If you’re serious about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, chances are you’ve read about some of the popular supplements and compounds on the market today. With all the supposed miracle supplements constantly finding their way into health magazines, it can be hard to figure out what’s really worth it and what’s simply a scam. Cocoa flavanols have become a hot subject in recent years because of their potential health benefits. If you’re having trouble deciding whether or not cocoa flavanols are worth it in baking cakes like baking cocoa vs cocoa powder. here’s what you should know.
What Are Cocoa Flavanols?
Flavanols are compounds that you can find in all sorts of different plants. In most cases, these flavanols are designed to protect the plant in one way or another. While many plants contain flavanols, some of the foods with the highest levels of flavanols include red wine, apples, green tea and dark chocolate.
Cocoa flavanols are found in high levels in cocoa beans and cocoa powder, which is why dark chocolate is high in flavanols. While these flavanols are always going to be present in foods like dark chocolate, the type of cocoa bean used and the way it was processed has a huge effect on flavanol levels. There are high flavanol cocoa powder brands that are specifically designed to provide you with the most cocoa flavanols.
Getting Cocoa Flavanols
You might think that incorporating cocoa flavanols into your diet is as simple as eating more chocolate, but that’s not generally the case. The fact of the matter is, most of the chocolate you buy at the store is made with a lot of ingredients aside from cocoa powder. What this means is that you end up with a chocolate bar that’s loaded in calories and sugar that aren’t naturally found in cocoa powder.
Cocoa powder and cocoa flavanol supplements are the best ways to get more cocoa flavanols in your diet. The levels at which these flavanols are found in chocolate make it a lot harder to eat enough to see real benefits. However, chocolate is still an option if you’re not particularly fond of supplements or straight cocoa powder. Just make sure you opt for a dark chocolate bar that’s made with a high percentage of cocoa powder.
Finding a Good Cocoa Powder
The truth of the matter is, there are a lot of potential benefits when it comes to cocoa flavanols. These compounds can help protect your cardiovascular health and improve your brain function, and they’re not particularly bad for you in any other way. However, those benefits go out the window if you’re taking a supplement that’s packed with sugar.
If you want to find a good cocoa powder to use a supplement, you need to look at some of the high flavanol cocoa powder brands. As we previously mentioned, the type of cocoa bean and the way it’s processed can have a big effect on flavanol levels. There are numerous brands of cocoa powder that are specifically designed to be used as supplements. These brands are high in flavanols without all the extra crud that can bog you down. If you do plan on shopping for a cocoa powder brand that’s high in flavanols, make sure you compare the amount of flavanol in various supplements to make sure you’re getting the best one.
Being healthy is no small feat, but there are lots of supplements that can give you a helping hand. If you want to protect your cardiovascular health and improve your brain function without all the negative side effects, you should look into a high flavanol cocoa powder brand that you can take regularly as a supplement.