Chocolate is a ‘cannot-be-turned-away’ food item, which appeases taste-buds of all ‘cadres(the young and the old, the male and the female, the rich and the poor). This is one ‘delicacy’, which is rich in all makes and flavor and melts down with a trail (that leaves your tongue scraping at every nook and cranny of the palate…and this is no ‘tongue in cheek’ claim!). If you want to add health to it, there is some valuable tip for the chocoholics to make chocolates healthy.

There is no reason to be dumbstruck about health quotients being carried by chocolates. Chocolates are made from cocoa beans, which is actually a fruit. And as all fruits of nature bear in them a ‘world of health and goodness’, so does cocoa. Cocoa is a fort of antioxidants rating the highest amongst all the other known fruits of nature. Additionally, it is also a rich source of magnesium, sulphur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese and some B vitamins. Biflavanoids especially the flavanols are present in high quantities in cocoa, which is an antioxidant necessary for heart-health. Moving from the heart to the brain; cocoa is rich in tryptophan, which is important for the brain neurotransmitter serotonin- that keeps your  mind stable and also reduces the incidence of mood swings. There are also other natural chemical substances in cocoa, which can promote mental alertness and also delay the onset of dementia.
Over and above all, cocoa’s nature of antioxidants is more stable and can be easily absorbed by the body.
Cocoa, the seed of chocolates- with a mine of nutrients, to help in the making of healthy chocolates… Can chocolates be weaned away from the ‘epithet’ of sinful indulgence?
How to make chocolates healthy? The right ‘breed’ of chocolates can reap multifold health benefits. Dark chocolates during the chocolate-making process, do not get added with (contains less depending upon the manufacturer) sugar or milk additives (which  explains the bitter taste and dark color of the product). These additives add up to unwanted fat and calories.
Healthy hot chocolates can be made from cocoa powder.  The cocoa powder is obtained from the process of cocoa bean –to- cocoa liquor-to –cocoa cake-to- cocoa powder. The cocoa cake also known as cocoa solids can be made into pieces (chips) or finely powdered to give an unsweetened cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is one way to make chocolates healthy.
Cocoa powder can be used to make hot chocolates or chocolate syrups and here are a few tips on how to use these:
•    Hot chocolate can be added to drinks to give a dash of the chocolat-ee flavor.
•    Chocolate syrups can be used in many a baking recipe, to make chocolates healthy by baking it the healthy way!
•    Chocolate syrup can also be drizzled over your desserts such as ice –creams or pastry.

The essence of Dark chocolates
Dark chocolates as mentioned are healthy and one way to add this health factor to your diet is by sprinkling dark chocolate chips on ice creams, bakes, frosting etc.

The good news for chocoholics is that there is a way out to make chocolates healthy and revel in a ‘health-spirited’, tasty munch than a hazardous sinful indulgence.

Photo Courtesy: healthyindulgences.blogspot.com