GIMDES Scientific Board Report
Chocolate is a food that is frequently consumed in daily life without knowing its harms and dangers. Although chocolate, whose main ingredient is cocoa, has very little benefit to human health, it can have harmful effects on our body when not consumed in a balanced way.
Harms of Chocolate: Although chocolate is defined as a food that gives happiness, you can face its harms when consumed too much. Therefore, as with every food, it is necessary to ensure a balanced consumption for chocolate. Otherwise, the harms of chocolate will start to make themselves felt physically. Especially people with heart, sugar (diabetes), cholesterol diseases should definitely be careful about their chocolate consumption. Excessive consumption can cause heart rhythm disorders. Since it contains saturated fat, it can trigger heart diseases. It can cause vascular occlusion. It has a very high addiction rate due to the caffeine it contains. Although it is an energy-giving food, insomnia can occur when consumed too much. It can accelerate weight gain when consumed excessively. When chocolate, which contains too much fat and sugar, is consumed, your oral and dental health can be at risk. Chocolate, which is consumed with pleasure by people of all age groups, can cause stomach discomfort. Chocolate consumption is limited especially for those with stomach discomfort. People with conditions such as reflux and ulcers should be careful about chocolate consumption. The way chocolate affects the human body is different depending on its fat content and cocoa ratio. The harms can manifest themselves in different ways depending on the consumption of dark, milk and white chocolate.
Benefits of Chocolate: Chocolate, which helps the secretion of the happiness hormone known as serotonin, is beneficial for human psychology. When you consume chocolate when you are unhappy, you feel much better. At the same time, chocolate contains anandamine, which stimulates the nervous system and helps you relax. When you consume chocolate without overdoing it during the day, you can enter a calmer mood. One of the benefits of chocolate is that it gives energy. Among the harms of chocolate to the stomach, the stomach acid rate of people with these conditions is especially negatively affected. Chocolate, which contains caffeine, increases stomach acid. Since it also causes the stomach muscles to relax, diseases such as reflux and ulcers occur much more easily. It is important for diabetics to consume it under the supervision of a doctor.
Although children love to consume chocolate, it is a food that children should not consume too much because it contains caffeine. Its acidic structure also causes early tooth decay in children.
