Don’t feel guilty for eating dark chocolate, you’re benefiting your health! While you may have heard that dark chocolate is effective in helping your heart, it’s also helping your stress levels. These reduced stress levels also indirectly benefit your physical health.
Dark Chocolate’s Effect on Stress
A study has reported that people who consumed chocolate daily for at least two weeks had lower stress levels. The stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines were assessed and found to be lower in the chocolate eaters. The study participants ate 1.4 ounces of 40 grams of dark chocolate. Notice that this isn’t a large amount and that is key to health.
Psychological Effects of Dark Chocolate
It’s important to consider that the ingredients in the dark chocolate are not the only things that affect your stress levels, it’s also the enjoyment of your indulging. When you allow yourself to eat something you like, you are making yourself happy. This happiness helps you keep up a better perspective on life and keeps your stress levels down.
Caffeine and Your Mood
Caffeine found in chocolate is another consideration of why eating chocolate can help with stress. Caffeine is a known mood lifter and this can help you feel better about stressful situations so that you’re better prepared to deal with them.
So the next time you’re looking for something to aide in your stress management, reach for a dark chocolate bar (no bigger than a Hershey’s regular size candy bar). While you’ll need to continue to include it in your diet to see positive physiological changes over a longer period of time, the simple creaminess of it and caffeine will lift your spirits right away.
Photo: f10n4
Fri, May 14, 2010
Health