Is Chocolate Really Good for your Health?

Ever have that craving for a hit of sugar or the pick-me-up that chocolate delivers? Justify your guilty pleasure by agreeing with the notion that chocolate is good for you? If you answered yes to the any of the above questions, you have just admitted to being a victim of the media’s portrayal of scientific findings.

Chocolate Bars
Published under the Creative Commons License; photo courtesy of Wikimedia user André Karwath.

In recent years, many scientific studies claimed to have proven that chocolate is the next best thing you can eat. Studies conducted by researchers at prestigious universities such as Columbia have targeted and provided evidence for how chocolate helps to reduce memory loss, on a small number of subjects in a very controlled environment. This research finding was published in the media and ballooned by the press, even though it failed to mention that the study was minuscule and that it did not even use chocolate, but rather chocolate flavouring. In addition, when the New York Times, a seemingly credible and well-read media outlet got whiff of the research, they promoted only the positive aspect of how chocolate improves memory, but did not describe the size of the study or the subjects involved. This lack of knowledge reduces the credibility of the article, but nevertheless is believed by readers. The media has a strong impact on what the everyday person believes, and exaggerating scientific findings can be dangerous.

Blood Pressure Monitor
Published under the Creative Commons License; photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Amirhossein Ashrafzadeh.

Furthermore, other studies conducted on the health benefits of chocolate have made the claims that chocolate promotes lower blood pressure, which ultimately reduce the cases of cardiovascular disease. Once again, the media has taken these findings and brainwashed hoards of people suffering from high blood pressure to run to their local supermarkets and load up on the kit-kat. What the media did not mention was the fact that while cocoa has been shown to reduce blood pressure, the research conducted was only on a short time scale; the long-term effects are unknown. Moreover, when chocolate is made, the cocoa is severely degraded as it gets mixed in with sugars and other additives, so the results of the study may not hold true in store bought chocolate products. Again, the media chose not to disclose this to its audience and we are left believing that chocolate will cure high blood pressure. Without all the information, it is scary to think that we let ourselves fall into the “whatever is in the news must be true,” epidemic.

The video below exposes an unbiased view on the benefits, or lack thereof of chocolate.

Video From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtaUKweEVhY

The case study on chocolate just presents one instance of when the media has taken up studies and hyped up their findings, regardless of their validity, fooling the nation into believing myths. So the next question is, what will the news have us believe tomorrow?

By: Wesley Louie