ADVANTAGES AND GAPS OF CHOCOLATES

Regular chocolate eaters welcome a host of benefits of their hearts, including lower blood pressure and
a lowerisk of heart disease. One of the reasons dark chocolate is especially heart-healthy is it’s
inflammation-fighting properties, which reduce cardiovarcular risk.

- 5 WAYS GIVING IN TO THAT CHOCOLATE CRAVING CAN BENEFIT YOUR

HEALTH
Before you reach for that Snickers, remember this: While chocolate can do the body good, the study
certainly doesn’t go as far as proving a causal link between eating more chocolate and losing weight.
Keep in might than all chocolate was not created equal: Dark chocolate packs more of a health punch
overall, but even the bittersweet varieties can be high in calories, fat and sugar.

However, treating yourself to a small amount of chocolate regularly is definitely a health message we
can get behind. Take a look at some of the surprising health benefits below:

1 IT REDUCES STROCE RISK ( Shutterstock)

- A 2011 Swedish study found that women who ate more than 45 grams of chocolate a week had
a 20 percent lower risk of stroke that women who treated themselves to fewer than 9 grams of
the sweet stuff.

2 IT BOOTS HEART HEALTH

- Regular chocolate eaters welcome a hotst of benefits of their hearts, including lower blood
pressure, lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and a lower risk of heart disease. One of the reasons dark
chocolate is especially heart-healthy is it’s inflammation-fighting properties, which reduce
cardiovascular risk.

3 IT FILL YOU UP
- Because it’s rich in fiber, dark chocolate can actually keep you full, so you’ll eat less, Dr. David
Katz, founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center and HuffPost blogger
told The Huffington Post. Regular chocolate eaters might do themselves a favor by treating
themselves to a bite instead of snacking on “11 other thing first” he said. Dark chocolate does
 the trick much better than milk, according to a small study from the University of Copenhagen,
and way even reduce craving for sweet, and fatty foods.

4 IT MAY FIGHT DIABETES (JULIE THOMPSON)

- A small Italian study from 2005 found that regularly eating chocolate increases insulin
sensitivity, thereby reducing risk for diabetes.

5 IT PROTECTS YOUR SKIN ( Katerina NANOPOULOU VIA ALAMY)

- Forget what you’ve heard about chocolate caunsing breakouts: Dark chocolate is actually good
for your skin. The type of antioxidants called flavonoids found in dark chocolate offer some
protection from UV damage from the sun. And no, that does not mean you can skip the
sunscreen!

CHOCOLATE WARNING: Crisis as scientists reveal cocoa bean extion is on the horizon. CHOCOLATE
could soon be extinct as experts warn rising global temperatures warn rising global temperatures could
make it more difficult could make it more difficult to grow the crop.

- A chocolate shortage is on the horizon as the cacao tree, on which cocoa beans are grown,
rainforest conditions. The delicate plant is under threat as rising temperatures is sucking
moisture from the soils where the tress grow.
- This had led experts to believe that by 2050 the plant will be impossible to grow – particularly in
the Ivory Coast and Ghana where more than 50 per cent of the world’s cocoa is produced. As a
result farmers will have little choice but to move their cacao trees to higher grounds, but
competition for places will be fierce as there is limited spaces.