Health benefits of chocolate

by R. McGuire

Ask any woman if she loves chocolate, and you'll receive an unequivocal "YES!"

Chocolate equals pleasure in my book. After all, being a chocolatier means I have the benefit of consuming, tempering, smelling the aroma and playing with chocolate.

Now, the AMA reports that there are definite health benefits from chocolate. But it's not every flavor of chocolate, but dark chocolate specifically. As reported by WebMD:

"...Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you.

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
Dark chocolate lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature.

Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments. "Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."

Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering chocolate. But don't wash it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.

For the full article click here.

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Does this change the chocolatier/blog author's opinion on chocolate consumption? "Absolutely not! It validates it. Dark Belgian chocolate is my choice hands down anyway. Of course in moderation..."

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