Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The health benefits of cocoa

The cacao tree is a small tree of native Evergreen from the tropical regions of South America. It has beans which are usually dried and used to make cocoa and chocolate powder although also it can be consumed raw cocoa.

Cocoa is treasured in the countries of Central America and of the South for its robust taste, energizing properties and nutritional value. In this article, you can take a look at this last aspect and find out why so many of these cultures hold cocoa with respect.
List of health benefitsAntioxidant - rich cocoa is the food rich in antioxidants in the world. Its powder, for example, contains an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) score of 95.500 μmol / 100g, while cocoa seeds contain a lower but still impressive 62,100 μmol / 100g. To put these numbers in perspective, goji berries (the highest no-cacao source of antioxidants) scoring 25.300, acai berries score 18,500 and blueberries - famous for their content of antioxidants - score of 2,400. Many of the antioxidants in cocoa are flavonoids, anthocyanidin including. As all the antioxidants, these flavonoids are intimately involved in the prevention of the damage of radical free, but they also have a central role to boost collagen protection. This means that foods rich in antioxidants such as cocoa are not only good for us watching for cancer and other degenerative diseases, but also provide us with many anti-aging benefits.
Reinforcement of mood - Chocolate, in its natural and processed form, has always been regarded as a mood booster. While processed chocolate is more a 'comfort food' because of his unhealthy contained refined sugar, real chocolate - originating organic cocoa - actually promotes the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins and serotonin, which are legitimate feel-good hormones. Cocoa also contains natural compounds that stimulate the State of mind such as theobromine and phenylethyamine, so it is a good food for people suffering from low as anxiety, sadness and depression vibrational States.
It improves cardiovascular health - according to the Linus Pauling Institute, the flavonoids in cocoa can block the oxidation of LDL 'bad' cholesterol. Since the LDL cholesterol should rust until you can transform into plate, this process lock directly protects us from various cardiovascular severe conditions, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Ultimately, this improves circulation and reduces the risk of heart disease.
Nutrients - Cocoa contains more than 300 important compounds, including protein, fat, some vitamins group B and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, phosphorus, iron, zinc and copper. This dense nutrient profile, coupled with their concentrations incredible antioxidant, has raised much cocoa to the status of 'super'. In fact, the generic name of cacao - Theobroma - is actually derived from Greek for 'food of the gods'.
Consumption tipsCocoa is better consumed crude powdered or in the form of tip. The dust is often added to smoothies (mix well with other superfoods such as maca powder), or simply drunk with hot water. Due to the acidity of the cocoa, however, want to sweeten with xylitol as a healthy sugar substitute if you're going to drink directly. Like the majority of energy, cocoa is consumed better in the morning, or at least not before bedtime.
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