Go Ahead, Indulge in Dark Chocolate Every Day – It’s Actually Great for You!

4  Good reasons you should be eating dark chocolate:

If there’s one food we should be thrilled is good for us; it’s chocolate! Find out why, & get some great dessert recipes.

What you’ll get from this article:

• 4 Reasons why, it’s not only ok to eat chocolate; but why you SHOULD be eating it.
• The health benefits (yes, I said benefits) from eating chocolate daily.
• A slough of healthy dessert recipes that taste amazing!

If you’re like most people, you love eating chocolate, and don’t need to be told that it’s ok to go ahead and have some.

Some of us see it as a guilty pleasure though. Maybe stashing it away somewhere, waiting to indulge on it later. So we can really savor its rich flavor as an end of the evening treat.

After all, after a long day, we deserve a little something sweet to treat ourselves with; right?

Good news! You go right ahead. There is no need to feel bad about this at all. Have some every day if you like. In fact, if you add some dark chocolate into your diet with a good cocoa percentage, it’s actually super beneficial to your health. In a number of ways.

Why Chocolate Is Good for Your Health

It sure beats filling a sweet tooth with sodas and other refined sugar snacks. A healthy craving for chocolate on the other hand, is something we can set our minds at ease about. In fact, why not be excited about it?

Here’s a few reasons the Huffington Post put out, about why we could all use a little dark chocolate in our daily diet:

1. Dark chocolate just makes you happy. Not just because it tastes so dang good ― which definitely helps ― but because it contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that’s used by the brain to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter that makes us feel happiness. 

2. Dark chocolate with a high cocoa content contains a solid amount of soluble fiber. A 100-gram bar of 70-85 percent chocolate has 11 grams of fiber. Soluble fiber helps keep cholesterol down, keeps you feeling fuller longer, and is good for your digestive health. 

3. Eating dark chocolate might be good for your brain. That’s right, eating chocolate may keep your brain sharp and help you ward off dementia. A four-decade long study found that people with frequent chocolate consumption preformed better on brain-powered tests. 

That is fantastic news for all of us! Any chocolate lover out there to can feel good about this. If you’re looking for some good reasons to reach for a cocoa bar, that is just fine, it’s to your benefit.

Most grocery stores carry dark cocoa bars with different percentages of cocoa in them. Depending on what taste you prefer.

If you’re a big fan, you can go with something in the 70% or 80% range. However, if you like something a little sweeter, they have bars that are more like 50% cocoa.

Name brand candy bars sell them; there are a lot of smaller brand candy companies that make them too. Many smaller brands offer more all natural ingredients in their candy bars as well.

Dark chocolate is a great solution if you love baking and making fancy desserts. You can use it if you’re looking to mix it up a bit and try different ways to eat it.

If you’re looking to make a chocolaty dessert, and want it to something you can still feel good about eating, no problem.

Just search online for healthy dessert recipes & supplement with dark chocolate. Many grocery stores carry dark chocolate for baking purposes as well as the candy bars.

There’s no shortage of recipes you can find online when you’re brainstorming for healthy dessert ideas.

Here’s a few to get you started off with:

Chocolate Chip Kale Cookies

Credit: Chocolate Covered Katie

Who would think you could turn chocolate chip cookies into a health food? This was actually an experiment done by “Chocolate Covered Katie”. Her specialty is healthy comfort foods and sweets.

Get the recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie.

Chocolate Mousse Filled Strawberries

Credit: A Beautiful Mess

How else do you take something already delicious like strawberries, & make them even better?… Fill them with something so sinfully good, you’d think it should be bad. The chocolate mousse adds such a rich flavor. It’s the perfect compliment to this sweet tasting fruit.

Get the recipe from A Beautiful Mess.

Banana Blender Ice Cream

Credit: Lunch Box

Oh.. My.. Goodness… It is just ice cream madness at it’s finest! The colorful creamy blend of berries and bananas makes it look almost as savory as it tastes. It’s a great way to have dessert that’s rich in vitamins, potassium, and loaded with antioxidants. It will set your taste buds on fire, and then cool them off with a little ice cream. And of course, you can use chocolate ice cream if you prefer.

Get the recipe at Lunch Box.

Vegan Chocolate Aquafaba Mousse

Credit: Organic Authority

So here’s the “scoop” on this one. It uses some pretty interesting ingredients (like coconut & raspberries) to give it a flavor balance as close to perfect, as perfect gets. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you get hooked.

Get the recipe from Organic Authority.

See the idea here?

There are practically an endless amount of ideas out there to eat something sweet & flavorful; and feel completely 100% guilt-free about it!

Here’s a Special Treat!

Here’s a list of 50 super healthy, super sweet recipes from the Huffington Post that are delish!

Enjoy!