Chocolate is my kryptonite…well, I have to stop thinking about it as kryptonite. No one is about to give me license to carry a feed bag of M&Ms around my neck, but I’ve read lately that a little dark decadence won’t wreck my figure. In fact, it may actually keep me slim.
The few extra calories are a more than fair trade-off for reduced heart disease risk and better glucose and blood pressure control, and the antioxidants in cocoa lower bad-LDL cholesterol levels, prevent blood clots and inflammation, and improve insulin resistance. On only that, but I read that people who report eating chocolate are thinner than their more restrained counterparts. Even sweeter than that, people who enjoy daily doses of chocolate experience a slight drop in blood pressure compared to others. How can something so dangerously delicious be healthy? Well, flavanols contribute to nitric acid formation, which relaxes blood vessel walls.
Naysayers, I get it…what about all the sugar and fat? Fair question. Turns out the two negatives sort of make a positive: when you eat sugar without fat, the rapid blood sugar rise is much more harmful. And cocoa fats are largely stearic and oleic acid, fortunately.
Kryptonite? More like nutritional diamonds. Now that’s good news.