Learn To Do Chocolate Therapy At Home In A Simple Way

Do you know what chocolate therapy is? For many years we have heard that chocolate cannot be abused as it is a stimulant. In addition, in most cases, it also includes ingredients such as white sugar or dairy derivatives.

However, cocoa is a very beneficial food, not only for our consumption, but also for its topical application. In this article we explain how you can benefit from chocolate therapy at home, in a very simple and pleasant way.

A chocolate with a lot of cocoa

When we talk about the benefits of chocolate, we refer to the one that includes among its ingredients a large percentage of cocoa, at least 70%. We are not referring in any case to milk chocolate, much less to white chocolate.

Therefore, the first step for chocolate to allow us to do this therapy is to  choose a quality one. Or, even better, a pure cocoa, whether we are going to consume it or use it in our recipes or if we are going to apply it directly to the skin.

Chocolate therapy, relaxation and beauty

This simple therapy that we are going to perform at home is going to bring us great benefits. The cocoa that we will apply on the skin will penetrate through the pores until it is deeply nourished and reaches the bloodstream:

• The first of them is due to the high magnesium content of cocoa. This mineral, essential for good health, nourishes our nervous system and our muscles. This will produce a deep relaxation of the whole organism. Likewise, according to this study published in  Frontiers in immunology , at the neurological level, consuming cocoa polyphenols helps reduce alterations in the functionality of neurons.
• The second great benefit is that cocoa contains a large amount of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are excellent for the skin.  Especially when we suffer from a tendency to dryness or in times of too dry weather. With this therapy we will notice instant benefits on our skin.

• Finally, the third great benefit of this therapy we have to thank tryptophan. This amino acid from cocoa favors the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that gives us a feeling of happiness. That is why cocoa, whether we consume it or apply it to the skin, helps us to improve states of anxiety, irritability or discouragement.

What do we need?

We will need the following ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of pure cocoa (30 g).
• 3 tablespoons of almond oil (75 g).
• 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt (40 g).

Utensils :

• A bowl.
• A spoon.
• Plastic film that we use to preserve food.

Preparation :

• In the bowl we will put the cocoa and oil.
• Next, we will mix the ingredients well with the help of a spoon.

How do we do chocolate therapy?

• We will apply the mixture of oil and cocoa all over the body. We will do it by massaging gently, from the feet to the face. If we have very dry hair, we can also apply this remedy, as long as we avoid the roots.
• We will do it slowly, so the massage should last at least ten minutes.
• Next we will take the sea salt and we will exfoliate the whole body. In this way we will be able to activate circulation, eliminate dead cells and favor the penetration of these medicinal foods into the skin. We will avoid areas that are too sensitive and, instead, we will insist on hardened areas or with cellulite. The exfoliation should last between 5 and 10 minutes.

• Without removing any of these products from the body, we will wrap the kitchen plastic, loosely, the extremities and the torso. It is important that the place where we are is at a comfortable temperature.
• We will wait 10 minutes and then we can remove the plastic.
• To finish, we will remove the products from the skin with a shower of warm or slightly hot water, but ending with a minute of very cold water.

Last tips

This therapy is very simple. However, we have to do it carefully so as not to make the place where we are too dirty.

The most comfortable thing is to do it in a bathroom that is at a good temperature. If we have a bathtub, it will even be more comfortable to do it inside, without filling it with water.

We can do this homemade chocolate therapy once a week.  However, we will avoid exfoliation if in the previous hours we have been exposed to the sun, since we could irritate the skin too much.

Images courtesy of IITA Image Library and John Loo.