Perhaps confectionaries’ greatest guilty pleasure, but should we be feeling so guilty for wanting a bit of chocolate?

Recent scientific discoveries prove that chocolate is not damaging to our bodies and well being, but rather has many benefits. In fact research shows that it is a mere one in two thousand people in the U.K who are not suited to consuming chocolate and in their case, chocolate can have potential risks to ones health. However should this 0.05% of people who are at risk and portray the problems and poor effects which chocolate can have, be enough justification for the stigma which is currently attached to the nations favourite treat?

Chocolate is made from a mixture between cocoa solid and cocoa butter, white chocolate having no solid in it and milk chocolate having some solid but is mixed with milk or milk powder. Usually chocolate is formed through a process of either fine sieving, allowing delicate layers to form, or through a procedure involving heat and rendering of the natural oils that are present in the cocoa.  Good quality dark chocolate is made from mainly cocoa solid with a small percentage of cocoa butter. And it is the high amount of cocoa solid that dark chocolate contains which makes it very nutritious, a powerful source of antioxidants and may even increase brain function.

Dark chocolate is full of natural compounds that have been proved to relax the arteries, which lowers resistance to blood flow and reduces blood pressure. In one study of thirty people, the MED more than doubled after consuming chocolate high in flavanols for twelve weeks.

There are general advantages to consuming chocolate such as helping depression and other mood disorders, helping to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal from alcohol and narcotics. This magical solid of aroma contains stimulants, substances like caffeine and theobromine, which may be a key reason cocoa can improve brain function in the short term. A product which offers elevating effects whilst having the potential to relieve migraine headaches and overcome insomnia and deepen sleep: and it is in the nutritional bracket as fruit and vegetables.

This luxurious delicacy is always a treat, and so it should stay, it shouldn’t stray over to being a large and staple part of a balanced diet, yet can we not relieve chocolate of its guilty pretense? With some attention to caution, consume this desirable, seductive but honest and purely natural product, without negative connotation.