Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings South Jersey

Eat Some Chocolate Each Day to Help Keep Your Doctor Away

Feb 28, 2022 09:00AM ● By Nancy Seigle

by Jaycee Miller 

   There are several benefits to eating chocolate, according to Mike Collins, co-owner of Brooks Collins Chocolate. 

   According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, many products with chocolate have “antioxidants and heart-healthy qualities,” Chocolate can also help stave off diabetes, enhance brain function, and lower stress levels. 

   However, not all chocolate is the same when it comes to providing health benefits, Collins says. Dark chocolate is the healthiest when compared to white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate, he explains, adding that an easy way to gauge how healthy and dark a chocolate product is looking at the amount of cocoa it contains.    

   “The higher the cocoa content, the better it is for you. Something that contains 70 percent cocoa will taste very bitter, but it is better for your health and wellness,” Collins says. “Most white chocolate is not good for you. Although milk chocolate has some benefits, they are nowhere near what you would get from dark chocolate.” 

   Although dark chocolate is better for you than the other types of chocolate, it does not mean one should start gorging on dark chocolate candy bars filled with fillings like caramel and nougat every day. But rest assured, most people can have more than a pea-sized piece of dark chocolate daily.  

   Chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate-covered blueberries have become increasingly popular in New Jersey over the past few years. The former fruit can help increase good cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and help protect against cancer. The latter fruit helps manage blood pressure and can assist those with diabetes in bringing the condition under control, that website also says. 

   “Lately, I’ve also noticed people putting spices into their chocolate to make it spicy,” Collins adds. “Chocolate bombs, whereby a round ball of chocolate the width of a coffee mug is dropped into a mug of hot milk, are also gaining in popularity.”  

   Collins says he has seen chocolate-coated-just-about-everything in his 30 years of making sweet treats. The “most bizarre food item” he has seen covered in chocolate is beef jerky. 

Brooks Collins Chocolates,​​ 1522 Rte. 206, Ste. B, in Tabernacle. For more information, visit www.BBChocolates.com

Jaycee Miller is a freelance writer and researcher living in New Jersey.  

 

 

 

Read the Current Issue
Stay Connected

 

Nap Less For Heart Health