Mercury Toxicity

Taken from Here

Fish is a great source of protein. It's super healthy and for some of us, it's considered a delicious and delightful meal. It's one of the healthiest foods you can ever eat. But if you are not careful enough, you will suffer from some health problems and more importantly "Mercury Toxicity".

Today we will talk about everything you should know about mercury toxicity and whether you should eat fish normally or you should stop eating it permanently!

Mercury

Taken from Here

Mercury is a heavy metal which is toxic that's found in water, soil and air. There are three main forms which are metallic, inorganic and organic.

Mercury can be toxic when people inhale mercury vapour or ingest any form of mercury or when you eat fish or shellfish and that's due to water pollution where they are exposed to low concentrations of mercury. Over time you can have serious health problems!

Eating fish is considered the major source of mercury exposure in humans but that's not the problem. The major problem occurs over time where the mercury accumulates in our body so that when it reaches certain levels, it's considered toxic and causes serious health problems. (Usually mercury accumulates in our body in it's organic form which is known as Methylmercury) (1,2)

Seaplants like algae absorbs mercury then small fish eat them then large fish accumulate higher levels of mercury from eating small fish.(3)

How Much is safe?

Taken from Here

US government agencies recommended blood mercury levels to be below 5.0 mcg per liter to prevent mercury poisoning. (4) Studies showed that people who eats larger fish such as Blue Pike had higher levels in their bodies. One study showed that 73 people had hair mercury levels higher than the recommended levels where it was linked that the main reason for this increase in mercury levels is eating high amounts of fish. (5,6)

What type of fish can harm you more?

Taken from Here

 One study showed that one third of fish caught in the new jersey shore had mercury levels more than 0.5 part per million which can harm many people who eats this type of fish regularly. (7)
Larger and longer-lived fish tends to contain the highest amount of mercury like Tuna, shark, swordfish, king mackerel and others. (8)

Mercury Toxicity

Taken from Here

It's a type of metal poisoning and a medical condition caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds. (9)
High levels of mercury in our blood are associated with neurological problems like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Autism. It also may be the blame for depression and anxiety. (10)
mercury toxicity has been linked to high blood pressure, High LDL cholesterol which is the bad cholesterol and increased the risk of heart attack. (11,12,13)
A study of 1800 person showed that those with the highest levels of hair mercury were more likely to die from heart-related problems than people with lower levels of hair mercury.(14)

Avoid eating fish?

Taken from Here

I think you won't eat fish after this article. Well, my advice to you is: "Don't worry too much"
So you probably think that i'm crazy but trust me you should eat fish at least twice per week because fish are an important source for proteins and omega 3 fatty acids.

People who are at a higher risk of having mercury toxicity are pregnant women, breastfeeding mother and young infants. They should keep in mind the following recommendations before eating fish regularly : (15)

• Stick to the low mercury fish like salmon, sardines, cod and shrimps
• Eat fish twice per week 
• Avoid high mercury fish like we mentioned above

Don't worry too much about mercury toxicity if you are eating fish just twice per week, just know that the benefits you get from eating fish outweighs the risks from mercury toxicity.
Last but not least, try to choose a variety of fish lower in mercury. (i guess you will, you better DO!)
As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!
 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Weight loss

Taken from Here

You want to lose weight? You don't know exactly what to do?! You think you are doing everything right but still, you are not getting any results!! Today we will talk about things that could be hindering your progress in weight loss. 

1- Counting calories

Taken from Here

We all tend to be careful when eating things and we count calories so that we reach the Caloric deficit (which is to eat less calories than you need). There is just one problem with that, it's not just the quantity of the calories but actually it's all about the quality of the calories you consume daily. 

There is a big difference between eating 100 gm of cheese burger VS 100 gm of chicken breasts!

Some people underestimate what they eat, one study showed that 10 obese people reported that they consume 1000 calories per day while lab investigations showed that they were taking 2000 calories per day without even noticing that. (1) 

Choose your calories wisely and count them precisely.

2- Exercises 

Taken from Here

When it comes to weight loss, exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose weight. Studies showed that weight lifting is considered the most effective way for wight loss, where you gain muscles, burn fat and increase your overall metabolic rate. (2,3)

 3- Proteins

Taken from Here

Whether you are working out or not, you should consider eating enough protein everyday. protein has been shown to help people to lose weight in several ways, it increases the feeling of fullness so it reduce your appetite, it also protects your muscle mass during weight loss. (4,5,6)

One study showed that people who are eating meals with 30% of calories from protein lead to consuming 575 less calories per day than when they ate 15% of calories from protein.. (7)

3- Frequent small meals are better?!

Taken from Here

We all heard about this advice somewhere. It's when you eat several small meals every few hours to prevent hunger.

This advice can be true but only when taken accurately and seriously, otherwise you will end up eating too many calories and actually getting fatter!

You should only eat when you are hungry and that's the key of success when it comes to weight loss.

In one study, hunger and blood sugar level decreased while the metabolic rate increased in men who consumed 3 meals instead of 14 meals within a 36 hour time frame. (8)

When i mentioned that you should eat only when you are hungry, don't trick me and say. Okay, i only eat when i'm TOO hungry. The "TOO" word here is very important because if you let yourself get TOO hungry, you will unconsciously eat TOO much. Eat HEALTHY snacks (like fruits and veggies not burgers okay!) in between your main meals to prevent getting too hungry.

4- Healthy Fruit juice

Taken from Here

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can actually do when you are trying to lose weight. When it comes to weight loss, you start cutting off sweet beverages and soft drinks and shift to HEALTHY drinks like fruit juice right? Not quit right my friend.

Liquid calories don't actually affects your appetite the same way calories from solid food do. Try this, one day, consider eating an apple as a snack between your main meals.( just one apple)

Another day consider drinking 8-ounce (227 gm) glass of apple juice (approximately 3-4 apples needed) (9). I want you to tell me in the comments the following:

• You felt more satisfied eating 1 apple or drinking 3-4 apples?
•  In your opinion, which is more healthier? 
•  Thank you.

By the way, 12 ounces of unsweetened apple juice contains 36 grams of sugar which is more than in 12 ounces of cola!!. (10,11)

5- Low fat food

Taken from Here

When you choose low fat food, your weight loss plan can't get any healthier right?!

Low fat food are loaded with sugar to improve their taste. One cup of low fat yogurt can contain 47 grams of sugar! (12)

Consider choosing minimally processed food and don't get tricked by everything that says healthy and low fat food cause most of the times, they may actually have the opposite effect. 

6- Read the labels!

Taken from Here

Yes, before buying anything just take a minute and read the label! Trust me you will find things that may shock you. Many Low fat and HEALTHY food (as labeled) contains tons of garbage ingredients that can actually harm you and make you fatter. The problem here is that consumers always get affected by the false nutritional labeling which could sabotage their weight loss progress.

Always check the ingredients and don't trust any label you read.

Last but not least, weight loss is not as difficult as you think. All you need to do is to know what exactely are you eating and what could hinder your weight loss progress. Keep in mind that exercise is very important for your overall health and weight loss. Don't forget to eat and drink clean, stay away from sugar, processed food, soft drinks and unhealthy low fat food.

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Honey

Taken from Here

Honey is considered unhealthy in many places, maybe because it contains suger "fructose"?! do you think it's bad for your health?! would you rather add suger or honey to your diet?! Does it matter though!

Today we will clearfy whether you should replace suger with honey or just ignore it's existance.
Honey is considered a real food that can be obtained in it's natural form. It's way more than just a fructose liquid. Honey bees collects Nectar from the environment which are a suger-rich liquid produced from plants then the honey production takes place in their hive where repeated cycles of consumption, digestion and regurgitation (expulsion from digestive tract) takes place to make honey.
There are many types of honey depending on the source of the nectar.
One cup of honey contains: (1,2)

• 1031 calories
• 279g carbohydrates of which 278g suger, 1g dietery fibers
• 1g protein
• Half of that suger is fructose
• Antioxidants
• Glycemic index ranges from low to high
• Trace amounts of Vitamins and minerals.

Antioxidants

Taken from Here

As we know from Coffee and Dark Chocolate articles, Antioxidants are very good for your health .

Unrefined honey contains different antioxidants which can improve your health and protects you from diseases. According studies, the best type of honey that can have this effect on your health is called Buckwheat honey. (3,4)

Relation between Honey and diseases

Taken from Here

There are some factors that may indicate if you are healthy or not and whether there is a risk of disease in the future or not (no not magic). Trigylicerides, blood glucose level and cholesterol, diabetic patients have problem with all of these factors.

A study in healthy diabetics showed that: (5)

1. Honey lowered LDL, triglycerides and increases HDL cholesterol. 
2. Lowered reduced C-Reactive protein (CRP) which is a marker of inflammation.
3. Raised blood suger but not as much as glucose "Dextrose" and fructose and glucose "Sucrose"
4. Lowered Homocysteine which is a non protein amino acid, when it increases it makes the person more prone to have inflammation in blood vessels.

In a controlled trial of 48 diabetic patients, those who were fed honey for 8 weeks lowered their

Trigylicerides, body wieght and total cholesterol while HDL cholesterol (High density Lipoprotein which is the good cholesterol) increased. But on the other hand, HbA1c which is a marker of glucose leve increased which is not GOOD. (6)

Honey for healthy Rats

Taken from Here

What in the world is that?! I don't know but rats should!

A study made on rats showed that honey lead to less fat gain, triglycerides and oxidative stress than either purified fructose or sugar. (7,8)

Well, i guess you want to be like the healthy rats? Right? (i think that's disgusting)

Honey for a healthy skin

Taken from Here

When you apply honey to your skin, it can actually kill bacteria and speed up the process of wound healing. (9,10) pretty amazing right?

To sum up, Honey can be GOOD or BAD as anything in this world. You should always be careful about what you are eating and more importantely the quantity of it (Too much of anything is bad). Honey is good for your health as we mentioned above but don't eat jars of it and just say, i'm healthier than ever! So should you eat Honey??

If you are healthy and active then yes go ahead and eat honey but if you are diabetic and struggle with the dietery load of fructose and carbohydrates then try to limit honey as much as possible. Still, honey is better than sugar so if you are overweighted and you love eating sweet things then try to replace sugar with honey. (don't eat too much though!)

Last but not least, consider to choose darker honey. Generally speaking, darker honey are better than lighter ones as it contains more nutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.(buckwheat honey are better than lighter varieties) 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Too Much Water!

Taken from Here

We talked about the importance of water in our last article "Water". Now we know what will happen if you drink too little but the question is, what will happen if you drink TOO MUCH!! Is it even possible to drink too much?! You know you can die from too much water?!
Today we will talk about what will happen if you got what is called Water intoxication also known as water poisoning.

Water poisoning is the disruption of your brain function due to drinking too much water! Yes that's true. (1) When you drink too much water it increases the amount of water in your blood which dilutes the electrolytes in the blood causing sodium levels to fall below 135 mmol/L, it's called Hyponatremia.
Sodium is a very important element for your body, it's responsible for the balance of fluids between the inside and the outside of the cells. So when sodium levels falls below 135 mmol/L, fluids shifts from the outside to the inside of cells causing them to swell. A problem could happen if this occurs in brain cells and may cause DEATH. (2)

Water Intoxication

Taken from Here

As we mentioned above, when you drink too much water "cells starts to swell". When brain cells swell it raises the pressure inside the skull which lead to water poisoning symptoms.

Mild cases:

1. Headache
2. Nausea
3. Vomiting

Moderate cases:

1. Double vision
2. Drowsiness
3. Confusion
4. Increase blood pressure
5. Cramps and muscle weakness
6. Difficulty in breathing

Severe cases: (1)

1. Seizures
2. Brain damage 
3. coma
4. Death 

Death from drinking WATER? Really?!

Taken from Here

Actually that sounds pretty weird right?! Well, it's very difficult to reach that stage of poisoning. However, few cases have been reported due to this condition like in soldiers. (3,4)

One report illustrated how three soldiers died from excess water consumption "Hyponatremia" They drank 2.5-5.6 gallons (10-20 liters) in just few hours. (5)

It's very common to face water intoxication in endurance athletes like marathon runners. They drink too much water to avoid dehydration. Therefor, hyponatremia often occurs in the event itself. (6)

In another case after one major sport event, one marathon runner suffered from hyponatremia where his sodium levels were less than 130 mmol/L. He died from accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid and Brain herniation. (7)

Schizophrenic patients could suffer also from hyponatremia due to too much water consumption. One study showed that 5 out of 27 schizophrenic patients died from water intoxication. (8,9)

How much should you really drink?

When you get thirsty, you simply drink water right? (obviously!) but you know what! it's more than that. Your kidney can eliminate 5.3-7.4 gallons per day ( 20-28 liters) and can't get rid more than 27-33 ounces per hour ( 0.8-1 liters) (10,11)

So the bottom line here is that you can't drink more than 27-33 ounces per hour ( 0.8-1 liters) or it will cause you hyponatremia.

A 9 years old girl who drank almost a gallon of water in one to two hours developed hyponatremia and intoxication. (10)

Taken from Here

To determine how much water you really need per day to prevent dehydration or intoxication. You just need to (Wait for it....) exactly, you just need to listen to your body. Yes that's it my friend, but you need to listen to your body carefully which means that whenever you feel thirsty just leave whatever you are doing and drink and if you don't feel thirsty then don't follow the over-hydration concept and that's when you drink too much water even if you aren't thirsty; to prevent getting thirsty later.

The institute of medicine (IOM) suggests that men should consider drinking about 125 ounces ( 3l7 liters) per day and 91 ounces (2.7 liters) per day for women. Watch out, this includes beverages and water not water only! (11)

 You should also consider your weight, age, climate and physical activity level so that if you are an athlete, pregnant woman or old adult then you will need extra water each day.

At the end of the day, there is no specific number of how much water you should drink daily but just don't drink too much water okay?!

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Water

Taken from Here

We all know that water is the essence of life, you can live one day without worrying about food right? but when it comes to water, i don't think so. It's commonly known that we should drink about 8-ounce glasses of water per day. Well, the question is, do you really drink enough water per day? Do you know why you should always stay hydrated? What happens if you drink too much or too little ?!

1- Water affects your energy levels and brain function

Taken from Here

You being hydrated is directly related to your brain functions. Studies show that mild dehydration (1-3% of body weight) can influence brain function. In a study, young women lost 1.36% of fluids after exercise which impaired both their mood and concentration and increases the frequency of headache. (1) While another study for young men who lost 1.59% of fluids after exercise showed that they felt more anxious and fatigue. (2)

2- Water can prevent headache

Taken from Here

Studies showed that water can relieve headache in people who are dehydrated. (3) Dehydration can affect people in many bad ways, one of them is headache. (4)

One study showed that water had effect on the intensity and duration of headaches and not the frequency. (5)

3- Treats kidney stones 

Taken from Here

Urinary stones can be very painful. If you drink enough water, you can prevent it's recurrence if you previously gotten kidney stones. (6,7)

When you drink enough water, you increase the volume of urine passing through kidney which dilutes the concentration of minerals so less likely to crystallize and form clumps.

4- Weight loss!

Taken from Here

Yes, that's true. When you drink plenty of water "within your daily limit", you can actually lose weight. Two studies showed that drinking half a liter of water increases metabolism by 24-30% for up to 1.5 hours (8,9)

You probably heard about drinking water half an hour before meals right?! Well, That's true because it makes you feel more full. (10)
Do you know that when you drink cold water, you actually burn more calories to heat the water to your body temperature. So drink it COLD!!
A study showed that people who drank half a liter of water before meals lost 44% more weight over a period of 12 weeks. (11)

5- Constipation Relief

Taken from Here

Constipation is a well know problem when there is a difficulty in passing stool and infrequent bowel movements. Low water consumption is blamed to be a risk factor for constipation. (12) So you should drink more water to prevent constipation especially carbonated water. (13) Pretty awesome huh?!

6- Maximize physical performance

Taken from Here

I think you probably noticed that when you were doing some kind of exercise and lost some water through sweat, you feel drowsy, fatigue and the exercise feels more difficult right?! But what happens when drink some water? It feels like magic right! Well, that's true because you were in a state of dehydration. (not state of trance which is good too by the way) Dehydration can have effect 

if you lose as little as 2% of your body's water content. So if you are an athlete then you are probably losing about 6-10% of your body's water content. (14,15,16) 

 After all, you must stay hydrated to maximize your physical and mental performance and to stay SAFE.

Well, we now know what will happen if you drink too little but is it okay to drink too much? What is the limit of water intake per day?

Well, check out our next article Too much water to know the answers!!

Still here my friend?! Come on, what are you waiting for?! Water is the best and HEALTHIEST natural thing you can ever drink! Try to stay hydrated everyday and make sure to drink it COLD remember? If you are trying to lose weight consider drinking water before your meals and i promise you will notice a difference.

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Watermelon

Taken from Here

I love eating watermelon, who doesn't? It's the best thing you can eat after a hot sunny day.

Watermelon is a very delicious fruit and can make you satisfied and refreshed. It's high in Vitamin C,Vitamin A and many other healthy compounds. It can protect your heart and prevent CANCER!!

After reading this article, i promise that "you will eat watermelon". So get ready cause this green thing will blow your mind.

1-Improve your heart health

Taken from Here

There are many factors that can affect your heart health like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity. Many nutrients in watermelon can affect your heart positively like Lycopene. Studies showed that lycopene can lower your blood pressure, cholesterol level in your blood and prevent the oxidative damage to cholesterol .(1) It can also reduce the thickness and the stiffness of artery wall in obese postmenopausal women. (2)

2- Prevents macular degeneration

Taken from Here

Lycopene helps in eye protection against oxidative damage and inflammation so prevents age related macular degeneration. (3)
Macular degeneration may cause blindness so feel free to read more about it.

3- Keeps you hydrated 

Taken from Here

As we know drinking water is very VERY important! Cause it's the source of life. You should always stay hydrated to be healthy, so watermelon can you help you in that. Surprisingly, watermelon is 92% water. (3) 

That what makes you feel full when you eat watermelon.

4- Nutrients 

Taken from Here

Among fruits, watermelon is considered one of the lowest in calories. 46 calories per cup!! (4)

A cup (152g) contains: 

• Vitamin C: 20% of the RDI (reference daily intake)
• Vitamin A: 17% of the RDI
• Vitamin B-6: 5% of the RDI
• Potassium: 4% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 3% of the RDI

It also contains Carotenoids, Cucurbitacin E (specially in bitter melon), lycopene and Citrulline which is an important amino acid.

5- Protects you from CANCER

Taken from Here

Lycopene also plays a role as an anti-cancer nutrient, especially cancers in the digestive system (3)

Lycopene appeared to decrease the cancer risk by lowering insulin like growth factor (IGF) which is a protein involved in cell division so the higher it gets, the chance to have cancer increases.

Cucurbitacin E also has been investigated to inhibit the tumor cell growth. (5)

6- Good for your skin and hair

Taken from Here

Vitamin A and C are very important for your skin and hair health. Vitamin A create and repair skin cells so without enough vitamin A your skin will look DRY.

Vitamin C helps in making collagen which helps in making your hair stronger.

7- Good for muscle soreness

Taken from Here

One study gave Athletes citrulline on it's own , plain watermelon juice and watermelon mixed with citrulline juice.the results were amazing, both juices lead to decrease in muscle soreness and quicker heart rate recovery compared to citrulline alone. (6) So citrulline in watermelon is enough for you to relief the muscle soreness.

8- Better digestion

Taken from Here

Watermelon contains water and fibers which are important for your bowl movements cause water helps you to keep your digestive tract moving efficiently while fibers provides bulk for your stool. So yeah the perfect combination in one fruit.

At the end of the day, watermelon is massively loaded with amazing benefits. Just consider eating or even drinking (which is easier) a cup per day just because WHY NOT! 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Avocado

Taken from Here

Probably you heard this word before right? Maybe in a healthy recipe or a healthy channel. If you are interested to know more about it. Well, you came to right place my friend.

Today we will mention briefly the healthy facts about Avocado and whether you should consider to start adding it your diet or NOT?!!

Avocado could be anything from pear shaped to round and weigh from 220 grams to 1.4 Kg, the most popular type is called Hass avocado. It's a black or green unique fruit which consists primarily of healthy fats. It's the fruit of a tree called Persea americana. It became a very popular fruit for healthy individuals (now you are one of them) where it's often referred to as a Superfood. (1)

1- High in potassium

Taken from Here

We all know that "Banana is Potassium and Potassium is Banana" right?? Well, shame on you cause here is a shocking fact, Avocados are higher in potassium than Bananas!! Potassium is a very important nutrient which helps to maintain electrical gradients in our body cells and many other functions that you need to know more about them. (click on the above Potassium word if you are interested) (2)

Compared to bananas, every 100 grams serving contains 14% of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) compared to 10% in bananas. (3) 

For your information potassium is linked to reduced blood pressure so less chance of heart strokes, attack and kidney failure. (4)

2- Cholesterol effect

taken from Here

As we talked before about the bad cholesterol and the good cholesterol in our article (Dark chocolate)

Here is a stunning fact, Avocados are mainly fats right?? However, It can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels! 

Studies have been made on 8 humans controlled trials, one group is instructed to eat avocados while the other is not. The studies showed that avocados can reduce total cholesterol levels, triglycerides by up to 20%, LDL ( bad cholesterol ) by up to 22% and finally increase HDL (Good cholesterol) by up to 11%. (5,6,7,8,9)

3- Improves nutrients absorption from plant food

Taken from Here

Some nutrients like vitamin A, D, K, E and antioxidants "Carotenoid" are fat soluble which means that they need to be combined with fat to be utilized. If you ate something your body must absorb it, there is no benefit in eating things that can't be absorbed by your body. A study showed that adding avocado or avocado oil on either salsa or salad can increase antioxidant absorption by 2.6-15 fold. (10) It increases nutrient value of other plant food so always keep in mind to add a healthy fat source when eating veggies to make them more beneficial.

4- Protects the eyes

Taken from Here

Avocado contains important nutrients like Lutein and Zeaxanthin which are very important for your eyes health. These nutrients also can decrease the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration  (11,12,13,14) 

5- Anti-Cancer!

Taken from Here

Really? actually no so don't read this. 

Still reading? Okay, let me tell you the truth. One study showed that it may help to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells (15,16) But keep in mind that these studies were done in isolated cells and not a living human so still not good enough. ( i don't know why i mentioned this fact but maybe cause i want  people to eat avocado to avoid cancer?! )

6- Arthritis relief

Taken from Here

Arthritis is a chronic disease where there is inflammation in one or more joints "joint disorder"

Studies showed that Avocado and Soybean unsaponifiables can reduce the symptoms of that chronic disease(17,18)

7- Delicious VS Weight loss

Taken from Here

Well, here is the good fun part so turn off the lights and get ready (i don't know why but just turn them off) There is one study made once where one group of people were instructed to add avocados to their meals and other group were instructed not to and then they were asked about their hunger and satisfaction. The results are amazing, the people eating avocados felt 23% more satisfied and 28% lower desire to eat over the next 5 hours!! (19).

 This actually works the best when you want to lose weight but if you're in the bulking season then don't eat it (kidding, it's healthy so just eat it).But wait a second, we all know about the contrariety between something delicious and something healthy right? You LOVE eating cheese burgers but when it comes to apples, NAH not even close right?! The thing is, avocados are pretty delicious and go with all sorts of food where you can eat them plain or add them your salads to boost your absorption as mentioned above or to many other recipes. Lastly, avocados often takes some time to ripen and it feels soft when ripe and the nutrients in it can oxidize rapidly after fleshing so my advice is to add lemon juice to it to slow down this process. 

At the end of the day i guess you will consider eating avocados right? Healthy, delicious, weight loss friendly and healthy again so why not?! 

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".

Dark Chocolate

Taken from Here

Chocolates are the source of happiness to some people, "Specially girls" right??  It's one of the world's most craved food. When you find someone crying you can actually give him ( or most of the time HER) chocolate and see what happens! have you ever asked yourself why? is it Healthy though?!​We will talk about The healthiest type of chocolate and why you should eat it? So get ready to be shocked cause we have new information and facts for you so that the next time you eat chocolate, you can proudly call it HEALTHY.

Why Dark chocolate?

Dark chocolate is made from the seed of cocoa tree and it's loaded with nutrients that can actually improve your health. But be careful today we are talking about dark chocolates only and not the other sugary chocolates like white and milk chocolates and many other that won't do you any good except making you fatter if that what you want.

1- Antioxidants

Taken From Here

As we talked in our previous article  (Coffee) about the antioxidants in coffee. well, it's also here.Dark chocolates contains organic compounds that are biologically active and acts as antioxidants. These includes polyphenols, flavanols, catechins. One study showed that the antioxidants found in dark chocolates are actually more than the antioxidants found in some fruits like acai berries and blue berries. (1)

2- Cholesterol effect

Taken from Here

Dark chocolate has a positive effect on HDL (high density lipoprotein) which is the good cholesterol and lowers the LDL (low density lipoprotein) which is the bad cholesterol and also reduces the oxidized LDL in men. Oxidized LDL means that the LDL has reacted with free radicals which makes the LDL particle itself active and can damage tissues. Well, it makes perfect sense that dark chocolate lowers the oxidized LDL and that's due to the Antioxidants found in dark chocolate (cocoa in it) that protects us from the damage caused by oxidation.
(2,3,4)    

3- Protects you from Heart disease

Taken from Here

This is stunning yet true, Cardiovascular disease may occur from high oxidized LDL in our blood stream causing what is called Atherosclerosis leading to death. In a Study of 470 elderly men cocoa was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death by 50% over a 15 year period. (5)
 Another two studies showed that eating dark chocolates 2 or more times per week lowered the risk of Atherosclerosis by 32% while eating 5 or more times per week lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 57%!! (6,7)

4- Sun protection

Taken from Here

Here's a funny one, whenever you are planning on a beach vacation, consider loading up with some dark chocolates! (Not funny enough, we'll see about that).  Flavonols in dark chocolate protects against sun induced damage to your skin, increase the skin hydration and density and improves blood flow to the skin (8). In one study the MED (minimal erythemal dose which is the minimal amount of Ultraviolet sun rays required to cause redness in the skin after 24 hours from exposure) more than doubled after eating dark chocolate high in flavonols for 12 weeks. (9)

5- Anti stress and Antidepressant drug

Taken from Here

That sounds very weird right?! It's true though. When you feel down you need cravings right? So if you picked dark chocolate well that's a BINGO for you. After eating the chocolate it stimulates the production of a hormone called endorphin which makes you happy and satisfied. About the Antidepressant effect, dark chocolates contain something called serotonin which has an identical qualities of antidepressants.
Go ahead and take that drug right now! I mean the dark chocolate huh! 

6- Girls

Taken from Here

Wait what?! What's that? Well, here is the real funny part (if you don't think it's funny then just leave right now, i mean it) Okay i was kidding. The thing is somewhere in their minds they know that they will get fatter if they ate more of them so they should stop it right?
Well, The exact opposite happens for some reason they tend to eat more and more of it and this theory is called the forbidden chocolate. But actually that's good and HEALTHY for them if only they craved dark chocolate cause the hormonal levels in girls always keep on shifting causing them to be emotionally unstable (ups and downs) so eating dark chocolate can stabilize their mood and be happier.

​Believe it or not but one of the reason that actually makes women love chocolates more than men is the shape of it, If there is a new cute teddy bear shaped chocolate available at your nearest supermarket, won’t you go and buy it immediately?​One other thing you should know, there is a connection between chocolate and the menstrual cycle. When there is disturbance in body hormones so the body reacts to balance these hormones, one of them that decreases during the menstrual cycle is the serotonin (the antidepressant) and it can be raised by exercise and eating some foods like Chocolates and ice cream. (10) 

I think you will consider adding Dark chocolate to your healthy food list right? cause if not then you need to read again this article.
But as always everything should be in moderation. It's Still loaded with calories, so you must be careful when you choose your chocolate cause all the mentioned benefits are from dark chocolates with 70% or higher cocoa content only and not the other types of chocolates. So all you have to do is adding a square or two per day and you are good to go.

As always if you found this article helpful. Well, don't be selfish and share it with everyone!

 "Be Healthy, Be Safe".