Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate- Infographics

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate- Infographics

Dark chocolate actually is a “health food” – especially in its raw form as natural organic cocoa beans, or as dark chocolate made WITHOUT dairy products or refined sugar.

The problems so often associated with chocolate and the many chocolate candy products are not caused by the real cocoa in the chocolate, but by substances added to it – the refined sugar, dairy products, milk, bad fats, waxes, and chemical preservatives.

And even when you find some apparently healthy chocolate that contains 70 percent or more real cacao the heat processing and/or the Dutch process (using alkalis) will have destroyed most of the flavones which provide most of the health benefits.

It is important to understand that most of the scientific research on the cacao bean refers to organic cacao in its raw, unprocessed, and unadulterated form. Note that when the cacao beans are processed by roasting or heating, there will be a loss of some of the nutrient value, and treating the cocoa with alkaline salts in the Dutch process will reduce the concentration of flavones and reduce its high antioxidant value. So the levels of active nutrients and the health benefits discussed below.

Courtesy of: CookingDetective.com