It’s official: Eating chocolate helps to live longer

All occasions are good for enjoying good chocolate. Appreciated by gourmets as well as gourmets, its unique flavor and taste delight our taste buds and provide us with pleasure. But chocolate, obviously dark, does not only have this taste quality, but it is also a food with a thousand virtues, especially for health. But do you know that chocolate allows us to live longer? This is revealed by a study relayed by our colleagues at THE INDEPENDENT.
A new scientific study suggests that dark chocolate combined with zinc activates a compound that decreases the aging process and thereby prolongs life.

What does chocolate contain?

It should be noted that dark chocolate with more than 70% cocoa unlike white chocolate and milk chocolate, is the most popular in terms of health. So it contains:

  • Polyphenols and flavonoids, antioxidants that fight free radicals damaging the cells of the body. Catechin is the most powerful antioxidant in dark chocolate and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • Fibers that allow a good intestinal transit. In addition, the polyphenols it contains make it possible to strengthen the intestinal mucosa.
  • Phosphorus essential for the regeneration of tissues.
  • Magnesium participates in bone formation and regulates the nervous system.
  • Iron allows the transport of oxygen in the blood and the formation of red blood cells.
  • Menganese, copper, potassium, selenium and vitamin B2 or riboflavin to strengthen the body’s defense.

Chocolate allows you to live longer

According to a study published in the journal Nature Chemistry, it turns out that chocolate combined with zinc protects the body against toxic gases, produced in the form of cellular waste. This is because zinc activates a compound in polyphenols and becomes a bulwark against superoxides that cause damage to our proteins and DNA.

According to the researchers, toxic gases are linked to inflammations that can cause pathologies such as cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, the combination of chocolate and zinc is a mega-complex to eradicate the toxic gas.

Similarly, chocolate can release endorphins that can change the mood for people with anxiety or depression. At the same time, dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure.

In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed the correlation between the consumption of chocolate and the prevalence of stroke (stroke) in women. Thus by consuming more chocolate, the risk of cerebral infarction is reduced by 12% and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke drops by 27%. In the same context, the journal Neurology has published that eating chocolate reduces the risk of stroke in general, by 17%.

Also, to correlate previous studies, another recent Swedish study was carried out over a period of 10 years, on 37,000 Swedish, aged 49 to 75 years and showed that dark chocolate eaters do less stroke.

This beneficial property would come from chocolate flavonoids that would reduce blood clotting and at the same time prevent clots from forming in the blood. At the same time, dark chocolate would reduce bad cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

So good news for chocolate lovers! Do not feel guilty about eating chocolate, it could help you live longer. But beware however of the excess that could have the opposite effect.