Do We Love Chocolate?

It’s usual that chocolate is the enemy avoided by diet followers. Since many years ago, chocolate have been considered as fat motivator and illness contributor. Most of it known today is not pure chocolate, it’s the combination of fat, sugar, cocoa butter, and cocoa solid. Because of this mixture, many people concluded that fat makes overweight. But don’t worry, there are some benefits from chocolate for our bodies.

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Antioxidant

Cocoa seed contains of polyphenol which is good for antioxidant and anti-infection. This antioxidant’s element is flavonoid which can be found in red wine and tea, procyanidin, and catechin. Flavonoid has function as antioxidant for avoiding cancer, procyanidin will clean free radical elements in the body and help to obstruct enzims’ oxidantion, such as lipoxygenase. Whereas, catechin is a strong antioxidant contained in chocolate which avoids early aging because of pollution or radiation.

Anti-Infection

Pophenol, contained inside chocolate, do not only hava a function as antioxidant, but also to avoid infection and atikoagulation. Polyphenol will protect DNA ana avoid unwanted blood vessels growth, reduce oxidatiion LDL-c, and increase HDL. The amount of phenol in 40 grams of a chocolate bars equals to the amount of phenol in a glass of red wine. Fat in chocolate also contains of alpha-tocopherol (the active element of vitamin E), the other antioxidant which also maintains our bodies’ natural stabilities.

Make Healthy Heart

A study of California University found that chocolate consumption doesn’t increase bad total cholesterol or LDL. Flavonoid ingredient in chocolate is actually capable to obstruct LDL cholesterol oxidation, raising HDL cholesterol, growing blood vessels, decreasing blood pressure, and minimizing heart attack risk. This flavonoid also increases prostasicline rate (a substance produced by endothelium of blood vessel) which can obstruct LDL entering to blood vessel. Most chocolate contain fat, but total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol inside chocolate is lower than butter or cow’s fat.

So, although both of them contain of animal fat, the cholesterol effect produced are different. High fiber ingredient inside chocolate is thought to be the cause why chocolate’s fat isn’t as bad as animal fat. Fiber is neutral fat acid that won’t raise blood cholesterol, because it is slowly digested and less absorbed by our bodies. Moreover, two third fat of chocolate is oleat acid, that is vegetable fat found at olive oil. A study on Mediteranian people who consumed olead acids from olive oil proved that oleat acid has positive effects for healthy heart.