Health Benefits of Chocolate

There are a lot of things we'll tell ourselves to justify our chocolate addiction. For instance:

“The calories don't count if you eat it after midnight.”

“It's just as good as sex.”

“If you feed it to your baby, she won't get pimples when she gets older. ”

“It's not cheating on your diet if you eat it on fruit.”

“Chocolate is good for you.”

Now, let's go through these 'myths' one by one:

1. Yeah, right. In my dreams!
2. We won't go there.
3. I just pulled this out of thin air.
4. See #1.
5. Actually, there's some truth to this one.

Yes, you read it right. Along with its amazing mood-enhancing qualities and awesome taste, chocolate does have some health benefits. While milk and white chocolate are still on the 'bad-foods' list, dark chocolate is surprisingly healthy. You won't find it in the health-food section of the grocery store anytime soon, but dark chocolate has several features that make it a 'reasonably-healthful' way to indulge your sweet tooth.

Dark chocolate has what are called 'flavonoids'-the substance that help protect plants from environmental toxins and repair damage. As the cocoa beans that make chocolate are processed to make the naturally-pungent flavor sweeter, those flavonoids can be lost. Dark chocolate is not processed as much (or in the same way) that milk chocolate is, so more of the flavonoids remain. The higher the percentage of the cocoa (sometimes you will see '60% cocoa', '75% cocoa', etc on the label) is in a bar of chocolate, the more flavonoids are left.

Flavonoids produce antioxidants that protect against the aging effects 'free radicals' can cause. Since these effects can lead to heart disease, dark chocolate can be heart-healthy. Dark chocolate has been shown to help lower the blood pressure and lower 'bad' cholesterol in people who have problems in these areas. While there are lots of fats in dark chocolate, only approximately 1/3 of those fats are saturated fats, which are the ones that are known to cause increases in cholesterol.

Heart benefits are not the only ways dark chocolate can help the body. It doesn't have the added sugars found in milk chocolate, so it won't make blood-sugar levels spike. It can raise serotonin levels in the brain, which give it an anti-depressant effect. It also contains phenethylamine, a substance that releases dopamine and other endorphins. Endorphins are part of sexual pleasure, which is probably where Myth #2 above comes from. I won't comment on the truth of it, so I'll just leave you to find out for yourself!

However good dark chocolate can be for you, you still don't want to over-indulge. It's still a high-fat, high-calorie food, so don't think you can go crazy with it. Like many other things in life, moderation is key. Just one ounce a few times a week will suffice. Even so, it's nice to know that at least one of our favorite treats isn't too bad for us!

Okay, who took my Special Dark bar? Give it back! :)