Biased views have led some people to conclude that eating excess amounts of chocolates may make you addicted, leading to adding on more pounds to your weight. But they may not know that in the olden days, chocolates were thought to possess medicinal effects. The Maya and Aztec people were looking for chocolate drinks to boost up their energy and Europeans and South Americans were using chocolates to cure diarrhea.
It is yet to be resolutely confirmed by research if chocolates are truly good for health or not. It is also yet to be found which ingredient of chocolates makes people crave for them. Americans, on an average, consume 12 pounds of chocolate each year.
Mood booster
Chocoholics claim that they get energy from chocolates which help transform their moods positive. Researchers opine that this may be true due to the fact that the alkaloids present in chocolates, phenethylamine (PEA) and theobromine do such magic immediately after the chocolates are eaten.
A book on the chemistry of love in the 80s say that PEA present in chocolates made people as ecstatic as if they were in love. The media used this information and christened PEA as the love chemical, postulating that people would be depressed and their emotional high reduced if the PEA levels got reduced.
It is true that PEA and theobromine can affect heart rates, blood pressure and human emotions. Theobromine’s presence in the cocoa beans that are used
for making chocolate candies is well known. This theobromine stimulates like caffeine but to a lesser degree.
Tryptophan in chocolates facilitates formation of serotonin which is popularly known as the happy hormone. Serotonin directs appetite, sleep, mood, anger, sexual desire and brain functions like memory and learning. If its levels are lowered in the body, it may cause depression.
For eating and making chocolate candy at home, you definitely have reason to go ahead.
Heart-healthy
Theobromine present in chocolates help fuel the heart and facilitate smooth blood flow, widening tightened veins.
Flavanoids in chocolates, with their anti-oxidant qualities, protect people from free radicals as the flavanoids in plants act as protecting agents for the plants against toxins. The hormone-like compounds known as eiconsanoids are produced more due to flavanoids and these compounds help in maintaining a healthy heart.
Dark chocolates contain high levels of epicatechin that are excellent anti-oxidants. The health of the heart is enhanced due to the gallic acid and the flavanoids epicatechin present in the dark chocolates. They keep the blood pressure under control. Blood circulation is also increased if you eat dark chocolates regularly. That’s one good reason to eat chocolates within limits as they will bestow both emotional and health benefits to you.