So, back to the chocolate!

I have had a few inquiries as to the actual health benefits of chocolate. So here they are:

• They are full of antioxidants. Which keep the artieries from clogging, promote healthy blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
• Chocolate stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain which reduces ones sensitivity to pain.
• The psychoactive compounds in chocolate can lead to a feeling of general happiness and well being, and even inhaling chocolate was found to induce a sense of relaxation (and by inhaling they mean smelling, not smoking).
• And one of the surprising benefits of chocolate was the small amount of caffeine in chocolate which increases cognition. (See, chocolate makes you smarter!)

The only downer is the article included things like, "Chocolate is not as beneficial as eating a large salad or a piece of fresh fruit" or "a higher concentration of this is found in blueberries" yada, yada, yada... The most interesting piece of info though was that dark chocolate doesn't contain the harmful fats in it as opposed to milk chocolate. The article said that once ounce of dark chocolate a day is sufficient for the health benefits without adding too many calories. Not sure what once ounce equals, but I bet it isn't the whole bag, bummer!

Originally, for me any chocolate was chocolate. As I've gotten older (cause I'm so old) I have gravitated more towards dark because it isn't as sweet. As far as what brands of chocolate I like, Ghirardeli is ALWAYS good, I also like the Lindt truffles, and Dove chocolates. There is one other kind I REALLY like, but I only know it by the package, I'll have to get back to you on that one, but it's got like little bits of like raw chocolate shavings in it, and I don't know if that's why, but they are REALLY good. So now, excuse me while I go get my chocolate fix, I mean, take my daily vitamins... I'm just sayin' {with a wink}.