Everything you wanted to know or did not want to know about chocolate

First let's start with some of the good stuff

• Made from cocoa beans : The seeds of the cacao tree have an intensely bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavour. After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form Read More.

• It is good for your skin: Flavonols are antioxidants that help your skin protect itself from UV damage (hello, fewer wrinkles) fight free radicals (so long, sun spots) and increase blood flow (i.e. dewy glow!). In one study, flavonols in dark chocolate even improved skin hydration and thickness—both mega important for young-looking skin. Read More

• Improves blood flow : Researchers say the polyphenols in dark chocolate can help the body form a more nitric oxide, a compound that causes blood vessels to dilate and blood to flow more easily. The idea that eating cocoa-rich, dark chocolate may offer greater health benefits than milk chocolate is not new.Read More

• White chocolate is technically not chocolate: White chocolate is made with a blend of sugar, cocoa butter, milk products, vanilla, and a fatty substance called lecithin. Technically, white chocolate is not a chocolate—and it doesn't really taste like one—because it doesn't contain chocolate solids Read More

• Helps with depression: First, depression could stimulate chocolate cravings as 'self-treatment' if chocolate confers mood benefits, as has been suggested in recent studies of rats,” Rose and colleagues write. Inflammation may also play a role in depression and chocolate cravings Read More.

• Melts in your mouth: The melting point of chocolate is between 86 degrees F. (30 degrees C.) and 90 degrees F. (32 degrees C.), lower than body temperature. Using high heat is very risky and the most common cause of grainy and/or lumpy chocolate. Chocolate melts better and faster when using lower temperatures.Read More

• Helps with your cough: An ingredient in chocolate may provide sweet relief from constant coughing, according to new research. The study showed that theobromine, an ingredient found in cocoa, was much more effective in stopping persistent coughs than codeine -- the cough medicine currently considered most effectiveRead More.

Now some of the bad stuff chocolate does

• Makes you fat: Even though a little chocolate may actually provide some health benefits. Chocolate is high in calories, sugar, and fat. And eating a lot of it will cause weight gain!!!

• Kills your dog: In large enough amounts, chocolate and cocoa products can kill your dog. The toxic component of chocolate is theobromine. Humans easily metabolize theobromine, but dogs process it much more slowly, allowing it to build up to toxic levels in their system. Read More

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