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Health benefits of chocolate

by Alexandra Middleton | 23 Sep 2013

Thought to have divine magical powers by the Mayans and traded as a currency by the Aztecs, chocolate has played an important social role for thousands of years. 

For modern day chocolate lovers the ‘black gold’ is no less significant.

Chocolate is not only effective for helping you cope with a stressful or emotional situation, but offers legitimate health benefits too.

Obviously this doesn’t mean we can replace all of our major food groups with the delicious indulgence, but when eaten in moderation the sweet treat can do you good.

What is healthy in chocolate?

While it’s the milk, sugar and butter that make chocolate taste so good, cocoa is the ingredient that delivers benefits to our health.

The key ingredients in chocolate are:

  • chocolate liquor, which is the liquid state of chocolate once it has been fermented, roasted and ground,
  • cocoa butter, which is the natural fat from the cocoa bean,
  • sugar,
  • lecithin, an emulsifier that blends the ingredients together,
  • and milk in the case of milk and white chocolate.

Where do the health benefits of chocolate fit in? It’s the flavonoids found in cocoa.  

Flavonoids are antioxidants that assist with normal blood flow and protect against heart disease, cancer and other degenerative illnesses.

This improvement to blood flow not only lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of blood clots, but also increases flow to the brain which improves cognitive brain function. Dark chocolate also includes a number of other antioxidants that fight disease, as well as the vitamins and minerals potassium, copper, magnesium and iron.

White, milk or dark

All chocolate is not created equal, but if you’re a true chocaholic we didn’t need to tell you that. The darker the chocolate the more flavonoids it contains.

This means if you’re thinking of your health, rather than looking to satisfying a craving, you need to consume chocolate with a cocoa content of 70 per cent or more.

The way a chocolate bar is processed also plays a part in how good it is for you.

In order to achieve the smooth and sweet taste of chocolate we love so much, the cocoa must go through a process of fermentation, alkalizing and roasting to improve its naturally bitter flavor.

The more the chocolate is processed the less flavonoids it retains.

Flavonoids can also be found in foods such as red wine and some fruits and vegetables.

While they recommend individuals source antioxidants primarily from other foods, the Dietitians Association of Australia says, “If you keep active and eat a balanced diet, then a small amount of chocolate every now and again can still be enjoyed.” The recommended daily intake of chocolate is one ounce, which is the equivalent of a single square of a large block and a square and a half of a thin bar.

What is unhealthy in chocolate?

While chocolate offers health benefits when eaten in small doses, the reality is that nothing that tastes that good can be listed amongst nature’s super foods.

Because of the key ingredients of cocoa butter and sugar, chocolate is high in kilojoules and saturated fats.  

White chocolate in particular offers minimal health benefits, as it contains no cocoa powder or antioxidants.

Where most people fall short is firstly the amount of chocolate they eat, but secondly by consuming chocolates with lots of extras, including nuts, marshmallows or caramel.

So, to be on the safe side, keep it simple and savour the moment.

It must be true

A note published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that the more chocolate people in a country eat, the more Nobel Prize winners the country produces per capita. No surprises that when the study’s author Franz Messerli compared countries’ chocolate intake versus the number of Nobel Prize winners, Switzerland came out on top.