Chocolate contains numerous properties that make it a great ally for sports practice. Do you want to know what they are?
Who doesn’t love a little chocolate? Well, all athletes are in luck since chocolate and sport complement each other perfectly and form a combination that brings many benefits to the athlete. Do you want to know what they are? Continue reading!
Fight fatigue
Chocolate contains a high percentage of carbohydrates, which makes it a super food to take before facing a workout. But in addition, chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a compound that serves as a neurotransmitter and helps the brain to generate a state of satisfaction, very useful when it comes to recovering energy after a workout.
Natural anti-inflammatory
Recently Louisiana State University (USA) found that good gut microbes, such as bifidibacteria and lactic acid bacteria, feed on dark chocolate, growing and fermenting compounds that are anti-inflammatory. In the same way, the high amount of magnesium present in pure chocolate makes it a great ally against inflammation and joint pain derived from sports. Did you know that pure chocolate is natural food with the most magnesium?
Prevents strokes
The flavonoids, present in chocolate, stimulate blood circulation reducing the risk of strokes. These compounds help regulate blood pressure and blood clots, protecting you from heart disease and strokes. In addition, these compounds have a high antioxidant effect, regenerating cells from damage caused by free radicals.
It is a natural antidepressant
Chocolate is known to improve mood, and responsible for this is phenylalanine, a substance that helps improve mood and control mood swings. Another substance that contains cocoa and helps our mood is tryptophan, which stimulates the production of serotonin.
Facilitates muscle development
Recent epicatechin studies show that the ingestion of chocolate naturally reduces myostatin, promoting increased muscle growth. In addition, epicatechin increases testosterone, a hormone that plays a very important role in making muscle fibers grow and become stronger.
However, not all the chocolate that we see in a supermarket is good and advisable for sports, since most of the chocolates that the food industry creates today have a large amount of added sugar. Therefore, if you want to enjoy the benefits of cocoa, the purer it is, the better. To this we must add a reduced dose of daily intake, or its caloric properties will unseat the benefits of chocolate.
Did you know that chocolate could help you with your sports goals?