Yes it can! (in moderation as always!).
Dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols, a beneficial plant chemical, which is linked to a whole range of health benefits... including better gut health.
Polyphenols are found in a range of plants, not just dark chocolate!
Polyphenols give plants their colour (hence where the 'eat the rainbow' saying comes in!) and there are thousands of them! There is lots of emerging research on their health benefits (including heart & mental health) so it’s super important we're eating a range of plants to reap their amazing benefits.
Here are my top 5 ways to get more polyphenols into your everyday diet...
Add two more - try adding two new veggies to your weekly shop that you either haven't tried before or for a while.
Count colours - could you add one more colour to your next meal? Ideally we need to be eating all the colours from the rainbow each day!
Eat seasonally - not only is this better for the environment but eating seasonally is a super handy way to get a more diverse range of plants into your diet. Getting a veggie box can be useful for this too.
Make plants the star of your plate - absolutely fine to add fish or meat but try starting with an interesting veggie dish first and build up your plate from there.
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on meals - EVOO is super healthy, tasty, a great anti-inflammatory and contains polyphenols too. Most of my meals end up with a drizzle of EVOO at the end :)
