How Chocolates can Help you Study
SWEETS ANYONE? FIND OUT WHAT CHOCOLATE CAN DO FOR YOU!
By Rachel Benson, Launch Academy Tutor Extraordinaire, Professional Writer, and Tulsa’s Premiere English Tutor
Everybody’s heard that we should stay away from chocolate. It’s high in calories and sugar, it causes acne, some even say it’s bad for our teeth. But did you know it can actually be healthy to eat?
That’s right! Chocolate is the new vegetable!
Of course, you can’t eat too much, but research has recently shown that small amounts of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, can actually be good for you! Here’s the latest on what they say about the best new health food in town:
- Dark chocolate is a good source of minerals and antioxidants. According to http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate/, dark chocolate is known to be a good source of Iron, Fiber, Magnesium, Manganese, Copper, and is high in antioxidants. This means that not only does it help out your immune system, it also keeps your insides just as happy as your taste buds.
- Dark chocolate may help to lower cholesterol levels. In our bodies, we have two types of cholesterol, HDL (high-density lipids) and LDL (low-density lipids.) While HDL helps out the body by clearing the arteries of blockage and recycling material, LDL actually causes blocks in the arteries and creates toxins in the body. Dark chocolate comes to the rescue and sweeps out those LDLs from oxidizing and increases the number of HDLs, keeping your artery walls sparkling and clean! My thanks to chocolate and www.webmd.com for the HDL and LDL explanation.
- Dark chocolate helps your brain think. For both older and younger people, dark chocolate ups the amount of blood flowing through the brain, making it active, healthy, and even better at remembering facts and events. Check out what http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270272.php has to say.
- Dark chocolate makes your heart healthy. Because dark chocolate has a lot of antioxidants, it actually helps to make veins and arteries more flexible, reducing the risk of heart attack by as much as 39% according to http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/benefits-of-chocolate?page=1. This magazine also notes that dark chocolate and a workout go well together as the chocolate can reduce blood pressure problems during the workout.
- Dark chocolate may prevent strokes. New studies found in http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270272.php state that people who ate dark chocolate consistently were 22% less likely to have a stroke, and that if they did, they were much more likely to survive it than those who did not eat dark chocolate. Sounds like this dark chocolate thing may be a pretty sweet deal to me! (Wow! Bad pun.)
As with everything, chocolate has its goods and its bads. Try some dark chocolate and see if it helps you on your next study session. If it doesn’t, then maybe chocolate’s not for you. If it is, then have a little bit in moderation, exercise well, and have fun!
Take it easy!
-Rachel Benson
