A support worker told me this week that dark chocolate is good for the liver which made me decide to do some research to find out more.

I then discovered that it is true! As it can help people that have liver cirrhosis, and this reason is because this type of chocolate slows down its progress.

Then the reason is because of the antioxidants that are found in dark chocolate which are called flavonoids, polyphenols, and catechins.

Also, why bodies do have a need for antioxidants is because they can have a positive effect on people’s health. As giving a couple of reasons on what they can do is that they can keep the blood vessels healthy, and they also keep the liver cleansed as well. It’s also claimed as well that this type of chocolate can even help with weight loss, and it can improve the blood flow too, by expanding the blood vessels (which is how they keep the blood vessels healthy. As when a person does eat dark chocolate, their body then produces nitric acid. Consuming dark chocolate regularly can also lower blood pressure, as well as cholesterol and may even benefit the good bacteria in our gut. The food is also good for hearts in other ways too.

As the antioxidants, in dark chocolate can raise the level of HDL and as dark chocolate also contains polyphenols it can also protect LDL from oxidization.

Consuming dark chocolate can also protect the skin from sun damage. Then for weight loss people just need to eat a square by letting it melt in their mouths before consuming a meal. As doing so can make a person eat less as they may feel fuller.

It can also improve the function of brains too. Then this is because it may have an effect on a hormone, that is called leptin. However, there are other hormones that are involved with metabolism too, and their names are:

Cholecystokinin, Gastrin, Ghrelin, Glucagon-like peptide 1 or GLP-1, and Peptide YY. Leptin is known to have the ability to communicate to the brain that its body feels full as part of this hormone’s job is to maintain its body’s normal weight.

However, leptin can also communicate with the pancreas too. As both need leptin to be able to communicate clearly with them: so that the brain knows that its body has eaten or stored enough energy, and that the pancreas knows that it has produced enough insulin.

Though it has also been discovered that this hormone has some sort of involvement with cardiovascular health, reproductive function, and sex hormones.

Leptin also has something to do with the immune and adrenal functions too and that’s not all as it also has some sort of involvement with the functioning of the thyroid: and stress, as well as bone health, cancer, and inflammation.

This rather important hormone was first discovered back in 1994 and people who want to improve their health need to be aware: that to avoid problems with leptin that they need to control their eating habits.

As some people either overeat or don’t eat enough, and it was discovered that this effects the amount of leptin inside a person’s body.

Ingredients:

1 brown onion (grated)

2 carrots (grated)

2 zucchinis (grated)

500 grams chicken mince

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons mixed herbs

2 teaspoons keens curry powder

2 teaspoons coconut aminos

4 sheets puff pastry

Method:

1 Grate the brown onion, two carrots, and the two zucchinis and then put the grated vegetables in a mixing bowl.

2 Then add the mince, then the garlic, mixed herbs, and coconut aminos, then the curry and give it all a good mix.

3. Next, get a thawed pastry sheet, and cut in half then create a line of the meat along one of the edges of one of the long sides of the pastry.

4. Also, as you are rolling up the pastry, pull of the plastic off the pastry.

5. When the sausage roll has been rolled up, place it on a sheet of baking paper that has been put on a baking tray.

6. Then place the two trays of sausage rolls, in an oven that has it temperature set on two hundred degrees then cook it in the oven for twenty-five to thirty minutes.

There are a lot of recipes that contain some form of chocolate whether it is dairy milk or white chocolate and there is even caramilk now which is caramel chocolate. Though the best and healthiest type of chocolate to eat is dark chocolate.

It also needs to be at least, seventy percent cocoa. As anything less than that will have too much fat and sugar and is probably why it tastes bitter, and also the bitterness is why some people either don’t mind or don’t like.

Then the health benefits that dark chocolate has is mainly because it contains flavonoids, which is an antioxidant and there are various compounds, in flavonoids.

Flavonoids can also be found in foods like fruits, and vegetables and it can also be found in wine and tea. It has also been discovered that consuming small amounts of dark chocolate can either reduce or put a stop to those cravings for sugary or salty foods. It has also been discovered that dark chocolate, lowers the risk of having a stroke and it also lowers the risk of becoming, insulin resistant too.

Though, the advice that people with bladder problems or incontinence are given is to not eat or drink anything that contains caffeine.