很少有食物能引起与巧克力。不管它是牛奶,黑或者白巧克力,you can’t deny its power to provide immense joy in the lives of those who love it.
Chocolate is also one of the few sweets known to impart health benefits for those who eat it regularly, but that doesn’t apply to just any chocolate. It’s important to distinguish between the different types of chocolate, as all are not nutritionally equal.
巧克力101
巧克力有三种主要类型：牛奶，深色和白色。所有巧克力均来自可可树的椭圆形水果豆荚。每个豆荚都包含变成可可豆的种子。一旦将可可豆从豆荚中收获并提取，它们就会经历发酵过程。发酵后，将豆子干燥，烘烤并压成尖头（是的，与您在杂货店中发现的可可尖”。为了制作巧克力棒，将笔尖磨成一种称为巧克力酒的糊状物。然后，该酒用于制作巧克力棒，加工成可可黄油或磨成可可粉。
巧克力酒，可可固体和可可黄油以及牛奶和糖的特定组合用于制造不同的巧克力。
- 黑巧克力的特征是巧克力酒的百分比。黑巧克力中发现的巧克力酒的百分比越高，糖和牛奶的存在越少，因此健康益处的益处越高。
- 牛奶巧克力含有比黑巧克力更少的巧克力酒，糖和牛奶更多。
- White chocolate is actually not chocolate at all! While it does contain cocoa butter, it lacks the cocoa solids that are responsible for the color and roasted flavor of both milk and dark chocolate. Some white chocolate varieties don’t even contain enough cocoa butter to be called white chocolate (instead they use partially hydrogenated oils for some or all of the cocoa butter). Because of this trend, the FDA has required that a product must contain at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids, 3.5% milk fat and no more than 55% sugar to be labeled white chocolate.
巧克力对您有好处吗？
啊，百万美元的问题！答案是肯定的，尤其是在您心中。心脏益处主要来自植物固醇的抗氧化作用和一种称为黄酮醇的特殊黄酮，该醇在可可豆中很普遍。
除了它们的抗氧化作用外，类黄酮和植物固醇还具有降低血压并改善脑和心脏的血液流动。研究还表明可可粉中的一种物质可能有助于降低LDL胆固醇（糟糕的种类）并增加HDL（好种类）。
巧克力还可能有助于降低胰岛素抵抗，这是糖尿病的危险因素。一项发表在British Journal of Nutrition表明每天吃100克巧克力（大约一根棒）导致胰岛素抵抗减少。
最后，巧克力可能会增强大脑健康。研究suggests that drinking two cups of hot chocolate each day may prevent memory decline by preserving blood flow in working areas of the brain. There’s also证据在可可中发现的提取物可能会减少对阿尔茨海默氏病中神经途径的损害。
如何从巧克力中获得最大收益
您如何在不破坏饮食的情况下享受巧克力？这一切都是关于明智的选择，平衡卡路里并发挥创造力。
1. Opt for dark.First off, go for dark chocolate over milk chocolate, and choose the highest percent cacao you can tolerate. If you can stay above 70%, you’re on the right track. And don’t worry so much about the fat content. The fat in cocoa butter is made up of equal amounts of心脏健康的单不饱和脂肪and stearic acid, a saturated fat that has little effect on cholesterol.
2。练习部分控制。让我们结识吧，如果您每天在饮食中添加500卡路里的巧克力棒，您可以期望体重增加。取而代之的是，将黑巧克力用作饮食中其他甜食的替代品，而不是作为附加食品，然后尝试坚持1盎司的份量。
3. Think outside of the (chocolate) box.跳过巧克力棒，找到在您喜欢的食物中添加未加糖的可可粉的方法。你可以加cocoa powder to smoothies，将其搅拌成燕麦片，将其烘烤成松饼，或将其混合到无烘烤能棒中。您甚至可以在咖啡中添加一茶匙，或者在制作诸如番茄基辣椒和黑豆汤等美味菜肴时将其用作香料。
