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Add to FavoritesThe research indicates that chocolate is indeed good for your health. That catch? Only one type of chocolate fits the bill. Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants and can lower blood pressure, and it doesn't take a large amount to do the job.
What is it in dark chocolate that lowers blood pressure? Polyphenols, aka flavonoids, which are naturally found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, red wine, and Dark Chocolate have been shown to lower blood pressure. To give you an idea of the amount of antioxidants in dark chocolate in comparison to other foods, I'll give you some numbers that have been compiled using a method called Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (or ORAC) - a method for measuring the amount of antioxidents in food that was developed by the National Institute of aging, and standardized by the FDA. You will notice that that dark chocolate has a statrling amount in comparison to other foods.
ORAC value of foods and chocolate:
FOOD: | mmole TE/100 grams
Strawberry | ~1,600
Blueberry | ~2,200
Prunes | ~5,700
Milk chocolate | ~6,800
Dark chocolate | ~13,000
There was also a recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (July, 2007) by a group of doctors at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany that shows a fairly significant reduction in blood pressure is possible. Dr. Dirk Taubert and his team discovered that simply by eating 1oz of dark chocolate per day could lower systolic pressure by three units, and diastolic pressure by two units.The study consisted of 44 participants with high blood pressure. Half were given 1oz of dark chocolate per day for 18 weeks, while the other half of the group ate white chocolate. Only those who ate dark chocolate saw a drop in pressure.
Antioxidant s in chocolate provide many health benefits as well. What does an antioxidant do? It cleans "free radicals" (bi-products of iron after it has been broken down by oxygen in the blood) out of your bloodstream so they do not get into tissue and cause damage.
Be wary of how you eat your chocolate though, if you want to get it's full array of benefits. Another study led by Dr. Mauro Serafini, of the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, says consuming dark chocolate with milk may reduce it's effectiveness. Serafini states:"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
So, eat chocolate...it IS good for you. Just be sure to do it in moderation, and the darker the better. Enjoy!
Learn more about this author, Shawna Weidenbach.
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This is a subject fraught with controversy, inaccurate information and scientific double-talk. I love chocolate! Who doesn't love the rich, bittersweet delight of a fine chunk of dark chocolate? Or the anticipation as one inhales the warm aroma of baking chocolate brownies? This love affair with chocolate extends into, well, love affairs, as some chocolate aficionados would proclaim the aphrodisiac qualities of our subject. However, there is a dark side to this chocolate conundrum, and I am not speaking in terms of color.
Chocolate is eaten in the United States in vast quantities. A look at www.nutritiondata.co m which lists the nutrition facts required on all food products in the US and a graphical analysis of the product shows that six ounces, less than a small bag of M&M candies, contain 805 calories. The fifty grams of fat present in this generic bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips represent 78% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)of fat. On top of this, a whopping thirty of the fifty grams of fat are saturated fats(178% of the RDA), the type associated with numerous medical problems: high cholesterol, obesity, and heart disease just to name a few. NutritionData's analysis also finds chocolate to have a high glygemic index which measures how hard the body's insulin-producing system has to work, a major concern for diabetics and those who are predisposed to diabetes. The rating goes even further to give this 6 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate an extremely poor inflammatory rating which means that this semi-sweet delight may contribute to inflammatory processes already present, such as arthritis.
Now one could point out in the scientific literature that positive health benefits may be derived from chocolate, specifically dark chocolate. Just this past week Newsweek through msnbc.com reports that the Journal of the American Medical Association will publish a study demonstrating the reduction of blood pressure in patients who ate the equivalent of one, that's right one, Hershey's Kiss per day. Back in February 2007, Newsweek reported the benefit of flavanols, which are anti-oxidant chemicals found in chocolate that come from the cocoa bean itself. The article states that flavanols work to improve blood flow and prevent blood clotting, just the thing cardiac and stroke prevention requires.
The caveat in all of the science extolling the health benefits of chocolate is that the benefit is derived from the cocoa bean that is made into chocolate. A cocoa bean or even unsweetened chocolate which bakers use is very bitter, to the point of being unpalatable. To make the sweet, delicious indulgence known as chocolate requires the addition of the bad things, large quantities of sugar and fat. The same article from Newsweek reporting chocolate's antioxidant benefits also reports, in the same paragraph, the high energy density (2300 calories/pound) of chocolate.
Since no one can eat just one Hershey Kiss at a time, and in my opinion, will eat an entire bagful if left alone, I say that overall, chocolate is bad for your health. The morbidity and mortality associated with obesity in our country more than offsets the health benefit of chocolate. I think that it is quite appropriate that it was a Roman comic dramatist, Terence, who first wrote "Moderation in all things". It is appropriate because it is comedic, if not sheer folly, to believe that American chocolate consumers can practice that moderation required, a mere,single Hershey's Kiss per day to gain a health benefit from chocolate. My hat is off to the one who can practice such discipline but as another dramatist said,"Ay, but there's the rub." To eat or not to eat chocolate is not the question, for one must and will imbibe to excess that sensuous delight of gustatory pleasure. So, let us not be fooled that it is healthy or a promotion of health. It is a pleasurable experience and should be left at that. No more of the scientific semantics or self-denial of our lack of discipline, we love chocolate, eat too much of it, and therefore reap the unhealthy effects of such a practice.
Learn more about this author, Jeff Vidrine.
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