Treat Your Skin To Cocoa! Here Are Some Benefits And Tips

Chocolate truly rules the world and our sweet tooth! Be it to grace a euphoric occasion or lighten your mood after a bad day, chocolate is the go-to item for many of us.

While the world is gradually and consistently coming around to the health benefits of chocolate, it began being perceived as a valued element for skincare several years back.

We all know chocolate is made from cocoa beans. Apart from its special function of producing chocolate, cocoa beans have many therapeutic and healing properties that go as far back as the old Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

Numerous ladies have already incorporated cocoa beans in their skincare schedule (cocoa powder or cocoa butter) claiming that it moisturizes the skin while additionally loaning a shine.

Thus, we started pondering exactly why many people are crazy about it. After all, you can't put anything on your face without knowing it right?  

Do you know?

The Latin name for cocoa is Theobroma cacao, which means "food of gods." The cocoa beans are matured seeds of the cacao tree, which is local to the Amazon region and develops in several tropical climates.  

Cocoa Benefits For Skin:

Preferred for skin over a sugar-stuffed chocolate bar, cocoa beans are a valued product for your skin. Cocoa beans are rich in antioxidants as a published study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry backs that cocoa has more phenolic phytochemicals and a higher antioxidant capacity than dark tea and green tea!

Be it cocoa butter or cocoa powder or any other extracted product from cocoa beans; it will showcase the benefits mentioned below. The sooner you begin exploiting the advantages of cocoa beans, the sooner you'll start to see your skin upgrade itself. 

1. COCOA IS AN ANTIOXIDANT POWERHOUSE

Cocoa is copious in antioxidant flavonoids, which are called flavanols. Studies have shown that flavonoids mend the damage caused by UV daylight and ecological toxins. As revealed in the Journal of Nutrition, numerous researchers have investigated the bioactive amalgam of cocoa and its effect on skin wellbeing. Additionally, the utilization of cocoa determined phytochemicals as a viable methodology for skin protection.  

2. COCOA RESTORES A YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE  

One key motivation to apply cocoa on the skin is to handle UV harm done by the sun. How does this work? One of the cocoa's components is theobromine, which acts as a vasodilator that assists with blood flow in the skin's surface. This expanded blood flow helps with preventing the skin from drying out. The same blood flow will deal with the aging effects of UV beams by healing and renewing the skin giving it a radiant and youthful appearance. 

Did you know -

Products extracted from cocoa beans, such as dark chocolate and cocoa refreshments, have numerous medical advantages. They assist in insulin resistance, blood pressure, obesity, blood lipids, and cognitive performance. 

3. TRAVEL BACK IN TIME WITH COCOA  

Assisting with alleviating wrinkles is just one advantage of cocoa. Effective application is also known to help diminish scars, especially the kind of scars known as contracture scarring. 

4. SMILE WITH A COCOA MASK

Several individuals benefit their skin by adopting cocoa powder; however, applying it as a face mask will bring quicker and more effective outcomes. Utilizing a cocoa powder face mask to build blood flow will help hydrate the skin and relieve the cell breakdown that leads to aging.

Another advantage of cocoa is that it contains vitamin E, which is known to support collagen creation. Collagen is the thing that keeps your skin moisturized and gives skin its flexibility. The aging cycle exhausts the collagen level, making the skin dry and wrinkly.  

Do you know-

Cocoa beans are stuffed with minerals including copper, iron, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.  

Cocoa Benefits on the Brain

Apart from the skin, cocoa has numerous benefits on the brain and body; raw cocoa contains numerous compounds that can benefit your psyche. The mood hoist in the chocolate discharges the main feel great chemicals in your cerebrum, serotonin and dopamine. The mood-elevating effect is likewise due to cocoa being a stimulant just as it has a proclivity to deliver endorphins. Cocoa greatly affects the chemistry of your brains, diminishing pressure hormones.  

Cocoa Benefits on your Body

So, the antioxidants present in plants prevent their cells from "premature destruction" caused by exposure to moisture, air, heat, and light. These cell reinforcements do the same for your body also! They shield the body from early aging and help to lessen the likeliness of certain illnesses.

Cocoa forestalls heart diseases since it can lower down cholesterol, raise healthy cholesterol, and stops blood thickening in the arteries. These amalgams additionally help to lower blood pressure and build blood flow. Due to these reasons, dark chocolate could be amazingly useful for the heart.  

Heard about cocoa butter?

Cocoa butter is a staple in maximum skin creams and other healthcare products. Unlike the tasty cocoa butter in your pastry, the one in your skincare has huge benefits. Cocoa butter is a kind of fat that originates from cocoa beans. To channel the cocoa butter, the beans are removed from the bigger cacao plant. Then, they're cooked, stripped, and squeezed to extract the fat. The leftovers are then prepared into cocoa powder.  

What are the advantages of cocoa butter?

Cocoa butter is filled with fatty acids, which is why it's frequently promoted for its capacity to hydrate and support the skin and improve flexibility. The fat in cocoa butter shapes a defensive barrier over the skin to hold in moisture.

It is additionally plenteous in plant extracts called phytochemicals. These substances may improve blood flow to the skin and moderate skin aging by shielding against the UV rays' harm.

Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, a board-certified dermatologist, recommends applying cocoa butter on your hands and feet right after your bath as water tends to dry your skin. Even after every cleansing course of your day, use cocoa butter, she adds.

One customary use of cocoa butter is to minimize wrinkles, scars, and other marks on the skin. Several pregnant women use cocoa butter creams and lotions to forestall and limit the presence of stretch marks. It has likewise been recommended to deal with rashes from conditions like dermatitis or eczema.  

Pro Tip:

Although you can find the cocoa butter in several products or you could reach the organic lines to have the satisfaction of purity. A few people consolidate cocoa butter with different oils, for example, vitamin E oil or coconut oil—and utilize the blend as a moisturizing cleanser. Others use it to make their shaving lotion.  

Be a little skeptic-  

Cocoa butter is viewed as safe to use on your skin. For individuals who are delicate to a cocoa spread or different compounds found in cocoa butter items, it might cause a rash or other hypersensitive response. Minimalist always advise being knowledgeable about any product/ingredient you pick for your skin. Consult your dermatologist and discuss your allergies to avoid any harm. 

Dermatologist tip-

as per board-certified dermatologist Dr. Cynthia Baily, you can follow 4 rules for chocolate items that might not aggravate your skin:

• Don't pick too sugary products.  
  
• Look for cocoa butter as the fat in the product, not cow dairy butter or hydrogenated vegetable oil.
  
• Try avoiding 'milk chocolate' since dairy items can bother skin acne, says Dr. Baily. Likewise, the cacao content is lower in milk chocolate items.  
  
• Eat little amounts and just every so often! Remember, there's sugar in sweet chocolate items; sugar is a high glycemic food and high glycemic food exacerbates skin break out.   
  

Minimalists Recommend 

Several individuals use cocoa beans since they like how it feels on their skin or trust it, improving their skin's appearance.

There's no damage in attempting one of these items—except if you're delicate to cocoa.

Keep in mind; these items haven't been proven to improve skin tone, blur wrinkles, or diminish stretch marks. Most proof supporting these cases is anecdotal.

In case you're looking for treatment for a particular healthy skin need, counsel your dermatologist. They can help build up a skincare routine that best suits your requirements.