Chocolate or Vanilla: Team Chocolate!

Some people love spicy food while others won’t touch the stuff. Some people will only root for the Chicago Cubs while others bleed for the Chicago White Sox. The biggest area of division, we’ve found, has been in those that like chocolate or vanilla, but never both.

Being that chocolate and vanilla are both great on their own merits, what makes one better than the other? Is it even possible to know? Well, it turns out that there are quite a few reasons why you might be better off reaching for chocolate at your next meal. Let’s take a look at three reasons why chocolate is the premier flavor to savor:

Chocolate can help keep your heart healthy

While your doctor likely won’t be prescribing you chocolate anytime soon, the tasty treat does indeed have health benefits. A nine-year study done by a group of Swedish scientists found that chocolate could lay claim to some pretty impressive cardiovascular benefits. The patients in the study were prescribed a square of dark chocolate per day. The scientists found that those who kept with the serving were one third less likely to suffer from a stroke. The reason? Flavonoids. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidant compounds that keep your veins and arteries healthy and pumping. Vanilla might taste good, but it won’t be saving your life anytime soon. Reach for Asher’s chocolate covered potato chips for your next snack!

Chocolate will help you lose weight

While both chocolate and vanilla can boast health benefits in the area of weight loss, it is chocolate that seems to have the bigger impact. Vanilla beans contain a group of vitamins that help regulate your body metabolism. Chocolate does this as well, but in a more effective fashion. Dark chocolate, like Asher’s dark chocolate nonpareils, has been found to help satiate cravings for salty, fatty, and super sweet foods. Dark chocolate will also keep you full longer, thus stopping you from over indulging at your next meal. There are also powerful flavonoids in your favorite chocolates that help reduce the likelihood of insulin spikes that have been the bane to so many people looking to drop weight. Vanilla does some good stuff but chocolate comes out in full force to treat you right.

Chocolate makes you feel good

There is a chemical in your brain by the name of dopamine. When this chemical is flowing regularly you hardly notice it is there on a moment-to-moment basis. However, when your dopamine flow is stymied then you will really understand its importance. Essentially dopamine makes you feel good and chocolate helps keep the production of that dopamine up. Healthy dopamine production helps your overall mood while aiding in the prevention of certain diseases, like Parkinson’s. If you want to keep the good feelings flowing, keep quality dark chocolate in your diet. Scientists suggest dark chocolate that is at least 60% pure cocoa for maximum benefits.

As you can see both chocolate and vanilla offer some nice things to your body as a result of regular consumption. While vanilla is helpful, and does some of the things chocolate does for you, chocolate just does them all better. In the matchup of chocolate or vanilla, at Asher’s we’re team chocolate! Visit Asher’s today to order your favorite chocolate treats!