When it comes to chocolate candy, sometimes parents are running out of idea to prevent their children from consuming it. Well, actually there is no way parents could prevent their children form delicious chocolate candy like M&M because as parents, why don’t you ask yourself “Will you stop eating M&M if people told you so?” the answer is absolutely ‘No’.
What is M&M?
Well, before you decided to get angry of your children because they cannot stop craving for this tasty M&M, learning a bit about this chocolate candy may help you making some peace of yourself and your children because not all about M&M is a bad thing like most parents think so. M&M is well known for its signature colourful button-size of chocolate candy with lower case ‘m’ letter in one side of the candy. This candy is originated from United States produced by Mars Wrigley Confectionery since the early of 1940s.
Health Benefits of M&M Chocolate Candy
Before parents are jumping to the assumption that all candies are bad for teeth, let’s found out first about the benefits of M&M chocolate candy that are probably good for children if consumed in the right amount.
- M&M Is Excellent Source of Sugar
Sugar is probably most parents’ big enemy. There are a lot of negative stuffs about sugar from obesity up to teeth cavity. The fact is there are a lot benefits of sugar for health as well, especially for kids during development stage such as source of energy, especially for kids who always active.
- Fast Energy Booster
As mentioned in the previous point, sugar has positive side as well which is as fast energy booster. For those who are in need of energy, consuming a pack of M&M could be a fast energy booster. If you are among those who have high activity schedules, keep some packs of M&M in your bag is highly recommended.
- Peanut M&M is Considered as Healthy Snack
There are some varieties of M&M and one of them is peanut M&M. Some studies have stated that peanut contains plant-based protein which is essential for human health. Peanut is also considered as healthy snack, especially for those who are craving for snacks but don’t want to gain weight.
- Excellent Source of Calcium
It is a common knowledge that all dairy products contain calcium and M&M is no exception. Especially the chocomilk variety of M&M. Benefits of calcium for children during development stage is very essential such as for bone health, maintain bone strength and density. Calcium is also good for teeth and gum health.
- Good Protein Source
Chocolate and peanut are excellent source of protein especially plant based protein. There are a lot of essential health benefits of protein especially for children during development stage. Protein is able to optimizing the development of muscle and maintaining its strength.
- Easy Snack Choice during Study
If you are looking for easy snack choice during study M&M could be good choice because it is not only tasty but also rich of sugar that could act as energy booster. Something you exactly need during study. Moreover, chocolate contains some active compounds that could boost your brain function to sharpen your focus and concentration.
- Rich of Flavonoids from Chocolate
There are a lot of health benefits of dark chocolate; one of them is the excellent source of flavonoids. For those who don’t know, flavonoids are one of the types of antioxidants which are super important for human health. Antioxidants have essential role in maintaining human health especially in fighting free radicals. Consuming foods rich of antioxidants are also good to prevent some chronic diseases such as cancer, certain types of diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and many more.
- Stress Reliever
There are a lot of types of hormones that produce by human body; one of them is endorphin. Endorphin is also well known as ‘happy’ hormone. Some scientific studies stated that enough endorphin in your body could help increasing mood and relieving stress. Consuming chocolate could help releasing endorphin. In modern world, eating chocolate is one of the therapies recommended for those who are currently fighting the symptoms of depression.
- Decreases the Risk of Heart Diseases
Chocolate contains some important nutrients for human body. Consuming chocolate is also able to decrease the risk of heart diseases. It is because M&M is also containing some essential minerals to help optimizing the production of red blood cells. In other words, by consuming chocolate you could help the function of heart and able to reduce the risk of some cardiovascular conditions from the symptoms of high blood pressure up to reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Contains Vegetable Fats
If you think that fats are bad for human body, you should think again because there are a lot of types of fats. M&M contains vegetable fats that are actually really good for your body. Consuming M&M will not gain your weight, instead when you consume it too much is possible to gain weight. That is why is better for you to consume it wisely just for its health benefits not because you are craving for it.
Cautions of M&M Chocolate Candy
All the parents’ nightmares related to chocolate candy are probably could be found in M&M but as mentioned above, preventing your children from consuming it is not a good idea instead learning how to control it is the best in this matter. You could use some cautions below to tell your children that consuming too much M&M could be bad for their health.
- M&M contains sugar which consumed in large dosage could cause obesity, especially for girl who don’t want to look fat.
- And not only that, sugar contained in M&M is not good for teeth, so you should tell your children to brush their teeth directly after consuming M&M.
- M&M contains milk which is not recommended for children with lactose intolerance.
It is true that there are a lot of benefits of M&M but instead of consuming it directly you could use it as sprinkles to some real foods. Like adding M&M to healthy carrot cake or using M&M to your children favourite chocolate cookies. M&M is also perfect for ice cream sprinkle or fruit sorbet.