Monday, April 26, 2010

5 Chocolate Myths You Need To Know

People have different reasons why they don't eat chocolates. These reasons may be based from some myths they've heard somewhere. Some of them may and have been proven to be true but others are totally fictitious. Here are several chocolate myths that you might need to know that remained myths.

Do chocolate cause pimples?

Chocolates does not give you pimples. According to most researches today, pimples are caused by lifestyle and hormones than any food at all. Real chocolates (bitter ones) contains antioxidants which actually helps make your skin look better. In fact, pimples are caused by milk that it's mixed with. That's right, you have read correctly. That healthy drink that our grandmothers make us drink are the villains in our pimple problems. Others say that sugars may also cause pimples. Though the connection between sugars and pimples has not been proven yet.

It contains an insanely high amount of caffeine.

Nope. You've been misinformed.The caffeine content of a piece of chocolate is a lot lower that of coffee. An ounce of chocolate contains 6 mg of caffeine while coffee may contain 150 mg. Check out the table below.
Cup of coffee90-150 mg
Instant coffee60-80 mg
Chocolate bar30 mg

Chocolates cause heart disease.

Real chocolate can help you prevent heart problems. These chocolates contain high amount of cocoa butter that reduces cholesterol. They also contain vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium that muscles, joints, and nerves function well.

Chocolates cause cancer.

Dark chocolate contain antioxidants that remove harmful chemicals that may damage the cells in our body. Cocoa butter contains cocoa mass polyphenol (CMP) in which researchers in Japan found that CMP inhibits the growth of cancerous cells and tumors by reducing active oxygen levels in the body. Read more about this here.

Chocolates cause tooth decay and cavity.

Sugars and carbohydrates such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, cooked starch and others can easily remain in our teeth if we don't clean them regularly. These sugars are known as fermentable carbohydrates that are easily metabolized by the bacteria present in our mouth. These bacterias form aggressive acids from the fermentable carbohydrates we eat that weakens our tooth enamel. Chocolates are high in sugar but they melt quickly leaving little time for the bacteria to act on fermentable carbohydrates. Also, brushing your teeth regularly keeps your mouth and teeth clean and prevent tooth cavities.