The Dark side of chocolate
By Riya Mishra
Table
of contents
- Introduction
- Obesity caused by chocolate addiction
- Breathing Problems
- Content causing Fat
- Where does excess fat go?
- Illnesses caused by chocolate
- Diabetes
- What causes these illnesses?
- Preservatives and their side effects
- Un-natural content
- The use of preservatives
- Side effects of preservative
- Slavery and Child Labour
- Harvesting
- Sun Work
- Machinery
- Conclusion
Introduction
Everything has a dark side. Even the most marvellous things,
the ones that create happiness, the ones that fill the empty feeling inside,
has a dark side. Would you believe it? Even chocolate has a dark side. Although
it lifts your mood on bad days, excessive chocolate eating can have a devastating
effect on the human body. In this feature article, one can learn about the
various ways in which chocolate makes a strong, negative impact on the human
body. Firstly, I have written about the obesity caused by chocolate addiction,
which leads to illnesses caused by chocolate, the side effects of
preservatives, and finally, slavery and child Labour.
Obesity Caused
by chocolate addiction
Chocolate eating causes chocolate addiction, and chocolate
addiction leads to obesity. This sub-topic can teach you the harm of eating too
much chocolate and the fat we gain.
Content causing
Fat
Our human bodies are not designed for digesting fat after fat
after fat. If too many calories are digested, the extras are converted to fat.
50% of the cacao beans which are made into chocolate includes fat. Chocolate,
which is Jam-packed with sugar, and other such unhealthy ingredients consists
of 59% carbohydrates, 30% calories, and only 11% protein. Plain sugar are pure
calories as it is neither a protein nor carbohydrate. Have you ever heard your
parents say “Only have 2-3 blocks of chocolate rather than the whole bar”? This
is because calories are crucial for the human body, but too many at once leads
to plain fat, with no real positive effect.
Breathing
Problems
Although chocolate causes fat, it doesn’t end there. It not
only makes your body bloat, it can also trigger an asthma attack, or worsen
your breathing. Asthma means “Trouble in breathing”. It is caused by the
swelling lungs, which blocks your airways. The fat content in chocolate causes
your body to swell up, which can make breathing hard, especially while
exercising. This leads to further sneezing, coughing, and wheezing. Coffee, tea
and other such hot beverages are examples of asthma stoppers, but they lose all
of their benefits and freshness when combined and incorporated with chocolate.
Did you
know?
53% of
the people with asthma have gotten attacks caused by chocolate?
Where does excess fat go?
Not all chocolate can be digested, so where does the extra
go? Calories play an extremely important role in your body. Without calories,
we would have hardly any energy, but with too many calories, the result in
health is fatal. There are certain places in the human body where fat goes if
there is not enough room for all of these calories. Chocolate can clog
arteries, which can dirty your blood. Although this is easy to avoid by
drinking lots of water and Vitamin C, watching the amount of calories digested
is mandatory.
Illnesses caused
by chocolate
If you think that Star Wars or Captain America Civil War has
the greatest battles, then you definitely do not know that the biggest battles
are in your body, when it is trying to digest sugar.
Different Types
of Illnesses
Chocolate contains a large amount of calories, and too many
calories lead to weight gain. Gaining too much weight can lead to various
illnesses and health Problems. Chocolate doesn’t only cause small tummy aches
but it can also lead to many major health problems such as high blood pressure,
and heart disease. Chocolate content can also lead to dental issues like
cavities and gum disease.
What causes
these Illnesses?
We all know that chocolate is unhealthy and it can cause
illnesses. But what causes these illnesses? Let’s take coffee chocolate as an
example. Coffee contains caffeine, and even when put in chocolate, the caffeine
remains. Caffeine can increase the amount of stomach acid we have, leading to
heartburns and stomach ulcers.
Diabetes
Large amounts of sugar at the same time highly increases the
risk for diabetes. Caffeine in chocolate also increases the risk for diabetes.
The amount of calories put in chocolate leads to weight gain, and weight gain
leads to various illnesses and health problems. Diabetes is an example of a
health problem. What are diabetes? Diabetes is an extreme condition the effects
the way the human body processes glucose.
Preservatives
and their side effects
Preservatives may extend the good condition of chocolate,
but as soon as they get digested, the feel of regret takes over your mind.
Un-natural
Contents
The meaning of ‘Preservatives’ is in its name. It’s a
substance put in foods to preserve it and let its good condition remain. When I
sat down to eat my afternoon snack, I looked at all the ingredients. Half of
them looked so complicated and I couldn’t even pronounce any of them! They were
all preservatives and Un-natural contents.
The Use of
Preservatives
Preservatives are nothing but negative when it comes to
health. So what’s the use? Preservatives can make food that melts easily hold
its shape for longer. It can make food that goes stale quickly, live a bit
longer than it usually can.
Side Effects of
Preservatives
Preservatives can cause many different health problems which
are very serious. They can cause migraines, headaches, restlessness,
irritability, nasal congestion, depression, stomach upsets, tiredness and skin
rashes. By avoiding eating packaged foods, the risk of getting any of these is
low.
Slavery and
child labour
We like to believe that Child Labour no longer exists, but
it is a fact that more than a quarter of the world’s slaves are children.
Harvesting
It is said that more than 8.1 million children in West
Africa are involved in growing cacao. 1.4 million Children from the ages from
5-11 years old work on harvesting cocoa. 800,000 of them are made to work with
sharp tools and they have to work with heavy loads.
Sun Work
Although people try their best to stop Child Labour, many
others make children work non-stop even in extreme weather conditions. They are
made to dry, harvest, grow and plant under the hot sun.
Machinery
Some people think that it’s okay to make children work with
machines, grow crops, and work in the sun. Even while knowing that it is a risk
for children to be around such dangerous mechanism, they make them work with it
anyway. Children are made to work with dangerous machines and are made to work
even when there are dangerous fumes in the air.
Conclusion
Everything has a dark side. Chocolate has a dark side.
Whether its obesity cause by chocolate, or preservatives, or illnesses, or even
child labour. Some say it’s more bad than good. Others say the complete
opposite. Whether we like white chocolate or dark chocolate, lets not support
the dar side of chocolate.
Glossary
Labour-Work, usually physical work
Calories-The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1
gram of water through 1 degree Celsius
Asthma-A respiratory condition causing difficulty in
breathing
Caffeine-An alkaloid compound which is found especially in
tea and coffee
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