Chocolate

Recent medical studies are indicating that dark chocolate and cocoa powder may be beneficial to the heart. They help blood vessels function more efficiently, which delivers more oxygen to the heart. It also appears that chocolate has shown an ability to increase the good (HDL) levels of cholesterol, thereby reducing the chances of stroke. To reap the benefits, the subjects in the study ate 22 grams of dark chocolate and 16 grams of cocoa powder per day. These findings, combined with the belief that chocolate raises serotonin levels, give chocolate lovers one more reason to give into their cravings. Now that you know chocolate is good for you, let's look at some chocolate varieties. Dark chocolate is chocolate without any milk additives. This is how chocolate is made in Belgium, and Belgian chocolate is considered the best. The first Godiva chocolates were sold in Belgium circa 1926, and to this date, it has maintained its reputation as one of the finest and most costly brands of chocolate. Swiss chocolate contains condensed milk. Thus, you'd have to eat a little more of it to reap the same benefits as provided by dark chocolate. Fortunately, Swiss chocolate is also less expensive. Lindt Choclatiers are one of the well known Swiss chocolate brands.Although it's basically the same as Swiss chocolate, the type of chocolate that's most commonly eaten is called milk chocolate. The U.S. government requires that milk chocolate, like that in Kit Kat chocolate bars, must contain at least 10 percent pure chocolate. In Europe, milk chocolate--like Wonka chocolate bars--must be 25 percent pure cocoa. Hershey's is the most well known American brand, but there is a resurgance of some smaller specialty chocolate makers like Sharffen Berger and Ghirardelli chocolate from San Francisco, where you can actually tour and see how they make this delicious treat.