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Chocolate -Top Health Benefits
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By Susan Callahan, Health Editor and Featured Columnist
February 15, 2009, last updated November 28, 2012
So, it's that time of year again. You know the time. The time when the
gods of Chocolate take over our minds and make us over-indulge in the
irresistible deep, brown richness.
Chocolate, whose technical name is "theobroma cacao", is big business.
Americans consume about 11 to 12 pounds of chocolate per person each
year, and the average American eats chocolate 107 times each year,
according to a 2011 release from the National Confectioners Association.
Europeans consume even more, eating up over 40% of the world's supply
of chocolate. The Swiss alone eat between 23 and 24 pounds of chocolate
a year.
But take heart. New research on the health benefits of chocolate may let
you indulge that passion for chocolate almost guilt-free.
Why Do We Crave Chocolate?
Ever wonder why we reach for chocolate so often? Why exactly do we
crave chocolate rather than, say, milk or bananas? The answer may be
“opioids”. Opioids are natural opium like compounds produced by the
body which raise our sensation of “feeling good” and which may also dull
pain and depression. Our body’s natural system of producing opioids is
triggered when we eat foods high in fat and sugar.
A 1992 study from the University of Michigan School of Public Health
tested this hypothesis by examining a group of 14 female binge eaters, 8
of whom were obese. A second group of 12 women of normal weight
were used as controls for the study. These bulimic and obese participants
were given drugs which block the production of opioid in their bodies
(naloxone) and then were allowed to make food choices as they
preferred. The study found that once naxolone was administered, the
obese participants’ cravings for chocolate and other high fat/high sugar
foods decreased to the same levels as women of normal weight.
The reasons for chocolate cravings are more complex since chocolate
contains over 380 compounds, not just sugar and fat. But opioids appear
to be a part of the puzzle as to why we crave the dark sweetness so much.
Another significant part of the puzzle is a compound called phenyl
ethylamene, which is believed to induce feelings of euphoria similar to
being in love.
So complex is chocolate and so profound is its effect on the moods of
those who crave it that it has been compared to a drug. In fact, a 1999
study from the University of Arizona entitled “Chocolate: Food or Drug?”,
speculated that chocolate helps to regulate mood by making up for
nutritional deficiencies. As the study noted: “ Chocolate may be used by
some as a form of self-medication for dietary deficiencies (eg, magnesium)
or to balance low levels of neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of
mood, food intake, and compulsive behaviors (eg, serotonin and
dopamine).”
Women often crave chocolate during periods of hormonal fluctuations
such as during menstruation or menopausal changes, which suggests,
again, that chocolate may be our way of self-medicating to re-balance
hormonal changes.
Here are the top reasons chocolate is good for your health:
1. Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure. According to research, chocolate is
chock full of healthy antioxidant compounds called "flavonoids" or
"flavonols". A research team from the University of l'Aquila in Italy has
found that people in a study who ate 100 grams of dark chocolate each
day for 15 days lowered their blood pressure.
2. Chocolate Fights Diabetes. The same study in Italy also found that the
participants improved their body's ability to metabolise sugar, a benefit to
those trying to manage or prevent diabetes.
3. Chocolate Fights Heart and Artery Disease. A Harvard University mega-
study examined 136 other studies on cocoa, which is the chief ingredient
in chocolate and cocoa. Their examination, published in the European
journal "Nutrition and Metabolism" confirmed that chocolate does improve
heart and artery health.
"Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow, less
platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved bad cholesterol," says Mary
B. Engler, Ph.D., a chocolate researcher and director of the Cardiovascular
and Genomics Graduate Program at the University of California, San
Francisco, School of Nursing. Again, the flavonoids in chocolate work by
counteracting cell damage from free radicals and reducing inflammation.
Other researchers have found similar results. Dr. Norman Hollenberg of
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is a researcher who has studied
a surprising phenomenon among the Kuna tribe of Panama. His team has
found that members of the Kuna tribe who stay on the isolated islands do
not develop hypertension as they age. In contrast, their family members
who left the islands and migrated to the city-life of Panama developed high
blood pressure as they aged. The difference? Dr. Hollenberg's team found
that the Kuna members who retained healthy blood pressure throughout
their lives consumed huge amounts of cocoa.
4. Chocolate Lowers Cholesterol. A study from the Antioxidant Research
Laboratory at Tufts University has found the people who ate 3.5 ounces of
chocolate a day lowered their levels of LDL, "bad cholesterol". According
to Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the lab, participants who ate the
dark chocolate saw their levels of and cholesterol drop. This study also
confirmed the previous work from Italy that chocolate also lowers blood
pressure.
5. Chocolate Helps Your Skin. Chocolate contains anti-oxidants, powerful
anti-aging compounds. These flavonoids neutralize the free radicals which
cause premature aging of skin. German scientists have found that women
who eat chocolate have facial skin which is less inflamed, more moist,
smoother and had less redness. Only dark chocolate has this effect.
But what about the calories? True, 100 grams of chocolate has about 400
calories. True, eating this much chocolate will make you gain weight. For
this reason, researchers suggest --(and common sense requires!) -- that
you subtract 100 calories of other food if you intend to indulge yourself
with chocolate.
6. Chocolate Improves Your Memory. Only one study has found this
result so far. But what they found is astounding. Researchers at West
Virginia's Wheeling Jesuit University found that eating dark chocolate may
boost your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving
skills by increasing blood flow to the brain.
Update:
Chocolate Makes You Smarter?
More studies have established a link between eating chocolate and
thinking better. One 2012 study by Dr. A . Nehlig of the University of
Strasbourg, France observed that chocolate is rich in antioxidants,
particularly the flavonoid called "epicatechin. These flavonoids apparently
enter your brain and stimulate the delivery of more blood to the capillaries
of the brain, a process known as "perfusion". The study concluded that, as
a result, chocolate provokes the development of new brain cell neurons
(neurogenesis) and the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) as
well as improving the regions of the brain responsible for learning new
things and your memory.
7. Chocolate Helps Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A 2006 study from Hull
York Medical School has discovered that eating dark chocolate appears to
relieve many of the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Now, you've gotten started in your quest for better health. Keep gathering
tips on healing foods: Coffee Fights Cancer / Foods That Reduce Blood
Pressure / Foods That Lower Your Cholesterol / Foods That Shrink Your
Waist
More Related Links
Cancer Fighting Foods
How Exactly Does Cancer Kill You?
How Diabetes Is Linked to Erectile Dysfunction
Microwave Popcorn Linked to Cancer
Snoring Linked to Stroke
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