Discovering the Health Benefits of Cocoa and Dark Chocolate

 Chocolate, it's a food that many of us love and enjoy, myself included. Interestingly enough, as much
consumption happiness as there is for chocolate, there is frequently as much or more consumption
guilt as well. If you are one of the many people involved in this love, hate chocolate relationship then
this article is for you. The news is when eating the right kind and right amount it's actually something
we should feel good about eating. That's right. Feel good, not bad. Why? Because certain types of
chocolate and cocoa can actually be good for us!

The use of dark chocolate and cocoa dates back to people of the past where it was used as money and a gift to the gods. Both cocoa powder and chocolate are made from the seeds of a special kind of ancient fruit. Today, cocoa beans (yes they're called beans, but technically they are seeds) are harvested, fermented, dried, roasted and then milled to create a chocolate liquor. Cocoa powder is then made by pressing the fat content, or cocoa butter from the this. As both cocoa and chocolate come from plants they often have high amount of flavanols. It's a fancy for word for antioxidant, which for the most part work to scrub our arteries and take out the other garbage in our body. This likely sounds a little familiar. The other places where we can find a lot of these dietary garbage collectors are mostly brightly colored fruits and veggies, and whole grains.

Dark chocolate and cocoa have equal or sometimes more antioxidants than other 'superfruits' like acai, blueberry, cranberry and pomegranates. (Obviously we know it's not a healthier choice than these foods, as the fruits will come with more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but this is just to demonstrate the power of moderation and again to show how we shouldn't feel guilt about eating it that way). Sometimes chocolate and cocoa products will have a lot of added sugar and be in super size portions. Think of the checkout counter standard bars, and candy and drive through hot drinks. These are not the kind of healthful chocolate we are going to talk about and want to eat more of. What is the right chocolate prescription per se? Think quality and quantity. Remember small amounts are key and there can always be too much of a good thing. Amounts can vary, but for heart health as little as 6g has shown to be helpful for some people. To give you a visual, that's about one and a half (dark) Hershey kisses a day. Both dark and milk have the good-for-you flavanols, however milk usually has less as the non-fat cocoa solids are replaced by milk. White chocolate doesn't have any.

An ancient fruit with a whole lot of modern day benefit. Although it has been around for many years
the health benefits of chocolate are only something we have come to realize in the past 30 years or
so. We know that both cocoa and chocolate can help the heart as it can decrease blood pressure and
improve cholesterol. Yes, it can help cholesterol and yes chocolate can be high in bad fat. The key
here is the kind of fat. The saturated fat in chocolate is mostly one which doesn't affect cholesterol
levels (for those who are interested it's called stearic acid). Benefits can extend beyond the heart too.
We are learning that eating small amounts can extend to improve the action of insulin, memory and
even protect the skin against harmful UV rays.

The other thing we know not from science, but from learning and experience is that good usually
trumps bad. With all this said be sure to foster that love relationship for chocolate. Truth be told, a
refill of it might just be what the dietitian or your doctor will order.

As seen in The Telegram October 11, 2011