{"id":3797,"date":"2012-09-10T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:41","slug":"whats-your-chocolate-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/whats-your-chocolate-blog-hop\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Your Chocolate Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I’m trying something new for me, a Blog Hop. If you’re new to this too, a blog hop is an easy way to discover new people with a common interest and read some great posts. This time, we’re all talking about our love affair with chocolate and invite you to join in through the comments. Below my article is a list of links to other hoppers, this same list appears on all the hop stops. Here, have a brownie, read my article, leave a comment if you like, then click a link in the list to go there. Repeat as often as you like or until you’ve visited them all.<\/em><\/p>\n

My Favorite Chocolate<\/h2>\n

\"chocolate,I love dark chocolate.\u00a0 Yes, I know: to most of you this qualifies me as a psychopath.\u00a0 “Normal” people prefer the sweetness of milk chocolate.\u00a0 Be that as it may, I remain committed to the dark variety.\u00a0 But then, even though I’m a Southerner, I don’t drink Sweet Tea and I prefer the taste of a diet soda over regular just because I can’t handle the syrupy sweetness. In the meals that we cook we reduce or eliminate sugar.\u00a0 It’s what we’re accustomed to.<\/p>\n

My favorite every-day treats are Hershey’s Nuggets: Special Dark with Almonds<\/a>.\u00a0 I keep a canister of these on the counter in the kitchen, and use them as a reward to myself for having completed all my tasks for the day and behaved myself.\u00a0 On special occasions I may receive Ghirardelli <\/strong><\/a>or Toblerone<\/em><\/a> bars.<\/p>\n

Chocolate Benefits<\/h2>\n
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  • Aside from tasting incredible, dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and low in sugar – making it a health-food. (wink)<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate also contains several chemical compounds that have a positive effect on your mood and cognitive health.<\/li>\n
  • Studies show that eating small amounts of dark chocolate can help lower your blood pressure.<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate improves blood flow and may help prevent the formation of blood clots. Eating dark chocolate may also prevent arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate increases blood flow to the brain as well as to the heart, so it can help improve cognitive function.<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate also helps reduce your risk of stroke.<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate helps keep your blood vessels healthy and your circulation unimpaired to protect against type 2 diabetes.<\/li>\n
  • The flavonoids in dark chocolate also help reduce insulin resistance by helping your cells to function normally and regain the ability to use your body’s insulin efficiently.<\/li>\n
  • Unlike milk chocolate, dark chocolate also has a low glycemic index, meaning it won’t cause huge spikes in blood sugar levels.<\/li>\n
  • Dark chocolate contains theobromine, which has been shown to harden tooth enamel. That means that dark chocolate, unlike most other sweets, lowers your risk of getting cavities if you practice proper dental hygiene.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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