Nutrition kNowledge – Rarely will you find a trainer or nutritionist who will encourage the consumption of a goodie as part of a diet plan, but you found one here. While ‘an apple a day will keep the doctor away,‘ a little dark chocolate might not be a bad idea either, especially for lowering cholesterol. Here’s why.
It Appears the News is Sweet for Chocolate Lovers!
A new review of 10 previous studies of chocolate consumption and cholesterol reports that the cocoa found in dark chocolate is linked to significant reductions in total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Researchers combined studies totaling 320 participants, with half the trials testing more than 500 mg of the flavanols that seem to give cocoa its healthy effects and half less than 500 mg.
Overall, consumption of dark chocolate was linked to average reductions of 6.23 mg/dL in total cholesterol and 5.9 mg/dL in LDL. There was no apparent effect on healthy HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.
Eating dark chocolate seemed more beneficial than drinking cocoa-containing beverages. Researchers noted that the cholesterol benefits were observed despite the saturated fat and calories contained in chocolate along with those healthy flavanols. –European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
For more ways that certain foods can do your body good, check out the Real Food Therapy Guide. 
