The Real Truth About Chocolates-REVEALED!!

I loves chocolates...but due to the high calories found in them I practically stopped myself from eating more than 1 mini piece of chocolate.

How sad!!I used to gobbled down tons of it...and i mean tons. Back in high school, I could really finished the whole 500grams of chocolate bar by myself...Serious! I remember when after my recovery from "chickenpox" , the first thing that I grab from the refrigerator was my favorite "Ferrero Rochere","Hersheys" and "Kit Kat".


However, when they started the buzz about chocolates being good for your health, I went back to eating it again. And yesterday I got an email from this diet expert, "Madelyn Fernstorm" revealing the the real truth about chocolates.

THE TRUTH-REVEALED........

1. Chocolate comes from a plant – it’s the seeds (within the pods) of the cocoa tree. It’s naturally very bitter; if you munched on a cocoa bean, you would find a very harsh and bitter taste, nothing like chocolate as we know it. It contain 0% sugar.

2. Cocoa solids contain a special antioxidant is found in cocoa solids, called “Flavanols”, which are where the health-promoting heart healthy claims of chocolate come from. This is dose related, meaning the more you eat, the more flavanols you consume. As a comparison, it takes nearly four ounces (that’s 3-4 regular size dark chocolate bars), consumed every day to promote a reduction in blood pressure!

That’s 500 calories and 42 grams of fat!So what is "Flavanol"? It is believe that it could lower down blood pressure and and increase blood flow to brain in which it raises the potential of treatment to "Dementia". So, at the end of the day, ask yourself this, "Are your health benefits worth the calories?" However, Flavanol is also found in other type of food including red wine, and black and green tea.

3. Cocoa are used to make different types of chocolates ranging from Milk chocolate (Lots of sugar, added milk, less cocoa solids), Dark chocolate (Limited sugar and lots of cocoa solids) to White chocolate (Not classified as chocolate at all cos' it has no cocoa solids only milk and sugar)

4. Is it health food? It’s not health food. But it does contain Flavanol. Problem when this cocoa is cook up and processed, alot of the flavanols are removed because they imparts bitter taste.


Recently Mars, a candy company (Hagen Schroeter of Mars Inc.) has released their new line of products called, "Cocoa Via" which is high in Flavanols and low in calories (1 bar=80-100calories).

Too bad is it not sold here in Malaysia cos I will be the first to grab it! However, if you must eat chocolates, I strongly suggest you choose those Dark chocolates as research has shown that it contain more Flavanols and lower in sugar and calories!

And bottom line is just enjoy a modest amount of chocolate serving and please don't treat it as a health benefit! Cos, remember high consumption of chocolates also=to increase of waistline!

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