It's good news for dieters that many health experts are now advocating a piece of chocolate a day to keep the doctor away. Research is finding that cocoa and other chocolates have significant health-supporting properties, although moderation is the key to reaping the benefits of chocolate without gaining weight
History
Chocolate's medicinal benefits can be traced back to the Aztec cultures that were used to soothe gastrointestinal problems and coughs. Chocolate's health benefits became known to Europeans during the 17th century when chocolate was stocked in hospitals and used as an ingredient in prescriptions. Candy manufacturers seized on claims of health benefits for use in marketing, and scientific research in the latter decades of the 20th century eventually began to support some of these health claims.
Types
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree, which are crushed, mixed and molded into machines to make cocoa and candy. The shells of the beans are roasted to produce cacao nibs ground into cocoa mass and mixed with other ingredients to form chocolate liquor. The liquor can also be processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains mostly cocoa solids and cocoa butter; sweet chocolate combines cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat and sugar; milk chocolate is sweet chocolate with added milk powder or condensed milk; and white chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar and milk but no cocoa solids.
Significance
According to the U.S. Chocolate Market Report, chocolate sales were close to $16 billion dollars in 2006, with a growth rate of 19.1 percent from 1996 to 2000. U.S. per capita consumption each year is 12.2 lbs. Chocolate contains flavonoids, polyphenolic compounds that are the same antioxidants found in teas, red wine and some fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants can help counteract damaging effects from free radicals that lead to plaque in your arteries. A 1.5 oz of chocolate has as much antioxidant power as a five-ounce glass of wine.
Benefits
A study published in the journal "Circulation: Heart Failure" and conducted by researchers from Harvard University and Sweden's Institute of Environmental Medicine found that women who ate a small amount of Swedish chocolate once or twice a week had a one-third lower risk of developing heart failure.
Other benefits include lower blood pressure by dilating blood vessels; a reduced risk of diabetes by reduced blood sugar and insulin; enzymes that may help eliminate cancer-causing carcinogens; a reduced risk of blood clots and strokes by inhibiting blood platelet clumping; lowered cholesterol; and improved blood flow to the brain. Cocoa-rich dark chocolate has even been tied to improvements in the liver of cirrhosis patients, from a study led by Mark Thursz, a professor of hepatology at London's Imperial College.
Other benefits include lower blood pressure by dilating blood vessels; a reduced risk of diabetes by reduced blood sugar and insulin; enzymes that may help eliminate cancer-causing carcinogens; a reduced risk of blood clots and strokes by inhibiting blood platelet clumping; lowered cholesterol; and improved blood flow to the brain. Cocoa-rich dark chocolate has even been tied to improvements in the liver of cirrhosis patients, from a study led by Mark Thursz, a professor of hepatology at London's Imperial College.
Considerations
Robert Sheeler, M.D., a family physician at the Mayo Clinic, recommends you choose chocolate that's at least 60 percent cocoa, since the higher the percentage of cocoa content listed on a wrapper, the more antioxidants inside. Most ingredients added to chocolate raise its caloric and fat content and lower its antioxidants, and the dairy in milk chocolate can even interfere with the absorption of antioxidants. White chocolate contains no cocoa solids, and therefore zero antioxidants.
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