No More Excuses ~ Why You Should Drink More Hot Chocolate

Are you one of those people looking for another great excuse to eat chocolate, or to sip on another cup of hot chocolate?  

Well, I am.  I love dark chocolate especially.  My husband's favorite is white chocolate, but I'm slowly converting him over to the dark side.  The darker the better.  Read on to discover why you should drink more hot chocolate without excuses.

Years ago I recall going through a Farmer's Market in WA state.  There was a vendor there that was serving all kinds of garlic flavored dips.  He said, "Oh, don't worry about the garlic smell on your breath from my dips.  Just go 3 doors down and make sure you taste the dark chocolate samples and the garlic smell will disappear."  Sounded like a plan to me.  Now, you have to understand one thing. I Hate garlic. Period.  But I also know of the tremendous health benefits one can get from eating 1 fresh clove of garlic daily.  So I do, but I still don't like it. Well, we went 3 doors down, sampled the darkest of dark chocolate, loved it, and tested out the garlic guy's theory.  Sure enough.  It really works.  So each day after eating our 1 clove of fresh garlic daily, we top it off with a few dark chocolate covered almonds, and wahlah, no more garlic breath.

Recently a Harvard Medical School study showed that drinking two or more cups of cocoa daily can improve one's memory.  60 people with the average age of 73, were given 2 cups of cocoa a day for 30 consecutive days.  At the end of the study all but 5 showed improved blow flow to the brain and significant improvement with their memory.  Another study shows how a certain cocoa extract called Lavado actively helps fight Alzheimer's disease.  You can read more here.

Another recent study showed how cocoa can aid in weight loss.  Cocoa has the ability to boost endorphins, helps brain function and puts one in a more positive mood.  I can certainly attest to both of these. Despite the over eating of the calculated servings on our dark chocolate almonds, my husband and I are losing weight.  When we feel very anxious, upset, frustrated etc., we will eat 5-10 of these delicious dark chocolate covered almonds, are moods are nearly 100% more positive and happier.  More information can be found here.  In addition, cocoa has been helpful in reducing blood pressure, benefiting the heart and vascular function.  Click here for info.

Cocoa is loaded with minerals such as iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc.  It has more antioxidants than red wine per same serving size.  It is almost twice that of red wine, and 2-3 times stronger than green tea, and 5-7 times stronger than black tea.  When purchasing cocoa powder, try to avoid those that have undergone Dutch Processing.  That takes all the good stuff out.

If you are looking for an excuse to drink more hot chocolate, made from the dark cocoa powder, then here you have it.  From the above to other benefits such as strengthening teeth, being kind to diabetics, preventing cancer, protecting skin, then stop looking for excuses to not drink it, because now you have many reason to drink a cup or two of hot chocolate a day.

One way to help increase the health benefits of your everyday hot chocolate mix, add cacao powder, (in it's raw form) or cacao nibs.  What we like to do is buy the high content cacao chocolate bars and add a square to our regular hot chocolate as it is heating up.  You can find our hot chocolate mix here.
We especially love drinking them out of these Serafino glasses by Ozeri.  They are so perfect, as they don't burn our hands, look awesome, and pretty much unbreakable, but looks and feels like glass.