Surprising Health Benefits of Cocoa & Dark Chocolates - VIMS

Surprising Health Benefits of Cocoa & Dark Chocolates

Health Benefits of Cocoa & Dark Chocolates

If you are the one who loves indulging in dark chocolates and coffee, there’s some good news right up for you. A study has revealed that cocoa is a major source of Vitamin D. Hence, food rich in cocoa like cocoa powder, dark, chocolates, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and more can boost your Vitamin D intake. Vitamin D has two types – Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is present in foods like eggs, fish, and chicken while D3 is produced by the human skin under sun exposure. The study was published in the journal Food Chemistry and mentioned that cocoa is an actually rich source of Vitamin D2, one of the two types of vitamin D. The richness but varies from food to food like white chocolate will have a lesser amount of Vitamin D2 compared to Dark Chocolates.

The research team dried the cocoa beans after fermentation and placed them on mats. These were then exposed to the sun for a couple of weeks. The idea was to determine if cocoa was a vital source of Vitamin D. As per researchers cocoa butter, as well as dark chocolate, had the highest amount of Vitamin D2. They also pointed out that vitamin D deficiency could lead to brittle bones as well as respiratory disorders. Having said that, consuming cocoa-based products in high quantity is not advisable because it does contain high fat and sugar, which are known to be bad for health.

Do you want to know about foods that are a rich source of vitamin D and not harmful to health as much as eating too many dark chocolate cubes? Here are 5 foods veg and non-veg, rich in Vitamin D, and good for health.

Soy milk – It’s extracted from plants and is a rich source of vitamin D. It’s good for health and vegans.

Mushroom – Again a rich source of Vitamin D and favorite food of many. Many delicious recipes are already available for you to experiment with and relish.

Dairy Produce – If you are a cheese lover, be happy, cheese is one of the richest sources of Vitamin D. But, that does not mean to eat burgers and pizzas loaded with cheese. It means you may add a slice or two for your breakfast.

Egg – Egg is one product that many of us can eat day in and day out. It’s loaded with protein and super healthy. The yolk of the egg is rich in Vitamin D. So eat eggs with the yoke to draw in more Vitamin D.

Fish– All fish are known to be a rich source of vitamin D. But, oil and fatty fish have more Vitamin D content compared to others. These include Tuna, mackerel, salmon, and trout to name a few.

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