Love that choco

- Leonidas luxury chocolate box L14.95


- Richart chocolate $120/lb


- Leonidas medium velvet heart - L18.50



Everybody loves that chocolate because it tastes good. It is sweet and melts down the tongue. But many are into grabbing now the dark ones because of an added benefit.

Studies showed there are health benefits from it but whether it is the taste or the benefit, I think we should also know what is it that we get from it.

Chocolates that are dark as preferred by people nowadays contains substances called phenylethylamine and seratonin, both of which are the mood elevators found naturally in the human brain. Moreover, according to Arthur Agatston, a Miami-based cardiologist and author of "The South Beach Diet," dark chocolate is also healthier, because it has a higher percentage of cocoa than milk chocolate does.

Agatston says cocoa contains flavanols, which may help maintain a healthy cardiovascular system by relaxing blood vessels and keeping cholesterol from building up in them — thus reducing the risk of blood clots — and by slowing down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries. It is also an antioxidant. “Flavanols seem to have an aspirin-like effect, helping improve vascular endothelial function and moderate inflammation,” says Agatston.

Other than that chocolate lovers dig to have one and they are happy to have chocolate in just about any shape or form. The market is clearly growing and chocolate makers continue to offer new ones that lovers are wanting to have.

But caution is still the rule of thumb and in moderation. You can love that chocolate but never to a non-stop eating of those sweets.