Chocolate - Could It Really Be Good For You?

A topic we would all love to be true (well I know I certainly would!). Imagine a life, where you could eat as much chocolate as you like and it somehow giving you all the nutrition you need.

Well sadly, the short answer to 'Chocolate - Could it really be good for you?' is yes... but in small moderation. I'm sorry to disappoint, all those hoping this would be a post justifying eating as much chocolate as you like! But I've spent some time looking into the research behind the possible benefits of chocolate - so carry on reading to find out more!

WHAT IS CHOCOLATE?

Chocolate is prepared from the fruit (I know what you're thinking - yay chocolate is a fruit!) of the 'Theobroma cacao' which is a tropical tree whose name means "food of the gods" in Greek. Cacao trees bear fruit that are about the same size and shape of a papaya (see the pictures above for an idea) that contain seeds that are full of up to 50 sour beans, covered in white pulp.

Cacao seeds are harvested by hand because machines could injure the trees. The workers remove the pods, and they are placed in large fermentation trays for two to seven days. Fermentation produces the chocolate flavor and aroma. It also destroys the seed's embryo, preventing unwanted germs, and consequently removes the white pulp. After fermenting, the beans dry out for three to five days, before being taken to a chocolate factory, where they are cleaned and debris is removed. The beans are roasted in large, rotating ovens (this brings out flavour and removes the beans from their hulls). The remaining part of the bean is called the nib. Nibs become chocolate.

So... so far you might be thinking, well this all seems very healthy and organic - what could be the problem? Well to actually become the chocolate we know of today, the Nibs have ingredients added to make it the chocolate we know of today. 'Fine Chocolate' will contain only cacao liquor (not alcohol - this is when the nibs are ground down with rollers, resulting in a thick paste), cacao butter (optional), sugar, lecithin, vanilla (optional) and possibly milk fats and solids. Additional flavors or ingredients like nuts can be added later.

The Types of Chocolate and what they contain are [3]:

- Dark chocolate has chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar and vanilla.

- Milk chocolate has all of the above plus milk fats and milk solids.

- White chocolate contains everything milk chocolate does except chocolate liquor (therefore is it really a chocolate...? Controversial!).

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

In July of this year, a review of chocolate's health effects was published in the Netherlands Journal of Medicine, where the authors point to the discovery that cocoa, contains biologically active phenolic compounds - which has stimulated research into how it might impact ageing, and conditions such as oxidative stress, blood pressure regulation, and atherosclerosis. Other benefits were:

1) Lowering cholesterol levels - a study, published in The Journal of Nutrition, suggests that chocolate consumption might help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, also known as "bad cholesterol." The authors concluded, regular consumption of chocolate bars containing plant sterols and cocoa flavanols as part of a low-fat diet, may support cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol and improving blood pressure.

2) Preventing Cognitive Decline - Scientists at Harvard Medical School have suggested that hot chocolate helped improve blood flow to parts of the brain where it was needed. Results of a lab experiment, published in 2014, indicated that a cocoa extract, might reduce or prevent damage to nerve pathways found in patients with Alzheimer's disease - which could help slow symptoms such as cognitive decline. And another study, published in 2016, suggests eating chocolate at least once weekly could improve cognitive function.

3) Reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems - Research published in The BMJ, suggests that consuming chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third. Canadian scientists, completed a study that people who ate one serving of chocolate were 22 percent less likely to experience a stroke than those who did not.

4) Athletic Performance - Findings published in The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggest that a little dark chocolate might boost oxygen availability during fitness training. The scientists believe that the success of dark chocolate in this case is that it contains flavonols known as epicatechins, which enhance the release of nitric oxide in the body (beetroot juice has a similar effect).

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH HAZARDS?

Can we just stop here and pretend there are no risks? Along with the benefits, there are also numerous health precautions, especially in the normal cheap chocolate bars on our supermarket shelves, which need to be taken into consideration.

1) Weight gain - Chocolate can have a high calorie count due to its sugar and fat content. Anyone who is trying to slim down or maintain their weight should limit their chocolate consumption.

2) Sugar content: The high sugar content of most chocolate can also be a cause of tooth decay.

3) Bone health: There is some evidence that chocolate might cause poor bone structure and osteoporosis. The results of one study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that older women who consumed chocolate every day had lower bone density and strength.

These risks are all due to the fact that manufacturers are only required to put 10% pure cocoa liquor into a milk chocolate product. So the other 90% of ingredients contains milk powder, condensed milk, or liquid milk, all of which are non-organic dairy products. Practically all milk chocolate brands contain hydrogenated oils as well, added as a filler as well as a preservative. Hydrogenated fats are trans fats, which have been linked to increased risk for a host of lifestyle illnesses like coronary heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Furthermore, these hydrogenated fats come mostly from unhealthy vegetable oils, which have a significantly high omega-6 fatty acid and very little omega-3 fatty acid content, which makes milk chocolate consumption unsafe for those with existing inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO ME?

Chocolate has it's benefits, but only in its purest form. Chocolate should only be eaten in moderation to gain it's full health benefits, and as you can see from above - there are numerous risks and negatives for chocolate consumption which is further from the natural cacao bean (opt for the less processed stuff!).

When you are buying chocolate think - the higher the cacao content, the more benefits there are. You want to reach at least 70% cacao, which is fairly bitter but this is due to the highly reduced fat and sugar content. Don’t forget that even though dark chocolate is considered a (somewhat) healthy treat, it still packs plenty of calories. A 100-gram bar of 85% dark chocolate contains around 600 calories, 450 of which come from fat.

I personally will swap my cocoa powder for raw cacao powder, buy cacao nibs to sprinkle on top of foods instead of chocolate chips, and use 70% cacao chocolate for general consumption. These foods can all be bought at big supermarkets/organic health shops/ online.

Lots of Love

Ruth xxx