Many of us are searching high and low in order to get antioxidants. Now, you do not need to go far because studies have revealed that natural cocoa powder is rich in anti-oxidants. As we all know, our body needs to have enough of this to be able to remain strong and healthy. In this article, we will give you the chance to know its benefits, including its effects on your skin and body.

Natural cocoa powder is rich in anti-oxidants. This is good news especially to those who love to eat chocolates every now and then. Not many people know that this fact has been in existence for over 10 years already. Dark chocolates are famous and well loved by many of us not only because of their unique taste, but also because of their flavanol benefits. In fact, scientists of The Hershey Company and Brunswick Laboratories in Norton, MA conducted a study and published it in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. It confirms the significant levels of this substance in certain powders and dark chocolates. This study involved analysis of Hershey's Dark Chocolates and 19 other powders. The results show that natural cocoa powder is the richest in antioxidants among all the other products tested. In fact, it contains 34.6 mg or 3.5% of flavanols for each gram of cocoa. Therefore, they have confirmed that this food is among those that have the highest levels of antioxidants.

Below are some of the highlights of the study:

1. The latest findings revealed that dutched powders, specifically the light and medium dutched, have considerable amounts of cocoa flavanol substance. Contrary to popular belief, they do not lose this substance even after they went through the dutch processing. Therefore, this is still in the top 10% of foods containing flavanol.

2. You can also get this powerful substance in chocolate milk and hot cocoa mixes, in cookies and cakes, and in selected confections.