Healthful Reasons to Fall in Love with Chocolate
Sweet and creamy-smooth or intensely dark and rich, chocolate is pure sensual pleasure. Its
blissful taste inspires feelings of satisfaction and comfort, and now new scientific research
gives us even more reason to be passionate about chocolate: it’s a source of some
terrific nutritional benefits when enjoyed as part of a varied, balanced diet.
Eat chocolate for an antioxidant boost
In addition to being delictious treats, there is growing evidence that real, high-quality
chocolate and cocoa contain healthful polyphenols, including the type called flavonoids.
Polyphenol compounds (found in red wine, tea,
apples, oranges, and various vegetables) act as natural antioxidants in the body, protecting it against
disease and damage caused by free radicals.
- Dark chocolate bars with higher percentages of cocoa or chocolate liquor (made exclusively from
ground cocoa beans) offer the most nutritional benefits—and more intense flavor.
- One 1.5-ounce (42.5 gram) chocolate bar contains the same amount of total phenolic
compounds as a 5-ounce (148 ml) glass of red
wine—which is to say, a lot.
Drink cocoa for good nutrition’s sake
Most of us think of hot cocoa as a soothing chocolate milk beverage. But cocoa is also the intensely
flavored chocolate powder created when almost all cocoa butter has been removed from chocolate
liquor. Cocoa contains more than 30 nutritious organic compounds, including:
Give chocolate for a healthy heart
More good news about chocolate! Research seems to indicate that eating dark chocolate might
play a role in heart health, too. While the
verdict is still out, eating high-quality chocolate seems to offer useful nutrients that help
improve circulation and lower amounts of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
- Flavonoids or antioxidants in cocoa and
dark chocolate may inhibit platelet activity, an effect that might help prevent heart
disease.
- Compounds in chocolate also seem to increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels
and protect against the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, effects that might help prevent
artery-clogging plaques.