Microbes and Dark Chocolate, Can it Effect Your Health?

We've always been told that chocolate doesn't benefit ones health at all and that its actually very detrimental to it. New research being done on dark chocolate is showing that hungry microbes feast on dark chocolate and it helps your heart stay healthy. However, there are two kinds of microbes that eat up dark chocolate; some good and some not so good. Bifidobacterium is an example of a good one, it eats up the chocolate and it produces anti-inflammatory compounds which help the cardiovascular tissue are reduce the risk of having a stroke. The bad ones that eat chocolate like E. coli and Clostridia can cause non desirable effects like bloating, diarrhea, and gas. They tested three different cocoa powders and they found that this powder has antioxidants stored inside of it. Also, if you digest cocoa with prebiotics in it (prebiotics are good arbs found in things like raw garlic that we can't digest alone, but are good for us to eat) it significantly improves one's overall health by adding a greater number of beneficial microbes into your gut. If you consume cocoa with fiber in it, more anti-inflammatory agents will be produced as well.  You can further your overall health by eating fruits like acai and pomegranates with the chocolate. It just goes to show that your favorite sweet treat can also benefit your health, which is good to know because who would ever stop eating chocolate? This just gives us a better reason to!

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