Healthy Dark Chocolate for your Valentine!

The rioters have been excited to recently meet the lovely Dr. Connie Guttersen.  She is the author of The New Sonoma Diet.  Dr. Connie shares below the health benefits of dark chocolate and her favorite ways to indulge too!

Don't forget to pick up healthy, dark chocolate V-Day treats for you and your sweetie at shop.sweetriot.com or your local Whole Foods.

Eating Dark Chocolate: Health Benefits and Power Combinations

Dr. Connie Guttersen, author of The New Sonoma Diet 

 

There’s something enticing about dark chocolate, especially when it comes in precious tiny packages or lurks behind a well-lit glass case. It’s the ultimate pleasure food, and the good news is that dark chocolate also provides many health benefits.

 

Studies suggest that the antioxidants in dark chocolate and cacao, called flavanols, may protect arteries and help them relax, thereby easing blood flow. Enjoying just a quarter-ounce of dark chocolate every day has been found to lower blood pressure without increasing body weight, (according to a fifteen-year Dutch study). The anti-inflammatory compounds of dark chocolate are just what the doctor ordered when the percentage of cacao is greater than 70%.

 

My favorite way to enjoy this healthy indulgence is to pair dark chocolate with some of my favorite foods:

• Combine dark chocolate and almonds; this is a super way to get a nutrient-rich snack that is delicious and rich, and gives you twice the concentration of flavonoids. 

• Add a tablespoon of dark mini-chips to steel cut oats—it’s one of my kids’ favorite!

• Tiny pieces of dark chocolate are marvelous in a hot cup of coffee, cappuccino or hot cocoa; you don’t even need to add any sweetener or chocolate syrup.