♥ Chocolate~

Talk about my favorite chocolates. I love chocolates very much. People who know me well will know that. Cocoa is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree.

To make a chocolate, beans are processed. In factory, the beans are roasted. Then they are cracked. The pieces of beans are called nibs, and are ground, into a thick creamy paste, known as chocolate liquor. This "liquor" is then process into chocolate by mixing in more cocoa, sugar, vanilla and lecithin as an emulsifier. Then, it separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter using a hydraulic process. Adding an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa powder, which is less acidic, darker in flavor. Non-alkalized cocoa is acidic, so when cocoa is treated with an alkaline ingredient, generally potassium carbonate, the pH increases.

Chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, which may have beneficial to the cardiovascular effects on health. The ingestion of flavonol-rich cocoa is associated with acute elevation of circulating nitric oxide, enhanced flow-mediated vasodilation. Prolonged the intake of flavonol-rich cocoa has been linked to cardiovascular health benefits. Milk chocolate's addition of whole milk reduces the overall cocoa content while increasing saturated fat levels, possibly negating some of cocoa's heart-healthy potential benefits. Studies have still found short term benefits in LDL cholesterol levels from dark chocolate consumption.

The researchers found that the Kuna Indians living on the islands had significantly lower rates of heart disease and cancer compared to those on the mainland who do not drink cocoa. It is believed that the improved blood flow after consumption of flavonol-rich cocoa may help to achieve health benefits in hearts and other organs. In addition, the benefits may extend to the brain. Cocoa also contains large amounts of antioxidants. According to research, cocoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidants found in green tea. Cocoa also contains magnesium, iron, chromium, vitamin C, zinc and other substances.

Everyone, start to take chocolates from now in a suitable amount can help to improve blood flow in heart.

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