Health Benefits of Handmade Chocolates

Karin Ried PhD, the research director for the National Institute of Integrative Medicine in Melbourne has one of the most enviable jobs – at least I envy her very much! She is one of the leading chocolate researchers of the world and her work revolves around finding the effect of chocolates on our blood pressure. She suggests flavanol, which is plentiful in cocoa, can reduce blood pressure by 2-3 mm Hg in the short term. Chocolates also have a plethora of other health benefits. They can enhance our cognitive ability, improve metabolism and mitigate inflammation, enrich our skin health, control bad cholesterols and in some cases, fight with diabetes. We can get all those benefits when the chocolates are rich with flavanols other than chemicals or additives. In light of the information I’ve just mentioned, if we evaluate the ingredients and making process of handmade chocolates, it is obvious that handmade chocolates are the most preferable version of chocolates from which we can get most out of cacao beans.