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Dark
chocolate, heart healthy or heightened hype?
By Melissa Martin
Delicious. Delectable. Decadent. Oh, how we enjoy chocolate goodies!
The sweet treat is a palatable paradise. Valentine’s Day, Easter,
Halloween—holidays oozing with multi-colored wrappers containing the
exciting elixir. Chocolate hearts. Chocolate bunnies and eggs.
Chocolate candy bars.
Chocolate goes to the cinema. “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory”
is a popular book and movie with a chocolate theme. An eccentric
chocolatier owns a magical chocolate factory and seeks an heir. Willy,
a young boy with character, but living on the cusps of poverty is
declared the winner.
Roll out the Red Carpet for dark chocolate. But hold onto your bloomers
as you learn more about the happy hype. How did the chocolate factories
bamboozle consumers into believing that a yummy concoction of fat,
sugar, and chocolate is a healthy snack—a health food? We know
why—profit. When consumers buy into propaganda, they buy the product.
Chocolate is big money. And big money carries power.
And just how did the chocolate moguls fool the masses? Scientific
research and advertising. Producers of chocolate paid for studies into
cocoa science. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Public perception is
often bought and sold for profit—not for public health.
Vox published a 2018 article investigating dark chocolate as a
“superfood.” Journalist Julia Belluz reviewed 100 Mars-funded health
studies. “In 1982, Mars Inc. — the company that has brought us
M&M's, Snickers, and Twix — established the Mars Center for Cocoa
Health Science in Brazil to study, in part, the biology of cocoa and
its impact on human health,” according to Belluz.
Cocoa is made from tropical Theobroma cacao tree seeds; the main
ingredient in chocolate. Does dark chocolate contain enough of the
flavanol micronutrient to justify eating the fat and sugar content that
accompanies the yummy foodstuffs? Fresh cacao beans are rich in
flavanols, but the micronutrient can get destroyed during chocolate
processing. Not all forms of chocolate contain high levels of
flavanols. And cocoa is a bitter-tasting powder—that’s why sugar is
added. How much chocolate does a person need to consume in order to
garner the flavanol benefits? Does dark chocolate really help protect
your cardiovascular system?
According to the American Cancer Society (2019 article), “We do know
that flavanols in cocoa beans, an ingredient in chocolate, are
antioxidants, meaning that they may reduce damage to cells. Damaged
cells can lead to cancer development. What we don’t know is to what
extent chocolate itself has an effect. There have been a number of
studies done on the health benefits of chocolate, but these studies
mostly asked people to remember how much chocolate or chocolate
products they consumed, then compared it to whether or not they’d had
heart problems or cancer. So, while the results of these studies are
interesting, they really don’t tell us if it’s the chocolate itself
making a difference, or if it’s the flavanols, which can also be found
in other foods.” www.cancer.org/.
Some foods rich in flavanols include cranberries, apples, blueberries,
plums, cherries, oranges, strawberries, peanuts, onions, legumes,
spinach.
Belluz further surmised in her article, “But despite the industry
effort to date, cocoa still has never been proven to carry any
long-term health benefits. And when it’s delivered with a big dose of
fat and sugar, any potential health perks are very quickly outweighed
by chocolate’s potential harm to the waistline.”
Does dark chocolate improve cardiovascular risk factors? It depends on
the study. Of course, reputable health professionals and scientists
recommend more research to find the answer.
Hershey, Nestlé, Cadbury, Godiva, Ferrero, Whittaker's, Ghirardelli,
what say you?
So, is dark chocolate heart healthy or heightened hype? You decide.
Nonetheless, the answer is moderation. The answer is to eat
well-balanced meals. And enjoy a dark chocolate yum-yum
occasionally—because chocolate is candy. Sorry to burst your dark
chocolate bubble, but use your brain instead of your taste buds. Dark
chocolate is a treat and not a health food.
You will find me munching chocolate peanut butter eggs during Easter.
And some dark chocolate treats throughout the year. Bon appétit! Buon
appetite! Buen provecho!
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, and educator. She lives
in Southern Ohio.
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