Health Matters: Chocolate Lovers Rejoice

Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly and what better way to say I love you than with a box of chocolates.
 
Chocolate lovers can rejoice. It turns out; indulging in a few bites of chocolatey goodness can be good for you. I spoke with a dietitian at Essentia and she says, the darker the chocolate, the better.
 
Lee Paseka has been in the chocolate business for 40 years and his motto stays the same.
 
“My motto has always been is to try and sweeten up the world one day at a time because lord knows we need a lot of sweetening up out there,” says Sweet Dreams Confections Owner, Lee Paseka.
 
But not only is chocolate good for the soul, it turns out, it’s good for the body too.
 
“So the key is to find minimally processed chocolate and that would be you dark chocolate,” says Essentia Health Clinical Dietitian, Amy Heib.
 
Dark chocolate contains flavenoids which may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

While milk chocolate is usually sweeter, Amy says you should stick with dark.
 
“As you go from dark chocolate which is bitter to milk chocolate which is sweet you’re also losing the flavenoid percentage,” says Heib.
 
But Sweet Dream Confections still knows how to make dark chocolate sweet.
 
“We make it with a lot of other things like Carmel, a sea salt Carmel, or cream things of that nature dark chocolate fudge,” says Paseka.
 
Amy suggests looking at the ingredient label.

If cocoa is the first or second ingredient, you’re good to go.

She also recommends checking the percentage of cocoa.
 
“The higher the percentage the higher content of flavenoids it would have,” says Heib.
 
Good for the body and good for the soul.
 
“Anytime you bite into a piece of chocolate you tend to smile a little bit,” says Paseka.
 
Amy also suggests trying dark chocolate covered fruit.

Not only are you getting flavonoids from the dark chocolate, but fruit is filled with antioxidants.