Healthy Chocolate for Your Valentine

Submitted by Marsha Newsom on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 23:22

February is the happiest time of year for chocoholics. Everywhere you look, shelves are lined with row after row of heart-shaped delicacies to feed our addiction. Long considered a sinful indulgence full of artery clogging, fat forming calories, it turns out chocolate has been given a bad rap. It's full of ingredients that can make us happier, healthier and live longer. The phenylethylamine (PEA), serotonin, theobromine and anandamine-compounds elevate your mood. Antioxidant flavonoids improve circulation and help keep your heart healthy. Theobromine, a derivative in cocoa, suppresses coughs. It also contains important minerals like magnesium and chromium.

Read the Label

However, before you go grabbing another Hershey bar, you need to know what to look for in a healthy chocolate. According to nutrition expert and author Dr. Joseph Mercola ¹, you need to read the label and know what to look for in a health chocolate. He suggests:

Staying away from chocolate containing trans fat, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, soy proteins, mono sodium glutamate, preservatives, or stabilizers.
Choose organic chocolate products to be sure the chocolate has been processed in the most healthful manner with no harmful additives.
Don't eat chocolates made with milk or milk by products as these can deplete the antioxidant content.
Look for low sugar and high cocoa content. Low sugar content is always better - Sugar is one of the main obstacles to good health and can seriously weaken your immune system. Cocoa, on the other hand, contains health antioxidants.
Use chocolate that has been Fair Trade certified. With this certification you can be sure that the chocolate is produced and priced in a way that is good for the environment and the families who grow it.

As with everything, the benefits of chocolate occur when the taken in moderation. So make your Valentine's chocolate last as long as possible. Then start looking around for heart-healthy Easter eggs!

References

1. How to choose healthy chocolate, Joseph Mercola, O.D.,

photo by Sachin Ghodke

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