Calling all chocolate lovers.
A sweet, creamy and delicious chocolate bar might actually be healthy.
Sandra Venneri, Healthy Food & Nutrition Consultant expresses the health benefits from chocolate, “There’s actually vitamins and minerals in there. There’s magnesium, we have some iron in there and there’s also fibre.”
Health & Transformation Coach, Rita Catolino, has a square of chocolate a day, at least, “Chocolate sends a signal to your brain of endorphins, it gives you that same kind of kick, that you would if you did an amazing workout, so it keeps you at bay, it’s a balance.”
Venneri says that chocolate is best in it’s natural form, “You’re going to find the biggest bang for your buck when you’re just looking at pure cocoa powder.”
6 tablespoons of cocoa powder only amounts to 70 calories. 2.5 pounds of regular milk chocolate measures up to almost 6,000 calories.
Catolino prefers dark chocolate, “Obviously when you’re looking at a darker higher percentage of cocoa, like 75 %or higher, with less cocoa butter, less sugar, less milk, less additives there’s so many health benefits to that including a healthy gut.”
Catolino says that dark chocolate satisfies cravings better than milk chocolate, “Because it is so rich, you don’t feel like need to grab more than one square.”
There are many products in the market that are chocolate flavoured. Venneri stresses the importance of reading the ingredients list, “Look at your ingredients list, where is it listed on the ingredients list. Is cocoa or cocoa powder actually listed as one of the main ingredients?”
Everything can be enjoyed in moderation. Chocolate can be good for you, but in small amounts.
