Chocolate Frogs

No, this post is not about Harry Potter chocolate frogs. It’s about the health benefits of dark chocolate and the little green frog that you might see on the chocolate bag! Did it work… did I pique your interest? Well, when I walked into work one day, I had 2 dark chocolate pieces and a “Go Red for Women” brochure on my desk. It was there to promote awareness about heart disease being the number one killer of women, and as a perk, explain that moderate consumption of dark chocolate can lower the risk of heart failure by almost a third! Since I’ve had a major sweet tooth recently, I bought a whole bag of Dove dark chocolates (maybe not at risk for heart failure, but now for a cavity instead).

On the bag, I saw the Certified Rainforest Alliance frog symbol and remember seeing a hilarious ad for the “Follow the Frog” campaign in class last semester. I still didn’t know much about it, so I looked on their website about what the frog symbol actually means. They strive to “conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior.” And by holding farms and businesses to certain standards, there are a lot of positive ripple effects like alleviating poverty, preventing deforestation, and decreasing climate change. I think it’s really awesome that a lot of companies get this certification, and it sounds silly but it’s something that made eating my chocolate a little more enjoyable. So my advice for today is follow the frog and indulge your chocolate cravings!