Extended data
The newly recommended top ten brands of dark chocolate are: Swiss Lotus, Godivan, Gillian, Dove, Godfrey Song, Garibal, Retsboard, Fafna, Hershey and Defis.
Dark chocolate, which is hard and slightly bitter, generally refers to chocolate with cocoa solids content between 70% and 99% or milk content less than 12%. Eating dark chocolate can improve the antioxidant level of the body and has a significant effect on health.
Chinese name
Dark chocolate
foreign name
Dark chocolate
Main raw materials
cacao
Does it contain preservatives?
no
Main edible efficacy
Protect cardiovascular system and control appetite.
Because the ingredients added in the manufacturing process of chocolate are different, it also creates its changeable appearance. Chocolate on the market can be roughly divided into: darkchocolate (or pure chocolate)-the milk content is less than 12%; Milkchocolate)-- contains at least 10% cocoa pulp and at least 12% milk quality; Compound chocolate)-- chocolate without cocoa butter; Whitechocolate)-- chocolate without cocoa powder. Among them, milk chocolate is the most common
Dark chocolate
Main efficacy
Dark chocolate is pure chocolate, which tastes different from milk chocolate. The difference between them is that the fat of dark chocolate is lower than that of milk chocolate (dark chocolate contains 24g fat per100g, while milk chocolate contains 33g), and dark chocolate contains less salt (12g vs 84g) and more sugar (64g vs 55g). People who really eat chocolate only like dark chocolate. Some chocolate gourmets also get together regularly to taste all kinds of famous chocolates. Just like famous wine and good coffee, there are many famous varieties of dark chocolate according to the different producing areas and development methods of cocoa beans.
Eating dark chocolate in moderation (chocolate without milk) can increase the antioxidant flavonoids in the blood and prevent heart disease.
Although chocolate contains a lot of saturated fat, the saturated fat in chocolate will not raise your cholesterol level. In the past few years, researchers have found that chocolate contains steroids, which are healthy ingredients in green tea and red wine. Now many studies show that dark chocolate is especially good for people's health.
Last year, an Italian expert published a paper in the authoritative scientific magazine Nature, comparing the difference between dark chocolate and milk chocolate. It was found that the antioxidant activity in the blood of volunteers who ate dark chocolate increased, while the antioxidant activity in the blood of people who ate milk chocolate or ate dark chocolate and drank milk fluctuated at the original level. This shows that milk may affect the absorption of steroids in chocolate.
Dark chocolate can also lower blood pressure. Last summer, two groups of German researchers published a short research report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. A group of researchers compared the effects of dark chocolate and white chocolate. White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, not cocoa. We won't argue whether white chocolate is a misnomer for the time being, because it doesn't contain cocoa at all. The subjects ate a small piece of chocolate every day for two weeks. After the experiment, it was found that the systolic blood pressure (high pressure) of people who ate dark chocolate was 5. 1 point lower than that of people who ate white chocolate. Another group of German researchers found that cocoa drinks can increase the activity of nitric oxide and dilate blood vessels.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital affiliated to Harvard published a paper on cocoa drinks in the Journal of Hypertension in 20031February. Using an instrument to monitor the small changes of peripheral capillary circulation, they found that drinking four cups of cocoa every day for four consecutive days can relax blood vessels and make blood flow smooth. It is concluded that flavonoids in cocoa beans can improve vascular endothelium (innermost layer of blood vessels) and resist fat deposition and inflammation, which can cause heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases.