Yummy chocolates. Picture by WoofBC on Flickr
Do you have to restrain yourself from indulging in that chocolate calling you from the store windows? Well, now you can loosen up a bit! The good new is that more studies are showing that chocolate is actually beneficial for your health. Most of us love chocolate. Chocolate is a popular food around the world. It is given as traditional gifts on some holidays: Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. However, we try to avoid eating chocolate whenever possible because of its fattening characteristics, and because it is addictive. Addictive things have never been good for us. However, chocolate consists of many compounds besides fats and sugar. Of the many compositions, I’ll focus on flavonoids, which naturally originate from cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate.
In contrast to our beliefs, chocolates can have a positive effect on our health. There are still some contradicting opinions, but there has been increasing evidence of chemicals, such as flavonoids, in cacao that improve our health. On October 10, 2012, a study by Franz H. Messerli was published correlating between chocolate consumption in 23 different countries and their populations’ cognitive function. His study was based on the Nobel Prize winners to mimic the overall cognitive function of the 23 countries. It so turns out that increase in the amount of chocolate consumption does increase the number of Nobel laureates in the countries. This, as mentioned above, is due to flavonoids in the cacao. These secondary metabolites have been proven for better cognitive function[1]. For example, elderly patients reduce the risk of dementia by taking flavonoids[1]. The study’s results were that unsurprisingly, Switzerland, famous for their chocolate, was in the lead of both chocolate consumption and Nobel Prize winners. Now, I don’t think chocolate is the absolute causation of increased number of Nobel Prize winners, but according to the article, chocolate somewhat has an influence on the cognitive function.
Furthermore, flavonoids lower blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels in the in the brain. We all know that high blood pressure can be deadly because they are highly known for the causation of strokes and heart attacks.
Choose dark Chocolate! Picture by Boz Bros on Flickr
An important point to note is that not all chocolates have flavonoids. Dark chocolate contains four times more flavonoids than milk chocolate, while white chocolate doesn’t have any [2]. So choose dark chocolate to satisfy your cravings and maintain your health! But of course, you shouldn’t depend on dark chocolate for better health. They, too, have calories and sugar[2]. Chocolate can help, but the key to health is healthy eating and exercise. We should consume chocolate from time to time, we might build up more stress if we have to force ourselves to stay away from it!
The following video shortly explains the health benefits of chocolate:
Article on Messerli’s study
Article from CBC
-MinJi-
