Chocolate was first consumed by the ancient Mesoamerican population as a drink. Once, chocolate is believed to be one of the groceries that can only be consumed by the nobles. Experts estimate that the cocoa tree as a key ingredient of chocolate first grows in the northern Amazon region to Central America and also to Mexico.
The earliest documentation of the first chocolate appeared on the chocolate processing site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras, in 1100-1400 BC (BCE). From this invention, many have suspected that cocoa beans are not only used as drinks but also as natural sugars for alcoholic and medicinal beverages. In 450-500 BC, the Mayan was familiar with the technique of processing cocoa beans to get a more friendly taste on the tongue. Cocoa beans are processed by roasted until fermented to get a more friendly flavor.
There are various types of chocolate that you can find on the market, ranging from chocolate milk (milk chocolate), white chocolate (white chocolate), to dark chocolate.
Here is a myriad of chocolate benefits for health
1. Preventing heart disease
A chocolate bar can help to prevent heart disease because it contains some chemicals that make best cardiovascular system run smoothly. Especially dark chocolate can reduce the risk of heart attack with a percentage of nearly 50% and coronary disease by 10%. So it's not a problem consuming a bar or a piece of chocolate everyday!
2. Lowering blood pressure
Just like vegetables that have a dark color, chocolate also has similar properties and benefits. Chocolate contains flavonoids which are antioxidants. Antioxidants help lower blood pressure by producing nitric oxide. It also balances hormones in the body .
3. Lowering cholesterol
Eating chocolate also helps you in lowering the bad cholesterol a.k.a. LDL. Besides lowering LDL Chocolate also increases good cholesterol or HDL.
4. Has a high Anti-oxidant content
Not only is it really good taste of chocolate has a fairly high anti-oxidant content. Chocolate content of flavanols, a kind of flavanoid in chocolate is a good anti-oxidant for the body. Flavanoids are compounds that are naturally formed in plant food and act as anti-oxidants and help prevent free radicals in the body.
5. Avoiding and fighting cancer
Cancer is now a pretty disease in the world. But it is actually quite a lot of drugs available in nature as anti-cancer drugs. As well as chocolates that can avoid and prevent cancer-causing cells.
Chocolate can also fight and avoid cancers such as red grapes, garlic, blueberries and tea. How chocolate can fight and avoid cancer. From that research, chocolate can block the separation of cancer cells and reduce inflammation.
6. Make Long life
Chocolate also has a substance that can slow aging which means to make us a long life. Consuming chocolate regularly can reduce wrinkles and protect the skin from sunburn.
Not only that the research results done in the Netherlands that followed 200 men over 20 years, get if some men who consume some large chocolate, both in the form of chocolate milk and dark chocolate, live longer and have lowered The level of Entirely disease in men who eat chocolate in small amounts or not even though.
7. Increase sexual arousal
Chocolate is also an aphrodisiac, which is a person's libido enhancer. According to research, women of chocolate enthusiasts have a higher sexual arousal than women who do not consume chocolate. They uncover, the consumption of a piece of chocolate when before making love can give a sense of relaxation and enjoyment in a sexual activity.
But it is for you who are married well guys. If you haven't married lest you eat chocolate to increase your passion. There are many other benefits of chocolate. So you can use chocolate for that.
8. Getting rid of Stress
Chocolate can get rid of the stress that is in yourself. That way you can feel a happier feeling after consuming chocolate.
Chocolate also has a psychoactive molecular content that is sure to make chocolate consumption feel comfortable. Some chocolate content such as caffeine, theobromine, methyl-xanthine and phenylethylalanine are recognized to improve the mood, reduce fatigue until it can be served as an anti-depressive drug.
9. Increase the production of Insulin hormones
The hormone insulin is a hormone that is produced or made from a panliquor, this insulin hormone plays a role in protecting the body's blood sugar content to remain balanced so that it is not too high or low, to help avoid the known potential Diabetes. This kind of thing is demonstrated by some researchers in Italy who experiment to consume 3 ounces of chocolate that has no phytochemicals content can be proved to improve insulin hormone in the body.
10. Improve blood circulation
Flavonoids, as mentioned earlier, are present in chocolate and they also help in improving blood circulation for 2-3 hours after you consume them. By widening blood vessels in the brain, flavonoids increase blood flow.
11. Avoiding Chronic fatigue
Chronic fatigue is a threat to one's health and happiness. The disease is a headache, body aches, heart and respiratory problems. But eating about 50 grams daily of chocolate helps to avoid chronic fatigue syndrome. If someone already suffers from this syndrome, chocolate helps in the pain of it too.
12. Improve eye health
By consuming chocolate then we can get the benefits of increasing our eye health. This is because the blood flow that leads to the retina increases well and can help improve vision and eye strength.
13. Overcoming diarrhea
Diarrhea is commonly faced by the condition of digestive health in the body disturbed by the disease can attack adults or children you can also read the steps or first aid to treat diarrhea in children. Very many drugs-natural medicines to deal with diarrhea one of them chocolate, because the content of flavonoids that in chocolate can help bind the proteins until it can help the healing process.
14. Helps improve brain power
If your job is required constantly to squeeze the brain, it is often the brain will be in the dark and decreased intelligence because the brain is exhausted. Drinking or consuming chocolate can be chosen as a snack or drink in your working hours to help improve your earlier brain work fatigue, as chocolate is also one of the foods needed to provide brain nutrients.
15. Avoiding Pre Eclampsia
Pre-Eclampsia is one of the triggers of premature childbirth and is characterized by high blood pressure and protein levels in your urine throughout pregnancy. As blood pressure increases, it leads to seizures and can also result in blood clotting and damaging the liver.
Well, the content of theobromine substance in chocolate can avoid it, as can be said in the Annals of Epidemiology report.