Health Benefits of Chocolate

So, you've heard that chocolate is a health food (it is a fruit after all). Or at least that it has some healthy qualities. Here is some information found in recent scientific studies about our favorite food group.

Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany, published a report in The Journal of the American Medical Association showing that dark chocolate, not white chocolate, lowers high blood pressure.

Taubert's team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure -- on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.
Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.

Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.

In 1993, Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton and other researchers at Pennsylvania State University concluded that stearic acid, the main saturated fatty acid in chocolate, does not raise blood cholesterol levels. These researchers also reported that a 1.4 ounce chocolate bar eaten in place of a high carbohydrate snack does not raise LDL-cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) levels and increases HDL-cholesterol (the good cholesterol) levels.

Cocoa's antioxidants are almost two times stronger than red wine, two to three times stronger than green tea, and four to five times stronger than black tea, reports Science Daily. Antioxidants--vitamins C and E and beta carotene--are widely believed to fight cancer, heart disease, and aging. They may even help stave off the memory-robbing Alzheimer's disease.

It's a pre-menstrual drop in progesterone levels which is responsible for the violent mood swings familiar to so many women (and their families), and adding magnesium to a suffere'rs diet has been proven to increase pre-menstrual progesterone levels, thus alleviating the problem. Cocoa is also the highest natural source for Magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is also linked to hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have found that chocolate thins blood and protects the heart in the same way aspirin does. The keys are compounds in chocolate called flavonoids, which slow down platelet clumping that can block off blood vessels and lead to a heart attack or stroke. Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco reported that certain types of dark chocolate caused blood vessel dilation within two hours of consumption. Blood vessel dilation is believed to be an important indicator of healthy blood vessel function and a healthy cardiovascular system.

Antioxidants like those found in raw cocoa beans and fruits and vegetables appear to perform an important function in the blood stream. They essentially "mop up" free radicals, which can damage arterial walls in a process known as oxidation. Scientists believe free radicals may be triggers for heart disease and may be associated with cognitive deterioration associated with aging.

Two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston suggest that that a substance found in cocoa can stimulate the body's processing of nitric oxide -- a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure -- and promote overall heart health. "Nitric oxide plays such an important role in the maintenance of healthy blood pressure and, in turn, cardiovascular health," said study author Norman Hollenberg, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

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