Most people adore chocolate, although women do prefer it slightly more than men do (91% to 87%). Chocolate bars are at times seen in a bad light. People say chocolate has nearly as much caffeine as coffee, that it is bad for their health and skin, etc. At times people may claim to avoid chocolate due to dietary restrictions of a moral or religious nature. But perhaps chocolate has been falsely vilified. Professional chocolate suppliers know insider’s secrets about the health benefits and versatile nature of chocolate. Read below to find out how to add this beloved delicacy back into your diet.
Chocolate Is Not High In Caffeine.
Chocolate is made from the cocoa bean, a tree that is in the same family as the coffee bean. Maybe this is the reason why chocolate is at times misidentified as a high-caffeine food. It is not true in the slightest, unless a chocolate supplier were to add espresso beans to a bar. In fact, chocolate only has about 5 milligrams of caffeine per ounce, as compared to about 80 milligrams for a cup of coffee.
Chocolate Can Be Both Vegan and Kosher.
Pareve chocolate is dairy-free. Certified pareve chocolate suppliers produce chocolate that passes strict USDA and FDA regulations from the processing of the cocoa beans to the sugar used in the final product. Pareve chocolate complies with the religious practice Kashrut. Vegans who avoid chocolate believing it to contain milk byproducts would do well to read the labels of their favorite chocolate suppliers. The darker the chocolate, the less milk or milk products in the chocolate. The taste will be different, but it is actually better for you.
Dark Chocolate Can Be Good For Your Health.
In 2014, the American Chemical Society pinpointed why chocolate, specifically dark chocolate, seems to be good for people. The reason turns out to be found in the gut. Consuming dark chocolate is good for Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria. These feed on the flavonoids in the chocolate and produce anti-inflammatory compounds, which have been found to reduce the long-term risk of stroke. The researchers found that the effects were best and most reliably produced when the chocolate was consumed with fiber. Superfoods such as the acai berry and pomegranate seeds and particularly well suited to this task.
Do not let the myths surrounding chocolate prevent you from enjoying it. While sugary chocolates produced with lots of milk and milk products are not very good for anyone, there are other options. Organic dark chocolate, especially when covering fiber-rich fruits, can be enjoyed by everyone, and prove to be good for them too. Try to find chocolate with little to no dairy, that is preferably organically grown from a reliable chocolate supplier.
