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People around the world have grown up enjoying chocolate as a favourite treat for countless generations. But just how much does the average person really know about the potential benefits, beyond the great taste, that chocolate and its key ingredient - cocoa - provides? We all know that a bit of chocolate tends to make you feel good, but a wealth of research suggests that people can now have even more reasons to enjoy it. The last decade has seen a significant increase in our research and understanding of cocoa and chocolate. But understanding the properties of chocolate is not just a recent development. For centuries, civilizations from Mexico to Europe have recognised the benefits of cocoa and chocolate for medicinal and therapeutic uses as well as a food, beverage or treat. It has even been hailed as an aphrodisiac!
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Paul Hebblethwaite
“Professor of Chocology”
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Of course, we all need to ensure we don't over indulge and that we see chocolate as a treat but researchers are continuing to uncover more reasons to enjoy cocoa and cocoa products. “Chocology”, the science behind chocolate, opens up that research and presents the facts in an
easy to use report that we hope will be a useful resource when talking about the benefits that chocolate can offer.
Join us in the exploration of “Chocology” – You may discover that there's more to chocolate than meets the eye… |
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• Reasons to believe
• Body of Evidence - Where can you feel the Benefits?
• Myths and Facts about Chocolate
• Did you know? |
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Cocoa
Long before the current trend towards organic ingredients, cocoa was one of the best known natural foods. In its purest form cocoa is a natural food. The cocoa tree produces cocoa pods that grow from the trunk or branch of the tree. These pods contain the beans which characterise the finished chocolate. The cocoa beans are fermented under banana leaves to bring out the chocolate flavour and then dried under the tropical sun. They are then shelled and ground to produce chocolate liquor, an essential ingredient for making chocolate. The liquor can also be pressed to remove the fat and is cooled and ground to produce pure cocoa powder.
Antioxidant Power
Cocoa contains high levels of naturally occurring compounds called flavanols and a range of other polyphenols that have been shown to reduce blood pressure helping to improve heart health. Polyphenols have antioxidant properties and work by fighting the free radicals which attack cells causing disease and accelerated ageing. They are believed to impact on arteries and blood qualities, helping to reduce the risk factors for cardio-vascular disease, through lowering blood pressure and improved blood platelet function. Scientists have found that the polyphenols relax vessels by increasing the chemical nitric oxide. This has been shown in new studies at many universities around the World1.
Dark chocolate contains especially high levels of flavanols and other polyphenols – this helped to boost sales of dark chocolate by over 15% in the UK last year2!
It's not just bars of chocolate that have these high levels of antioxidants – a recent study revealed that hot chocolate beverages, high in cocoa content, can contain concentrations of antioxidants similar to those in red wine or tea3 |
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Deliciously Nutritious
Chocolate and cocoa containing products are often criticised as being low in nutritional value and “empty calories”. On the contrary, milk chocolate for instance contains many vitamins including B1, B2, and E as well as minerals including potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese and by far the most important, calcium, providing over 15% of the recommended daily requirement in a 49g bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk, all of which help to keep us healthy. In light of recent research which suggests taking supplements may be detrimental to your health, it's good to know that chocolate and cocoa contain so many nutrients!
Boosting Brain Power
A recent study in the United States at Wheeling Jesuit University, West Virginia (May 2006) has suggested that eating chocolate may improve the way our brains work. The theobromine and phenylethylamine, as well as the caffeine in chocolate appear to increase alertness and mental performance4. The team found that scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for those people who had eaten milk chocolate, and the consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time.
Similar work at the University of Nottingham has shown that the consumption of dark chocolate can increase blood flow to the brain leading to improved cognitive function. |
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In the Mood
Chocolate is said to contain at least 300 natural chemical compounds, resulting in a complex range of tastes and odours that connect with the human brain as it runs over the taste buds of the tongue. The slowly released energy and feelings of fullness and satisfaction induced by its sugar and fat content, refuel the body's energy levels and create feelings of wellbeing.
Eating chocolate triggers the release of endorphins, mood enhancing chemicals produced by the brain. These produce feelings of pleasure.
Chocolate has such a luscious texture and aroma that all the body's taste and olefactory sensors are fully exploited, heightening the pleasure of the experience. So much so that a recent survey by Cadbury has found that 52% of women prefer eating chocolate to having sex!
Over the years, psychiatrists and researchers have pointed out substances in chocolate that they think may make us like it so much – however, they're in such small amounts they can't really be the reason we crave chocolate.
The simple pleasure of chocolate melting in the mouth adds to the pleasure of eating it – chocolate has the property of melting at body temperature, cooling the mouth slightly as it does so. Most interestingly, one expert has pointed out that "chocolate's a blend of flavours and aromas so complex that food chemists have never been able to duplicate it in the lab 5 ." We may never understand why chocolate makes us feel good, adding to its mystery.
A standard 45g bar of dark chocolate contains 12% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of iron. Iron is essential in transporting oxygen in the blood to all parts of the body, and an iron deficiency can cause anaemia.
When cocoa is combined with ingredients such as milk, sugar, fruit and nuts significant quantities of nutrients are provided- giving nutrition and energy as well as great taste. But as the products are often high in fats and sugars it is important that consumption is in moderation and that such products are consumed infrequently as “treats” - but are certainly not “empty calories”. |
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Teeth
While you should always brush teeth, naturally occurring substances in cocoa, such as tannins, may play a role in inhibiting plaque formation by coating the teeth to protect them6.
Brain
Eating chocolate releases endorphins, hormone-like natural substances, which produce a feeling of pleasure and reduce sensitivity to pain. Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants, such as theobromine, phenylethylamine, and caffeine. Research has found that consuming chocolate can lead to increased mental performance.
Throat
A study carried out by Imperial College, London in 2004 claimed that high doses of theobromine contained in chocolate are a third more effective at stopping persistent coughs than codeine.
Heart
Research by Professor Carl Keen at the University of California in 2000 has shown that a bar of milk chocolate (45g) contains the same quantity of antioxidants as a 150ml glass of red wine. Dark chocolates with higher levels of cocoa contain even more, as presented in February 2006 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.
Circulation
A number of studies, including one at the University of Cologne revealed that dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure10. The study focused on adults with untreated mild hypertension, some of whom had white chocolate, some dark. Blood pressure remained fairly unchanged in the group that ate white chocolate, which does not contain flavanols. But after two weeks, blood pressure readings had dropped significantly in the group who consumed dark chocolate.
Bones
Milk and milk products have been part of our diet for thousands of years and the milk in chocolate - particularly milk chocolate - provides useful quantities of a wide range of nutrients including calcium. A 49g bar of milk chocolate provides over 15% of the adult Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) of calcium. Drinking chocolate made with milk contains even more calcium. |
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Eating Chocolate Is Inconsistent With A Healthy Diet
With so much going for it, it's unfortunate that chocolate is often surrounded by myths and misconceptions that result in its unjustified reputation as an ‘unhealthy' food. Scientists are beginning to dispel common myths about the concerns of eating chocolate, demonstrating the ways in which chocolate can make us feel good when enjoyed in moderation. One example of this would be the high levels of cardiovascular friendly antioxidants contained in chocolate – in fact, dark chocolate in particular contains more antioxidants by volume than red wine11 12.
There is no need to exclude chocolate from a healthy diet as long as it is consumed responsibly and in the context of the dietary needs of the individual and their energy balance.
Chocolate causes Tooth Decay
Chocolate has sometimes been blamed for tooth decay but there is research showing that chocolate isn't as bad for your teeth as people think. Research has indicated that naturally occurring substances in cocoa, such as tannins, may play a role in inhibiting plaque formation.
Eating Chocolate gives you spots
Despite the persistence of this myth, research by the Pennsylvania School of Medicine and also by the U.S. Naval academy13 found no link between acne and chocolate consumption.
Chocolate has no nutritional value
Few people know that chocolate actually contains a number of important nutrients. Milk chocolate is a source of potassium, calcium and magnesium, while being low in sodium. It also provides us with vitamins - including B1, B2 and E.
Chocolate is Aphrodisiac
Though not definitively proven, recent research has indicated that this might not be a myth after all! A study conducted by San Raffaele hospital, Milan14 has found greater levels of sexual desire in the group that reported daily chocolate intake as opposed to those who did not eat chocolate.
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| The calcium in a 49g milk chocolate bar provides over 15% of your daily Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI). |
| The magnesium in a 45g bar of dark chocolate provides 13% of a female's and 15% of a male's daily RNI. |
| One 45g dark chocolate bar provides you with up to 12% of your daily iron RNI. |
| The copper in a 45g dark chocolate bar provides 27% of your RNI. |
| As much as 22% of your RNI of riboflavin can come from a single 49g bar of milk chocolate. |
| A 49g milk chocolate bar provides you with 33% of your recommended daily vitamin B12 intake. |
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1 Source: PRNewswire.com
2 Source: ACNielsen Scantrack
3 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2003
4 www.sciencedaily.com
5 Peter Jaret, “Three Cheers for Chocolate”. Health For Life, 1998
6 Paolino VJ, Kashket, S. Inhibition by cocoa extracts of biosynthesis of extracellular polysaccharide by human oral bacteria.
Arch Oral Biol. 1985;30:359-363.
Kashket, S, Paolino VJ, Lewis DA, Van Houte J. In-vitro inhibition of glucosyltransferase from the dental plaque bacterium
streptococcus mutan by common beverages and food extracts. Arch Oral Biol. 1985;30:821-826.
7 www.sciencedaily.com
8 Feedback, New Scientist, Issue 2160, 14.11.98
9 http://www.angellandphelps.com/Health_Benefits.htm
10 Medicine Digest Dec 2003: Issue 339.
11 Miller 2006 (chocolate products), Burns 2000 (wine)
Paolino VJ, Kashket, S. Inhibition by cocoa extracts of biosynthesis of extracellular polysaccharide by human oral bacteria.
Arch Oral Biol. 1985;30:359-363.
12 Kashket, S, Paolino VJ, Lewis DA, Van Houte J. In-vitro inhibition of glucosyltransferase from the dental plaque bacterium
streptococcus mutan by common beverages and food extracts. Arch Oral Biol. 1985;30:821-826.
13 Fulton et al., 1969
14 Journal of Sexual Medicine Volume 3 Issue 3 Page 476 - May 2006 |
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