Artisanal, industrial, painted by hand or by skilled pastry chefs, chocolate eggs are waiting to be opened and eaten by millions of Italians Easter. “Today, with around four kilograms of annual personal consumption, chocolate is certainly the most loved dessert, in its most widespread types ranging from 'dark' or 'black' or 'bitter', essentially made of pure cocoa powder, to 'milk' chocolate, which involves the addition of milk and sugars. In reality, the caloric intake between the two products is more or less similar, as is the quantity of fats and carbohydrates. However, dark chocolate is very rich in vitamins and antioxidants such as polyphenols and flavonoids. It is the prototype of nutraceuticals, almost a natural 'drug' – he explains to Adnkronos Salute Mauro Minelliresponsible for the South of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine (Fmp) – given that it also contains phosphorus, potassium, oleic and linoleic acid, all precious ingredients for our bodywhich however provide the many benefits that chocolate can be capable of, only as long as it is consumed at a low daily frequency and in moderate quantities”.
Dark chocolate “thanks to theobromine (purine alkaloid belonging, together with caffeine and theophylline in tea, to the methylxanthine group), is capable of performing an appreciable exciting function that keeps its consumer awake and makes him more tolerant to fatigue. Also for this reason, at the right doses, it is often suggested even in the strictest diet regimes, even more so if pure bitter, also because, due to its oleic acid content, chocolate helps keep LDL cholesterol levels low, better known as 'bad' cholesterol“.
“It is, in general, very difficult to resist that sense of comfort and pleasure that chocolate arouses, especially dark chocolate, and this is due to its content of aromatic amino acids as the phenylaninethe tyrosine and above all the tryptophan which is then used to produce serotonin, the increase of which puts everyone in a good mood, reduces anxiety and aggression, increases attention levels, reduces headaches – observes the immunologist – Land sensations of well-being and euphoria that generally accompany the preliminary phase of falling in love, that of the 'butterflies in the stomach', are very similar to those we feel when we taste chocolate, this can be partly attributed to the involvement of endorphins produced thanks to the action of phenylethylamine contained in cocoa. Among other things, chocolate is also the only food in nature that contains anandamide, the 'bliss' molecule, a recently identified natural endocannabinoid, also produced by our brain cells and capable of acting on the mechanisms of arousal. , pleasure, sexual desire.
“Finally, some intestinal microbial species are also fond of chocolate, which are capable of transforming the polyphenols of cocoa, strictly bitter, into small cbioactive compounds that positively modulate the overall activities of the microbiota, therefore exerting a notable probiotic effect. All the benefits of consuming chocolate, like any other food, must be related to the type of diet followed and the health conditions of each person – warns Minelli – In fact, excessive consumption of chocolate could be harmful to bone health, as it would prevent the absorption of calcium and unfortunately, due to its intrinsic ability to release histamine, chocolate is practically banned from the diets of allergy sufferers, even more so if they are sensitive to nickel, considering the high quantities of metal it contains”.
“Finally, in some situations and in those who are more predisposed, a lot of happiness hurts the head: some research has highlighted that those who constantly eat dark chocolate have an increase in migraines, an effect – the latter – probably related to the content of tyramine, histamine and phenylalanine in cocoa”, he concludes
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