Dark Chocolate!

Favorite Sweetheart Food
Now Healthy Food for Your Heart

Now we learn that dark chocolate, one of our favorite delights, gives your body good nutrition with antioxidant benefits. Treat your heart right — indulge in chocolate!

Published in Nutrition Today, a group of research dietitians reports that food containing chocolate, when prepared properly, provides enough special compounds (flavonoids) to significantly enhance cardiovascular health.

Flavonoids provide antioxidant agents that repair the cell damage which is caused by free radical byproducts created during normal cell oxidation. Foods high in antioxidants are thought to help you avoid the risks that can lead to chronic heart disease (still the #1 cause of death in the United States).

Recent data from University of Illinois dietary trials show evidence that consumption of cocoa products (dark chocolate) may reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Improvements in platelet function (blood clotting) and in blood flow through vessels resulted in a favorable change in systolic blood pressure. Daily consumption of cocoa or chocolate may help you to reduce high blood pressure. Studies like these trials help to validate the epidemiological (study of factors affecting health and illness in populations) data that drives public health actions and preventive care decisions.

More research in Aachen, Germany, compared diabetic patients' reactions to a single dose of cocoa and to an on-going dailyconsumption of cocoa. Conclusions favor maintaining a diet rich in flavnoid nutrients, like that found in cocoa and darkchocolate. Adding chocolate (or other flavonoid-rich food) to a balanced diet could reverse vascular dysfunction in diabetes and help prevent cardiovascular complications.

Note that these studies focus on the flavonoid content in the cocoa. Dark chocolate typically contains more cocoa solids thanmilk or sweet chocolate. In Europe a minimum of 35% is used; the United States has no definition. Some chocolate contains 65 to 80 percent cocoa for an extra-rich flavor.

Many chocolate products lose much of the flavonoid nutrients during processing, so not chocolate products are good for yourheart health. Be careful to read the package labels carefully when you are shopping.

One good way to add the benefit of dark chocolate to your diet is to intentionally pair it with a healthy high-fiber food, like nuts, fruits, or berries. You can probably find healthy dark chocolate products at your local market, but if you cannot, you can shop on-line for some really good treats.

You can have your cake and eat it too,
when you bake that cake with dark healthy chocolate.

Nutrition based on data assembled from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.
g=grams, mg=milligrams, mcg=micrograms, kcal=calories