9 reasons why you should eat dark chocolate every day

For those of you who feel a little guilty about eating chocolate, take comfort: chocolate with a high cocoa percentage is a must in any healthy diet. Some even admit that dark chocolate should be part of the daily menu.

In this article, we will list 9 reasons why we should all feel good about our sweet dark chocolate habit:

1.) Dark chocolate makes us happy

Not just because it tastes simply divine (although that helps too), but because it contains a key substance called tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid used by the brain to produce serotonin (the neurotransmitter that makes you feel happy).

2.) Dark chocolate is high in quality fibre

A 100 gram serving of dark chocolate with a high cocoa content (70-85%) contains 11 grams of soluble fibre. Soluble fibre helps lower cholesterol, keeps you feeling fuller for longer and is great for your digestive system.

3.) Eating dark chocolate is good for your brain

According to experts, eating chocolate is said to clear the mind and prevent the onset of dementia. In fact, a 40-year study showed that people who regularly consumed chocolate had better memory.

4.) Dark chocolate is great for our hearts

Eating dark chocolate lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. One study even linked eating chocolate five or more times a week with a more than 57% improvement in the risk of cardiovascular disease.

5.) Dark chocolate makes happier children

Who doesn''t want happy children? A Finnish scientific study has shown that mothers who consume more chocolate during pregnancy have happier and less fussy children later on.

6.) Dark chocolate contains lots of flavnoids

Flavonoids are powerful natural antioxidants that lower blood pressure, regulate cholesterol levels and have a positive effect on maintaining the health of blood vessels.

7.) Dark chocolate is great for our skin

Due to the phenolic and catechin content (two naturally occurring antioxidants in cocoa), eating dark chocolate protects us from sunburn.

8.) Dark chocolate is a natural stress reliever

Dark chocolate has been shown to reduce stress hormone levels.

9.) Young children actually don''t like the bitter taste of cocoa in dark chocolate and therefore won''t share it with us - More for us! ;)

Summarised from: HuffingtonPost.com