body’s built in medicine cabinet
- Cause blood vessels to relax
- Cause blood pressure to lower
- Bolster Endothelial function
- Stimulate Dopamine production for increased pleasure and reward function in the brain
- Increase neuroplasticity to help the brain re-organize itself and make new neural connections
- Increase learning and memory abilities
- Improve circulation
- Prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol
- Decrease platelet clumping
- Enhance cell signaling
- Reduce clotting
- Reduce oxidative stress
- Improve utilization of insulin
- Protect the cardiovascular system
- Lower overall blood fat levels
- Increase intake of antioxidant nutrients
- Increase intake of antibacterial nutrients
- Increase intake of antiviral nutrients
- Increase intake of anticancer nutrients
- Manage symptoms of ADD and ADHD
- Alleviate pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms
- Increase time spent in restful sleep
- Suppress annoying coughing
- Improve brain neuro-transmitter activity
- Reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia during pregnacy
- Increase energy
- Improve concentration and focus to promote learning and retention
- Replace bad food with good food
- Improve dental health
- Reduce obesity
- Reduces autoimmune challenges
- Reduce occurrences of chronic degenerative disease
- Increase Insulin sensitivity
- Trigger hormones that tell your brain the body is full
- Increase probiotics for digestive health
- Help to grow good gut bacteria
- Help your body absorb nutrients
- Prevent depression
- Increase metabolism
- Increase Epicatechins and Quercetin
- Increase copper, iron and magnesium for skin health
- Support the production of collagen
- Increase calcium and potassium intake
- Protect skin from harmful UV radiation from the sun
- Raise high-density lipoproteins – good cholesterol
- Manage anxiety and depression
- Increase intake of Omega 3 fatty acids from ALA sources
Yes, high-quality chocolate eaten in moderation can do ALL of this.
13 Conditions to Make All of This Happen
Healthy Chocolate MUST:
- Contain 70% dark chocolate or greater – the more, the better (minimum 50%)
- Be consumed in limited quantities for low calorie intake
- Be processed as raw, non-alkalized
- Contain raw sweeteners and flavorings
- Be organic because to insure better farming practices—mineral content, etc.
- Harvested once ripe for proper vitamin development
- Contain high quantities of natural cocoa nutrients
- Contain no processed or dead sugars
- Contain no hydrogenated fats or oils
- Contain no other artificial fillers or bulking agents
- Contain high-quality additives, if any are added
- Grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides
- Processed minimally at living-food low temperatures for retention of living enzymes
As with anything good, going overboard often has a counter-productive effect, and chocolate is no exception to this rule.
So, go ahead and eat GREAT-quality chocolate, but do it in moderation for the best chocolate therapy results.