The Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Once again I had a pretty good diet and exercise day. I was back into my normal routine and feeling pretty good, so had no trouble sticking to my normal diet. Almost perfect nutrient balance, high in fibre, enough fruit and veg . . . could have done with a smaller helping of dark chocolate last night, but having four squares instead of 2 squares is only an extra 100 calories on a day where I did a workout, so I’m not too bothered.

Actually, having dark chocolate on a regular basis is recommended by doctors to help prevent heart disease and some cancers. Cocoa powder is high in flavonols and polyphenols, substances that are powerful antioxidants. This means they clean up the free radicals caused by sunlight, pollution and our own body’s metabolic processes. Left unchecked, these highly reactive molecules can damage the DNA of cells which slows down healing and can ultimately lead to cancer and heart disease. When you exercise your body produces more free radicals because all your metabolic processes speed up to provide enough energy to fuel your workout. So for athletes, getting plenty of antioxidants is essential to prevent more free radical damage and to speed up the recovery process. As well, the flavonoids in dark chocolate also have anti-inflammatory properties which mean they help reduce the swelling caused by hard exercise, reducing next day muscle soreness.

If it weren’t quite so high in fat (and therefore calories) chocolate really would be a guilt free food!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
1900.09	119.13g	221.52g	61.09g	0	41.26g
	25%	47%	29%
Calories burned through exercise:		351

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:45	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson's Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Sainsbury's Freefrom oats	50g
	with Sultanas	20g
	and walnuts	10g
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:30	Black Tea	500mL
10:30	Brazil nuts	6g
	Cashews	17g
	Cox Apple	117g
	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
11:45	Herbal fruit tea	250mL
13:00	Genius brown bread toast	1 Slice
	Heinz Beanz, reduced sugar and salt	200g
	Spinach leaves	30g
	Raw tomato	57g
	Kraft Light Honey Mustard dressing	10g
	Wensleydale with cranberries	23g
	Brie	26g
13:30	Green Tea	250mL
14:00	Weight routine
	Lemon lime Nuun electrolyte tablet in water	750mL
15:30	Sponser Chocolate Recovery Shake	30g
	in Skim milk	225mL
18:45	Twinings Camomile, honey and vanilla tea	250mL
20:00	Quick cook Turkey Steak	88g
	Merchant Gourmet tinned puy lentils	100g
	Boiled carrots	75g
	Frozen peas	85g
	Ocean Spray Smooth cranberry sauce	20g
	Bisto Best Chicken Gravy	about 5g
20:45	Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate	40g

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.