Isdarkchocolatehealthy?Yes,darkchocolatehascompounds(化合物)thatofferhealthbenefitsandcanbeenjoyedwithoutguilt,evenonadailybasis.Buttheamountmatters,sincetoomanybitescancontributetoextrafat,sugarandcaloriesandgetridofitshealthbenefits.
Darkchocolateisrichincocoa,whichcontainscompoundsknownasflavanols(黄烷醇).Athighlevels,cocoaflavanolshavebeenshowntohelplowerbloodpressureandtheriskofdiabetes.Darkchocolatehasthehighestquantityofcocoaflavanols,milkchocolatehasless,andwhitechocolatehasnone.
Butwhilecocoaflavanolsindarkchocolatemakeitahealthfultreat,theygiveitabitterflavour.Producersmayprocesschocolatetomakeitmoredelicious,butdoingsocanremovesomeofthesebeneficialcompounds,saidMattHartings,anAmericanprofessor.Inspiteofthis,darkchocolateisstillahealthierchoicethanmilkchocolate,whichtendstohavemoresugar.Additionally,cocoapowdercontainsminerals.Soyoucanenjoyapieceofdarkchocolateevenafterameal.Justkeepthefollowinginmind.
First,buychocolatethathasatleast60%cocoa.“Generallyspeaking,thehigherthepercentage,themoreflavanols.Thesehigher-percentagechocolateshavemorebenefitthanmilkandwhitechocolatesbecausetheycontainlesssugarandlessfat,”Hartingssaid.
Second,ifpossible,choosenaturalcocoaoverDutchprocessedcocoa,whichistreatedwithanalkali(碱).Thisgiveschocolateamilderflavourbutremoveshealthfulflavanols.
Andfinally,tokeepweightincheck,limitto30gramsofdarkchocolatedaily,orabout150calories.
1.Darkchocolateishealthymainlybecauseoftheexistenceof .
A.richminerals
B.lesssugar
C.cocoaflavanols
D.fewercalories
2.Whatdoestheunderlinedword“treat”inParagraph3mean?
A.Somethingenjoyable.
B.Asalt-freediet.
C.Foodpaidbyothers.
D.Acureforanillness.
3.Whatcanwelearnfromthetext?
A.Cocoaflavanolsleadtohighbloodpressure.
B.Whitechocolateisgoodforhealth.
C.Onecanfeelfreetoeatdarkchocolate.
D.Alkalicanaffectflavanols‘content.
4.What‘stheauthor‘spurposeinwritingthetext?
A.Toshowhislovefordarkchocolate.
B.Topromotethesalesofchocolate.
C.Toprovidefactsaboutdarkchocolate.
D.Tomakeadistinctionamongchocolates.
