by Skincare-news.com team
It’s tough enough trying to find the right skin care products, but understanding all the skin care jargon can be beyond frustrating—not to mention grasping the stream of information on foods to avoid and foods to feast on that help your skin. This article clarifies a few of those jargon-y terms and the story behind chocolate’s benefits.
We crave it. We lust after it. And now after devouring a bar of rich, delectable chocolate, we may not only feel satiated but happy knowing we’ve consumed something that’s actually good for us. Chocolate is proving itself worthy of a second look, touting health benefits that are surprising for such an appetizing sweet treat. Before we begin to understand how chocolate can be healthy, it’s important to see what lies beneath that silky, mouth-watering exterior.
Believe it or not, the bean of the cacao fruit, where all those delicious treats originate, has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Fresh cacao beans are super-rich in antioxidants, containing ten thousand milligrams of flavenol antioxidants in every one hundred grams of cacao. This makes cacao beans one of the richest sources of antioxidants of any food.
What exactly are antioxidants anyway? We’ve all heard the term, and they sound beneficial, but what do they do for our skin? Antioxidants are molecules that fight and slow the oxidation process of other molecules. Oxidation in the body is a natural and necessary process, but our bodies are constantly working to keep the delicate balance to prevent too much oxidation. Unfortunately, the world we live in contains pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke, and herbicides. These environmental factors create in our bodies, unstable molecules, or free radicals. These unstable molecules, or “attack†molecules, ‘steal’ electrons from nearby stable molecules, thereby creating another free radical and starting a chain reaction, throwing off the balance of our skin. Besides causing wrinkles, loss of elasticity, and skin damage, these chain reactions of free radicals can also cause cancer.
Thank goodness for antioxidants, which save the day by donating one of their own electrons, thus neutralizing the unhealthy chain reaction of free radicals. When they donate an electron, antioxidants don’t become free radicals, because they are always stable – with or without the electron.
If the above sounded a bit too confusing, here’s a scenario many of us can relate to: Think of the process as your brother or sister who was always the peacemaker in your family. Picture this. The older brother steals the little sister’s lollipop and the little sister begins crying hysterically, thereby setting off a chain reaction of unstable family members, holding their ears, cringing at the screams, and developing headaches. The other sibling, the peacemaker, neutralizes the situation by giving the little sister his lollipop. Everyone sighs in relief. The crisis has been averted.
We can get antioxidants from a wide range of sources like fruits, vegetables, and green tea. But now we know that high levels of antioxidants are present in dark chocolate! Be advised, though, before you go and stock your shelves with candy bars and chocolately treats that preliminary research suggests milk and dairy products may impede the absorption of antioxidants – therefore taking away the health benefits that you were after in the first place. Look for chocolate with at least fifty percent cacao content for those health and skin care benefits. Don’t be fooled into thinking that dark chocolate is not as tasty as its milky counterpart. Many people prefer the dark cacao for its intense and natural woody flavor.
Can you benefit from chocolate antioxidants without putting it into your mouth? On the rare occasion that you don’t enjoy the flavor of chocolate, or if you are worried about all the sugar that’s still in the “healthy†chocolate, there are many products on the market containing the same or similar antioxidant benefits that can be applied topically. For free-radical defense, try Obagi Professional-C Serum, 15% Strength , which contains a high dose of antioxidants similar to those found naturally in dark chocolate, green tea, and other foods. Other free-radical fighting products include Cellex-C Advanced C Serum, Yonka Serum , and Bliss Sleeping Peel Serum .