Chocolate – The ‘Other’ Food Group!
Posted by Vicki | Under Whole Food Nutrition
Being a lifelong chocoholic, I have often joked that chocolate is nutritious food, since it is from a bean (a vegetable), and by this I validated my habit.
But although I would have loved to title this post “The Healing Properties of Chocolate” or “Chocolate Superfood”, I did not, because although there are powerful anti-oxidant properties in the flavanoids that chocolate contains, it is, sadly, no substitute for fruits and vegetables which contain more than just these nutritious properties.
So, tongue in cheek, I lovingly entitled it ‘Chocloate – The Other Food Group’. Still, chocolate does have beneficial properties!
The Healing Properties of Chocolate
The powerful antioxidants in chocolate are flavanols and procyanidins. These are two compounds of the flavonoid “family”, which is a category of polyphenols. Flavanoids also include resveratrol, found in grapes and limu moi, and EGCG, which is present in green tea.
Consuming the flavanoids in chocolate and cocoa increases the antioxidant levels in the blood, protecting cells from free radical damage. This also protects DNA from cancer causing damage.
In addition, it helps prevent damage to the heart and blood vessels, also helping to control inflammation. It may also decrease platelet activity, which contributes to heart health (baby aspirin is recommended for the same reason).
One study stipulates that a 20 g square of dark (semi-sweet) chocolate every three days is the ideal dose for cardiovascular benefits, but that increasing that amount provides no additional benefit.
Chocolate has also been shown to have the ability to contribute to the correction of stress related hormone imbalances. Eating about 1.5 oz. of dark chocolate daily for two weeks was shown to lower stress hormone levels in people who complained of feeling extremely stressed.
Chocolate also contains tannins, another antioxidant which is from its pigmentation (a phytochemical nutrient). It also contains a small amount of protein in addition to energy producing carbohydrates.
Not a Perfect Superfood
Chocolate does contains a high amount of stearic acid, which is a saturated fat of the kind to be avoided. It has been directly linked to elevated LDL cholesterol levels (the bad cholesterol, low density lipoprotein) as well as atherosclerosis, which is linked to increased risks of coronary artery disease due accelerating oxidative properties.
However, there is also a bit of monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, in chocolate. So, it is not all bad.
Milk chocolate will contain a higher content of the bad fats, along with a higher sugar content.
Even three ounces of Toll House semi-sweet chocolate contain 420 calories, 210 (50%) from fat and 168 (40%) from sugar.
Chocolate also contains some caffeine. In unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate you will usually find about five to 10 milligrams of caffeine per ounce (typically caffeine content increases with darker chocolate). A cup of coffee normally contains about ten to fifteen times the amount of caffeine in one ounce of chocolate.
So Enjoy Chocolate in Moderation!
So although chocolate is not health food, it is good! Us chocolate lovers will never give up our chocolate, but I can agree that I’ll stick with dark chocolate in moderation, and otherwise consume it on special occasions and holidays 
Yes, the dark chocolates are best, since they normally contain less fat, and more of the flavanoids. Also, the milk in milk chocolate will reduce the body’s ability to absorb the antioxidants present since it coats and prevents their absorption in the body during digestion.
Antioxidants are better supplied by vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, which also contain many other healthful nutrients.
A good chart on the nutritional information for various types of chocolate can be found at http://www.cacaoweb.net/nutrition.html.
So enjoy your chocolate over the holidays, and eat chocolate in moderation!
This is a great post! I want to throw another potential benefit out there.
It’s not conclusive and hasn’t been studied much, but there are some studies that point to chocolate being effective at preventing diabetes too. Here’s a 2005 editorial in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition that talks about this and cites a number of these studies:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/short/81/3/541
It’s interesting because in some of the studies, people were consuming chocolate or hot cocoa that contained sugar–which would raise their risk of diabetes…and the cocoa/chocolate was thus offsetting this effect.
This makes Vicki’s point very important–watch the sugar (and cocoa) content of chocolate. A lot of the stuff you see at the store is not the best quality–high in sugar, low in cocoa content. That 70% dark chocolate may be more expensive and may be a bit of an acquired taste, but it’s worth it.
Personally I can’t do without the stuff! I buy 70% dark chocolate in 1 pound bars from Trader Joe’s! It’s a bit of an addiction…
Thanks Alex! As usual you added some great content here -and, I’ll have to check out Trader Joe’s too!
Actually, chocolate doesn’t contain caffeine, a common misunderstanding.
It contains theobromine (or something similar with theo). It’s a stimulant,
but not the same as caffeine. If I had the link, I’d include – I’ve studied
chocolate, and found a site that is the most comprehensive site that is *everything* you ever wanted to know about chocolate!
Interesting! Perhaps the misconception came out of the fact that people would not be as familiar with the term theobromine and that the effects were similar enough. I do know that I don’t eat chocolate late at night if I expect to get a good night’s sleep!
The problem with chocolate bars isn’t the chocolate – it’s high the sugar and fat content! Plain (dark) chocolate is a far healtheir option.
The thing is even your comments about unsaturated fat is something I will ignore. Unsaturated fat is in cheese as well. All I know is I eat chocolate on a regular basis and my cholestrol over the last few months has gone down.
All it takes is a bit of balance and although I eat Milk Chocolate you will normally see me making for the really heavy duty dark stuff!
If it has chili in it even better
Moderation. The keyword of chocolate consumption.
Great info!! I never knew about the ‘healing properties’ of chocolate.
Your siting a study that claims that a 20 Gram square every three days is optimal is not one I’ve heard before. Its not a lot but a little goes a long way.