Cupid will be out and about this month delivering his ultimate temptation: Chocolate!  Yes, February is time for Chocolate–sweets for the sweetie.  I came across this article about Chocolate and Your Skin and it put a smile on my face.
 
Chocolate and Your Skin:
 
You heard right. When eaten, flavanol-rich cocoa, the main ingredient in dark chocolate, improves skin’s texture, thickness, hydration, and blood flow. It may even boost your skin’s defense against the sun by up to 25 percent! How? It packs serious antioxidant power. Just don’t overdo it — chocolate is high in fat and calories, too. And you still need to wear sunscreen every day.
 
Chocolate’s good for your skin? Yes, it’s true! Antioxidant compounds in cocoa, called flavanols, improve artery health by boosting blood flow, and the boost may be good for skin, too.
 
Researchers discovered this chocolate benefit in a study of women who consumed half a cup of cocoa (containing 329 milligrams of flavanols per serving, the amount in a 3-½ ounce serving of dark chocolate) daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the women experienced less skin dryness, scaling, and roughness compared to the beginning of the study. Also, their skin was thicker, exhibited improved blood flow, and was even more resistant to sun damage. Pretty amazing. 

Despite this good news, don’t toss your sunscreen out the window and indulge in mass quantities of chocolate! Consume the sweets in moderation and apply sunscreen every day when you’ll be outdoors for 20 minutes or more.
 
Until next week, have a wonderful day.
  
Juliette
Live Well, Feel Good, Look Great, & Prosper!

This entry was posted by Juliette Decena on February 12th, 2007 under Beauty and Style with keywords .

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