Is Chocolate Good For You?

We all love eating chocolate; milk, white and dark it is all delicious. We’re told to avoid it when on a diet but it can be hard, especially if you have a sweet tooth. Despite its bad reputation for causing weight gain, a number of health benefits may be associated with this delicious treat.

Chocolate’s antioxidant potential may have a range of health benefits. The higher the cocoa content, as in dark chocolate, the more benefits there are. Dark chocolate may also contain less fat and sugar, but it is important to check the label.

Eating chocolate may have the following benefits:

• lowering cholesterol levels
• preventing cognitive decline
• reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems

Natural cocoa powders (sometimes called cacao powder) have the highest levels of flavanol antioxidants and a recent study showed that cocoa and dark chocolate products also contain high levels of resveratrol, another antioxidant that is also found in red wine and has similar health-giving properties as described below.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School have suggested that drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day could help keep the brain healthy and reduce memory decline in older people. When choosing your chocolate, look at the label and choose dark chocolate with higher levels of cocoa solids to get maximum benefits. A bar containing 70% cocoa solids has about twice as much health-giving antioxidants per serving as a bar with 35% cocoa solids.

A review of numerous trials has found that consuming dark chocolate or cocoa can significantly reduce blood pressure. Even amounts as small as 6 grams have been shown to reduce blood pressure compared to eating a similar amount of white chocolate, which doesn’t contain the beneficial compounds found in dark chocolate.

Foods containing high levels of cocoa flavanols, have been shown to increase blood flow to the brain which may improve performance in mentally demanding tasks. In a study of 30 adults, it was shown that they performed better in maths tasks, and felt more alert, on the days when they were given drinks containing high levels of cocoa flavanols than on days when they weren’t. So, a piece of dark chocolate when struggling with a difficult work assignment or exam may be worth a try!