January 10th is National Bittersweet Chocolate Day! I’ve been reading more and more about this life enriching food, and as a result, this past Christmas was the 1st time I started eating the dark chocolates first from the candy box!

There are many benefits from eating dark chocolate including:

A new study in Italy suggests that consuming flavonoid-rich dark chocolate instead of flavonoid-free white chocolate could not only lower blood pressure and cholesterol—benefits suggested by some prior studies—but also improve the body’s processing of sugar. That, in theory, could guard against diabetes.

A recent German study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, found that daily consumption of a cocoa beverage high in flavanols shielded participants from several types of sun damage. 

Unsweetened powdered cocoa starts out with almost twice as much antioxidants as dark chocolate, but when it’s diluted with water or milk and sugar to make hot chocolate, the flavonoid total per serving plummets to about half that in milk chocolate. 

Celebrate Dark Chocolate Day! wooohooo! mmmm!