![\"Artful](\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:222\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Artful-Pic-of-chocolate-in-form-of-a-heart-300x222.jpg?resize=300%2C222&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nIf you’ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship, don’t worry. The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news.<\/p>\n
Because February is “Heart Month” as well as the month for Valentines Day, we will give you all the reasons why this delicious food is so good for you!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The consumption of c<\/span>ocoa\u00a0<\/span>does an amazing thing. It\u00a0<\/span>encourages blood vessels to grow their way into <\/span>ca<\/span>rdiac and skeletal muscle tissue. Once those muscles have more vessels, they also have an <\/span>influx of oxygen and nutrients<\/span>\u00a0that lead to\u00a0<\/span>increased energy and <\/span>metabolism (through increased numbers and sizes of your mitochondria)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How much<\/span> of an energy boost<\/span>?\u00a0<\/span>According<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>this\u00a0<\/span>st<\/span>udy<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>cocoa<\/span> antioxidants <\/span>alone produce<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>30%<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>increase<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fatigue<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>resistance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>30%<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>increase<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>new blood<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>supply.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Even better, <\/span>the <\/span>increase <\/span>in <\/span>energy <\/span>that <\/span>you <\/span>get <\/span>from <\/span>com<\/span>bining <\/span>it <\/span>with <\/span>exercise <\/span>amounts<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>boost<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>50% more energy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How long will it take for these changes to <\/strong>occur?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>took<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>2<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>weeks<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>experimental\u00a0<\/span>animals\u00a0<\/span>to see a\u00a0<\/span>30% increase in fatigue resistance<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In a separate <\/span>study, <\/span>it <\/span>took<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>4 <\/span>weeks\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span> see<\/span> increased<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>capillaries<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mitochon<\/span>dria <\/span><\/a>appear in the muscle tissue. <\/span>And <\/span>subjects <\/span>with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>type<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>2 <\/span>diabetes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>who<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>were <\/span>administered <\/span>100<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mil<\/span>ligrams\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>cocoa <\/span>epicatechins\u00a0<\/span>per day\u00a0<\/span>for 3\u00a0<\/span>months showed\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>significant<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>increase in mitochondria<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So remember that consistency cocoa consumption is key, and chocolate can be your vehicle for that intake.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship, don’t worry. The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news. Because February is “Heart Month” as well as the month … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,529],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-cocoa","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Artful-Pic-of-chocolate-in-form-of-a-heart.jpg?fit=2013%2C1489&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-25k","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8030,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8030","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":0},"title":"Chocolate For Your Blood Pressure","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship,\u00a0don\u2019t worry.\u00a0The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news. Because February is \u201cHeart Month\u201d as well as the month for Valentines Day, we will give you all the reasons why this delicious food is so good for you! For Lower Blood\u00a0Pressure\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chocolate with Heart and Stethescope","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Chocolate-with-Heart-and-Stethescope.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Chocolate-with-Heart-and-Stethescope.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Chocolate-with-Heart-and-Stethescope.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Chocolate-with-Heart-and-Stethescope.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Chocolate-with-Heart-and-Stethescope.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8415,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8415","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":1},"title":"The Most Important Part of Your Brain That You Never Think of","author":"Will Clower","date":"August 31, 2020","format":"image","excerpt":"Your blood vessels (arteries, capillaries, and veins) carry oxygen and nutrients into your brain cells to keep them healthy. If your blood vessels are unhealthy, they can break open. This is called a stroke and can lead to permanent impairment or death. It is critical to keep blood vessels healthy.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Torn vein on a blue background with blood. The concept of medical diseases. Vein aneurysm, stroke and heart attack, blue background","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Blood-vessel-depicted-as-broken-open-e1598413704438.jpg?fit=1200%2C570&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Blood-vessel-depicted-as-broken-open-e1598413704438.jpg?fit=1200%2C570&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Blood-vessel-depicted-as-broken-open-e1598413704438.jpg?fit=1200%2C570&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Blood-vessel-depicted-as-broken-open-e1598413704438.jpg?fit=1200%2C570&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Blood-vessel-depicted-as-broken-open-e1598413704438.jpg?fit=1200%2C570&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5326,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5326","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":2},"title":"Research On Health Impact of High Cocoa Chocolate","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifty-eight million pounds! That's how much chocolate is purchased during the week of Valentine's Day. We definitely have a love affair with this confection. The question is...does it love us back? Well, the latest nutritional research has some very good news: Yes, chocolate totally loves us back. Just bear in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7770,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7770","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":3},"title":"Train Your Brain in August: With Nutrition","author":"Will Clower","date":"August 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"All month we will explore the brain. Specifically, we'll walk you through the methods for training your brain to be stronger, smarter, and faster! Your blood vessels (arteries and capillaries) carry oxygen and nutrients into your brain and then deliver them to the neurons to keep them healthy. If your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brain Food chalk board sign with food in background","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Brain-Food.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Brain-Food.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Brain-Food.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Brain-Food.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Brain-Food.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1854,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1854","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":4},"title":"“Cocoa improves men’s vascular stiffness.” Wait, whaaaaaat?","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"What kind of article is this? Lemmie splain.\u00a0First of all, cocoa doesn't come in little blue pills, this DOES have important medical relevance, and if the effect lasts for more than 4 hours it's actually a good thing.\u00a0Follow @willclowerHere's the Science-to-English translation of\u00a0this article.\u00a0The flavanol antioxidants in cocoa help keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Hemorrhagic-Stroke-228x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8010,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8010","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":5},"title":"Chocolate For Your Heart Health","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship,\u00a0don\u2019t worry.\u00a0The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news. Because February is \"Heart Month\" as well as the month for Valentines Day, we will give you all the reasons why this delicious food is so good for you! For Improved\u00a0Heart Health\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"cocoa on white background in shape of a heart","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Heartshape-in-Cocoa2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Heartshape-in-Cocoa2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Heartshape-in-Cocoa2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Heartshape-in-Cocoa2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Heartshape-in-Cocoa2.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8018"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8259,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions\/8259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Fitness](\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:199\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Man-is-fitness-clothes-eating-chocolate-300x199.jpg?resize=300%2C199&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n