Cocoa Benefits
Enjoy cocoa benefits on a cold winters night, not only will it warm you up, it is full of antioxidants and great for helping you look younger.
There is caffeine in cocoa, yet the amount usually depends on the type of you are drinking. Yet, the health benefits certainly makes a cocoa drink satisfying.
Research has shown that it contains more antioxidants than drinking a cup of tea or a glass of red wine.
It contains Phytochemicals, usually referred to as flavanols and is found in its highest concentration in cocoa. Flavanols are antioxidants and needed for anti aging.
If you are a smoker, you will be glad to know that these antioxidants, (flavanols), help increase nitric oxide in the blood, and this seems to reverse any damage to your blood vessels.
Dark chocolate is another good source of flavonol, yet comes in second to cocoa.
Cocoa nutrition – it contains calcium, zinc, copper, sulphur, magnesium, B vitamins, iron and potassium,
Research has shown that drinking cocoa hot before a workout, improves heart function, lowers blood pressure levels after exercise, and increases blood flow to your hard working muscles. Now you can save your money on all those fancy workout drinks.
It is best to enjoy cocoa benefits hot, as it releases more antioxidants compared to drinking it cold. Drinking it hot is also a good way of avoiding saturated fats which are found in chocolate.
If you mix 40g of cocoa with skim milk and drink it every day for about 4 weeks, you will be able to help increase your HDL (good cholesterol) and decrease LDL (bad cholesterol). There has been some research done on this and it is believed the polyphenols in the cocoa are responsible.
Benefits of Cocoa
- help increase blood flow
- lower high cholesterol
- anti inflammatory properties
- reduce chance of heart disease
- prevent blood clotting
- reduce inflammation
- increase blood flow to heart and brain
You need to buy organic raw powdered cocoa to gain the full health benefits, it is dark brown in color and has a slightly bitter taste.
The caffeine in cocoa is considered toxic with the raw food community. I am still sitting on the fence with this one, but you can always do some research and make up your own mind.
Compared to a lot of other things in life, a cocoa drink makes a better alternative compared to many other drinks, for example, soda drinks.
If you enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, I say drink up and enjoy the cocoa benefits.
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