13 Impressive Benefits of Cocoa Powder

Cocoa Powder amazing benefits includes stabilizing blood pressure, supporting brain health, a good source of antioxidant, maintains cholesterol level, treats diabetes, cure bronchial asthma, contain healing power, reduces obesity, strengthening cardiovascular health, a mood buster, helps treat constipation, prevent cancer, and support skin health.

What is Cocoa Powder?

‘Theobroma cacao’ is a Latin terminology for  widely known ingredient cocoa. It is fermented from the seeds of the cacao tree. Cocoa is a main manufacturing ingredient of chocolate and has incredible medical benefits with ineluctable healing power. It is a low-fat constituent of cocoa bean which is finely grounded. Naturally, cocoa is a rich substance with high minerals and nutrients providing innumerable health benefits.

Nutritional Value of Cocoa Powder

Nutritional  Facts Protein          _____  40% Calcium         _____    12 % Potassium     _____   43% Iron                 _____   75% Vitamin B6    _____     5% Magnesium  _____   124% Cholesterol   _____    0% Dietary Fiber _____   132%

13 Impressive Benefits of Cocoa Powder

With a high nutritional value, cocoa is a good source of teaching required nutrients in the body at a time. As it has a negligible level of cholesterol, cocoa is a combination of healthy saturated fats like oleic and stearic acid. Taking its nutritional value into account, below given is a list of health benefits of cocoa powder.

1. Stabilizes Blood Pressure

Cocoa powder has an inexplicable quality to stabilize blood pressure. The sufficiently present flavonoid in cocoa beans not only lowers the blood pressure but improves the elasticity of veins and blood vessels. Moreover, the antioxidants in cocoa increase the stimulation of nitric oxide to control the exerted pressure of blood vessels. On the contrary, there are certain cocoa-based products like black tea that may have some precarious effects on the normal pulse rate of blood pressure.

2. Antioxidant Capacity

According to a recent comparative medical study, cocoa evidently has a high antioxidant activity than red wine, green and black tea. Antioxidants help stimulate the oxygen-based radicals in the body. Moreover, it contains a high amount of flavonoids and phenolic phytochemicals.

3. Good for Brain Health

Cocoa powder is a flavonoid-rich ingredient that may help you maintain a healthy brain. It provides the neuroprotective benefits to enhance the brain competency, memory and learning functions. In addition to this, scientific studies advocated that cocoa-based products should be an important part of your diet to enhance blood flow and cure vascular disorders. However, excess consumption of cocoa in the caffeinated drinks may lead to severe side effects including sleeplessness and increased urination.

4. Maintains Cholesterol Level

As per recent findings, cocoa has hypocholesterolemic and hypoglycemic effects on both cholesterol level and glucose respectively. Researchers have observed a prominent reduction in LDL cholesterol, glucose level, and triglycerides in the people consuming cocoa powder. To add to it, cocoa increases the level of HDL (healthy cholesterol) in the blood which leads to diminishing the risk of heart diseases.

5. Treats Diabetes

Medical professionals consider diabetes as a silent killer that can damage your glucose metabolism.  Adding cocoa-based products in daily diet has demonstrated some noteworthy effects of improved insulin resistance and hypermetabolism of glucose in your body. This function not only helps regulate sugar levels but it contains proanthocyanidins which aid inhibits the formation of cataract which diabetes induces in the blood occasionally.

Another finding suggested that the protective antioxidant in cocoa treats long-term diabetes such as nephrotoxicity which may aggravate the diabetic complications for the patients.

6. Cure Bronchial Asthma

Cocoa is incredibly good at healing bronchial complications. The alkaloids like theophylline and xanthine are present in cocoa powder which aid relax bronchial spasm, bronchial tubes, and constricted opening.  This enhances breathing flow, cure chronic allergies leading to the severe stage of breath shortness and asthma.

7. Healing Power

Pharmaceutical companies have been using cocoa extracts for its wound-healing and therapeutic properties for manufacturing medicinal products. Scientists consider cocoa extract as an active agent that helps prevent the growth of infectious bacteria in your body. Plus, if it is taken with the appropriate medical treatment, it may aid eradicate the contagious bacteria Helicobacter pylori from your body.

8. Reduce Obesity

In consonance with some recent studies, scientists believe that cocoa has some potential benefits which prevent obesity in your body.  The regular intake of cocoa modulates lipid metabolism to reduce the synthesis of fatty acids. Besides aiding in reducing obesity, appropriate consumption of cocoa improves thermogenesis- the heat production mechanism in the liver and white adipose tissues.

9. Strengthens Cardiovascular Health

A recent study has elaborated some inevitable benefits of cocoa which help strengthen the cardiovascular health. It includes some rich catechin, epicatechin and procyanidin having antioxidant properties which protect cells and strengthen the heart. In addition to that, cocoa powder prevents fatal blood clots from blocking the blood vessels which may lead to severe cardiac failure.

10.  Mood Buster

Consuming cocoa, according to scientists can have prominent effects on your mood which help you release stress level. Its antidepressant effect facilitates certain physiological processes.  An investigated study states that flavonols in cocoa powder enhance your depressing mood by improving cognitive activities to relieve mental exertion. Plus, the presence of neurochemical phenylethylamine in cocoa powder helps enhance feelings of satisfaction and promote aphrodisiac effects simultaneously.

11. Treat Constipation

People suffering from chronic constipation can be benefitted by consuming cocoa-based products. Cocoa powder exerts therapeutic effects which help treat digestion complication and bowel function diseases. Researchers conducted a study on various pediatric patients to assess the effects of fiber-rich cocoa powder on rectal, colonic and intestinal diseases. The study found cocoa as a substance enhancing the bowel function and movement. It provides relief from gastrointestinal discomfort by softening stool consistency.

12. Prevents Cancer

Studies have shown that cocoa powder inhibits the growth of cancerous cells, also protects the growth of healthy cells.  Cocoa powder evidently exhibits anti-proliferative qualities to heal cancer with the help of procyanidins and flavonols. Particularly, it aids treat prostate and colon cancer with its effective healing power.

13. Skin Care

Cocoa is one of the natural ingredients that can be used to maintain skin health. Research findings show that flavanol in cocoa decreases the hazardous effects of ultraviolet rays and reduce scaling and roughness of skin. Moreover, it enhances skin elasticity, density, and hydration. In line with this, another study confirmed cocoa as an active stimulant of hemoglobin which in turn increases facial glow. Contrastively, Cocoa-based products can cause different skin allergies on sensitive skin. Thus, it is important to lessen its consumption if you possess skin sensitivity towards it.

Conclusion

As noted above, cocoa is a nutritionally rich substance having multiple health benefits for your body. It is considered beneficial for quick relief from high blood pressure, constipation and different cardiovascular diseases. Thus, daily intake of cocoa powder-based products can help you maintain a healthy life although it is equally significant to consider certain side effects which may exacerbate by its excessive consumption.