Is Dark Chocolate Really Good for You?

Chocolate is undoubtedly one of the most popular sweet treats in the world.

Many research over the years has found that it could be good for us, as it contained more than 300 chemicals.

Researchers at Harvard University studied 8,000 men aged over 65 and discovered that those who ate modest quantities of it lived nearly a year longer than those who ate none.

Dr. Neil Martin of the Cognition and Research Centre at Middlesex University exposed people to different smells and measured their brain activity.

The findings showed that the odor receptors responded so heavily to the chemical blend in it has left inpiduals on an emotional high.

Despite its sugar content, dentists have said that it is less harmful to the teeth than other sweets because it tends to be rapidly chewed, not sucked.

It also contains phenylethylamine substance, which is produced naturally by the brain and thought to increase levels of the mood-enhancing chemicals, serotonin, and endorphins.

Origin of Chocolate 

Some of the first evidence for chocolate dates to Kuna Indians in Panama City.

In the 1990s, scientists compared data from these remote islanders, who consumed lots of a bitter cocoa drink, with people living in Panama City with those who didn't.

They discovered that the cocoa drinkers were found to have better blood pressure and reduced rates of diabetes, cancer, and stroke.

Is Dark Chocolate Really Good for You?

Many studies indicate a connection between dark chocolate and good health.

Portuguese researchers reported in the journal Nutrition earlier this year that eating a few squares of 90% cocoa dark chocolate a day could reduce blood pressure.

The benefits are thought to be down to compounds in cocoa called flavanols, particularly one called epicatechin, which helps to maintain the walls of the blood vessel elastic.

"We know that fresh, unprocessed cocoa beans contain 10% flavonols, but processing of the beans into chocolate can reduce this to between 0.5% and as low as 0.001%," said Dr Karin Ried, an associate professor at the National Institute of Integrative Medicine in Melbourne, who has produced a review of the evidence on chocolate and blood pressure for the respected Cochrane Collaboration.

While you might assume the darker the chocolate, the higher the flavanol content, this is not necessarily the case.

'Research comparing the flavanol content of 41 dark and milk chocolate commercial products showed no correlation between the proportion of cocoa and flavanol content, ' Dr. Ried said.

When it comes to health, it is not just cocoa and flavanols that we need to look at, but what else is there, including the amount of sugar.

“Overall, a greater content of cocoa is healthier,” he suggested. “And with darker chocolate — I recommend 75% cocoa solids and up— you also have a greater quantity of nutrients such as magnesium (for good muscles and nerves), zinc (for a good immune system) and iron (for making red blood cells) and a small quantity of fiber.”

“There is also the tendency for darker chocolate to be more enjoyable, and you will get more caffeine and theobromine, which will improve your mood, a few squares a day is not a bad thing.”