There’s been a lot of media buzz over the last several months suggesting that chocolate contains large quantities of some sort of antioxidant that may prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of cancer, regrow hair, promote smart money management, prevent mildew on your tiles, et cetera et cetera et cetera.
No secret that I tend to be skeptical about the media’s portrayal of health issues and I’m guessing that this (like most other fad health advice) is probably pretty premature, or heavily based upon in vitro research. But I’m no expert in medicine and I’m not sure where to turn for the actual research. Anyone know what the actual evidence is that support this claim? Is there any reason I should believe it? What studies underlie this idea?
The start of much of this hubbaloo, I believe, was a study of the natives of the island of Kuna, in Panama. A staple of their diet was beverage made from ground cocoa, of which they drink around five cups, daily. There was no high blood pressure among those who drink the traditional beverage. The native cocoa is prepared in a specific way that leads to it being high in compounds called flavanols, which are known to have salutory effects on the cardiovascular system.
Whether the same benefits can be gained by adding chocolate to yer typical modern diet is questionable. The flavanols contained in normal hot cocoa or milk chocolate are minimal. The daker the chocolate, the higher the percentage of cocoa, and the higher the levels of flavanols.
Now, myself, I like an 75-85% chocolate anyway, 'cause I like my chocolate bar to knock me on my ass and call me Sally, but my husband finds anything beyond semi-sweet chocolate chips (62%) to be too bitter to be edible.
Remember it needs to be dark chocolate, the higher the % the better. And all chocolate is high fat content so shouldn’t be eaten in large amounts. That said the research I’ve seen does seem to suggest the flavanoids are very good for you.
No we just need a recipie that combines Garlic, Chocolate, Broccoli, Red Wine and Oily Fish to create the ultimate health food
‘Chocolate Busters’ by Jason Vale is an excellent book for anyone interested in (a) health and (b) chocolate. It strips away a lot of the mythology about chocolate promoted by those who want us to consume the stuff.
Here’s one story that refers to what appears to be a seminal news event:
I heard just a few weeks ago an interview on BBC rebroadcast by a local public radio station. The interview was with an American chief scientist of a chocolate company (probably Mars though I’m not positive) who was discussing a more recent finding that could bolster chocolate as health food.
I wish i could find the cite, but MIT (in 1979 IIRC) did a study on chocolate and concluded that:
“There is a heat stable, water soluable chemical component of cocoa that exhibits an inhibatory influence of total dextran synthesis of streptococcus mutans”
[chocolate has something in it that inhibits dental caries]
