Denossed for decades because it was made with too much sugar and butter, high-cocoa, low-sugar chocalate is a healthy food, to the point that some nutritionists recommend eating it often.

It’s funny how, over the years, the perception we have about certain foods changes.

Until very recently coffee or chocolate were considered harmful to health, and doctors restricted its use.

But now the many benefits of coffee have been discovered, and something similar is happening with the chocolate.

In this case, there is an evolutionary factor: years ago almost all industrial chocolate was manufactured with lots of sugar and cocoa butter, and that was detrimental to health.

But now consumers ask that the chocolate has a high percentage of cocoa, with little sugar and even without added sugars. And this type of chocolate is healthy.

According to the nutritional website Eat this, not That!, a study published in the medical journal The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, concludes that Consuming 85% cocoa chocolate improves mood and intestinal flora.

The study was carried out with a group of young people, between 20 and 30 years old. One group consumed 70% cocoa chocolate every day for 3 weeks. Another drank 85% cocoa chocolate.

Afterwards, their state of mind was analyzed according to the PANAS scientific index, and those who had consumed the chocolate with 85% cocoa obtained better scores in this test. That is to say, their mood had improved further.

The study also explains why this occurs.

Cocoa fiber is a prebiotic food, that is, it serves as food for the bacteria in our digestive system, improving their health.

Diverse studies have shown the relationship between the state of health of the bacterial flora of our body, and the state of mind.

The cocoa fiber improves the bacterial flora and with it, our mood. So it is not a myth: eating chocolate with 85% cocoa helps fight discouragement and depression, and incidentally improves our intestinal flora.

But be careful: not all cocoa is the same. Two chocolates may be 85% cocoa, but one may have more cocoa butter and less fiber than the other.

Always look at the label and buy the one with the highest percentage of fiber or cocoa mass.