| Some call it a food group. It just means that much and | | | | believe. |
| tastes that good. | | | | You can call chocolate addictive but it isn't really, or at |
| While it's not the healthiest food in some ways there | | | | least there's no evidence that it is. It's just a delight to |
| are many health benefits to eating chocolate too. | | | | eat. It contains a variety of chemicals that can improve |
| Dark chocolate is of course the best, as it has the | | | | your mood but in very small quantities. |
| most cocoa and therefore the flavonoids, which | | | | The absolute best way to indulge in chocolate is to |
| provide the benefits. The flavonoids have antioxidant | | | | use cocoa powder in recipes that have other healthy |
| properties, which have the potential to help prevent | | | | ingredients. You can substitute cocoa powder for |
| cancer, heart disease, and stroke. | | | | baking chocolate in some recipes to decrease the fat |
| Natural cocoa powders are the best, and when you're | | | | content. To make many baked goods even better for |
| shopping for chocolate you can get the best benefit | | | | you, use just egg whites rather than the entire egg and |
| from chocolates with the highest cocoa content. In | | | | replace butter and oil with unsweetened applesauce. |
| addition, milk chocolate has more fat and calories due | | | | To finish this article off, I'd like to include a favorite |
| to the milk content than darker chocolates do. | | | | recipe for chocolate meringue. There's a lot of sugar in |
| The benefits aren't extreme and unfortunately not | | | | this recipe, so it's not 100% healthy but they're quite |
| worth overindulging in chocolate. They do give a | | | | decadent without a lot of calories. |
| delightful bonus to one of life's little pleasures. The | | | | 2 egg whites |
| occasional dark chocolate is about as good for you as | | | | 1/2 cup sugar |
| the occasional glass of red wine, which also contains | | | | 1 teaspoon vanilla extract |
| flavonoids. | | | | 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder |
| A new potential benefit has been discovered by | | | | 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips |
| Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. | | | | Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Beat the egg whites in |
| They've found that chocolate can help with diarrhea | | | | a large bowl at high speed until peaks start to foam. |
| by limiting the production of fluids. The flavonoids | | | | Slowly add sugar as you continue to beat. Keeping |
| appear to bind to a protein called CFTR, and then | | | | beating until stiff peaks form. |
| inhibit them. This discovery is promising for its potential | | | | Mix in vanilla and cocoa powder while beating at a |
| to be developed as a cheap treatment with few or no | | | | lower speed. Mix chocolate chips in by hand. |
| side effects. Only time will tell on that possibility, of | | | | Cover a baking sheet in foil or parchment paper. Drop |
| course. | | | | spoonfuls of meringue about an inch apart. |
| Some worry about the stearic acid found in chocolate. | | | | Bake for one hour. Turn off oven and leave meringues |
| Stearic acid is a saturated fat, but some say it's a | | | | in the cooling oven for at least two more hours to |
| neutral so far as risk to the heart while others say it | | | | allow the meringues to completely dry. Store in an |
| has been shown to be a problem. As with many | | | | airtight container. |
| health topics it can be very hard to decide what to | | | | |