Eat Healthy: Cocoa the food of Gods

Cocoa!!! What comes across your mind when you hear this word? A sweet mouthwatering, yummy, tasty bar of chocolate. Well today I am going to open all its secrets, by secrets I actually mean its nutritional benefits and of course not how these chocolates are made. Cocoa is known as the food of the gods not chocolate.

Since 2000 many research were done and many studies had been started appearing in medical journals of the health benefits of cocoa. The New York Times in 2000, London Sunday mirror in 2003, Washington D.C in 2008 had many articles about chocolate wow!! Chocolate is good for health so now daily a bar of chocolate we must add, no that’s not what I actually meant. In fact it’s not the chocolate but it is the cocoa in the chocolate which is beneficial, out of which chocolate is made, giving it a taste like, well chocolate.

You might be wondering what the difference is in cocoa and the chocolate. Chocolate is made up of full cream milk, sugar, coca butter, cocoa mass, milk solid, flavours and many such ingredients, where as cocoa is the purest form which tastes a bit spicy that make the chocolate taste well. Cocoa the spice is the riches source of flavonols, plant compounds that help protect the heart in various ways. Cocoa is derived from beans in fruit pods produced by the cacao tree.

It has been proved by study after study, which shows that cocoa flavanols can disarm cell damaging free radicals, preserve cell membrane, protects DNA, prevents the formation of artery clogging plague, improves blood flow to heart, lowers high blood pressure, and prevents blood clots, henceforth preventing heart attack and strokes. The cocoa lowers the cholesterol, reduces LDL oxidation, lowers blood pressure, better circulation, thinners the blood, increases nitric oxides and lowers C-reactive proteins.

Blood circulation is not only essential for a healthy hearth but also essential for a healthy mind. Cocoa also provides more of mental strength. Cocoa helps to improve insulin sensitivity. In a study with 30 people has proved that eating flavanols rich cocoa increased their skin resistance power to the harmful UV rays nearly up to double. Another study on coca and skin has proved that women’s who consumed a high flavanol drink for 3 months had less skin roughness and scaling.

So let’s add cocoa daily to our diet just add it to your buttermilk, yoghurt with raisins or dates or toss it in a banana smoothie or mix it with dates and figs as they are natural sweeteners toss a few nuts and you will have a chocolate without the bad ingredients in it .