Dark Chocolate Health Benefits
This time of year the grocery stores are stocked with tempting displays of Valentine’s candy. The pressures are high to purchase seasonal items, much like the neuromarketing tricks I wrote about for Black Friday and other winter holiday shopping. And apparently February 1 was National Dark Chocolate Day (because there’s a day for everything!). It wouldn’t be so bad to eat a bit of candy, would it? After all, isn’t dark chocolate supposed to be healthy?
For today’s blog I thought I’d review a bit of science about the health benefits of chocolate, and then wrap up with a few thoughts on how to manage those chocolate cravings in a healthy way!
Portions of the following are excerpted from this blog and this video on “Is Chocolate Healthy?” I originally created for the Science Museum of Virginia a few years ago.
So…
YES, chocolate might be healthy!
There are hundreds of legitimate research studies linking chocolate and cocoa to improved health outcomes. Consumption of chocolate has been shown to positively affect
cognitive functions (like improving thinking and preventing dementia)
cardiovascular functions (like blood pressure)
metabolic functions (like insulin signaling)
and more!
BUT we should be skeptical of our interpretation of the research
There are a few key reasons we need to question this story:
A lot of what we know about research studies tends to come from media hype about them, and reporters usually exaggerate the findings and can leave out a lot of caveats to make the story sound better.
For example, most researchers aren’t feeding their participants chocolate candy bars, but instead use cacao supplements when conducting the chocolate-related research. The powdered cocoa beans in a pill allow researchers to give really high doses, and people don’t object to the bitter taste of cocoa beans.
Some of these chocolate studies are funded by the food industry. This is problematic because we know scientific research funded by a particular industry is 6 times more likely to turn out favorable for that industry.
Plus… there’s this thing called the “file drawer effect.” Basically, if you do a study and find no difference between your control and experimental group (in this case the chocolate group), it isn’t really exciting enough to be published -- even in a research journal.
This means there could be a dozen studies that all show chocolate has no effect on health, but one that does, and only the one that does gets published. That biases the information available and changes our perceptions of the truth.
Ok, so we’ve taken a dose of skepticism with our sweet research. Fair enough. But still, hundreds of researchers can’t be wrong. Chocolate must be good for us.
What about antioxidants?
The presence of antioxidants is usually the reason that chocolate is considered healthy. But what are they?
Think of antioxidants as sort of tiny superheroes, protecting your cells from the relentless attack from free radicals.
Free radicals are the molecular villains of our story- created by the sun, pollution, junk food and other daily encounters. Free radicals rip you apart from the inside out, leaving you looking and feeling exhausted.
Antioxidants are inside your cells working to shield you from damage and constantly repairing you at the cellular level, helping with everything from heart health to younger-looking skin.
So, we want more antioxidants. Where can we find them? Antioxidants are found in lots of fruits, vegetables, and plant-derived foods… including cocoa.
If cocoa has antioxidants, shouldn’t I eat lots of candy?
Here’s the sad truth: metabolizing sugar generates a ton of free radicals. Most chocolate candy is loaded with sugar and is low in actual cocoa, so you’re not getting enough antioxidants to counteract the ill effects of eating a candy bar, much less healing the damage of chronic high blood pressure or other health problems.
What about dark chocolate?
The real science behind chocolate is that we can probably consider small amounts of unsweetened chocolate that’s high in cacao to have some positive health benefits. Keep in mind that we’re talking about the darkest of chocolate, which is likely to taste very bitter. It isn’t everyone’s favorite, but a small bit might take the edge off your craving for something sweet…. especially in combination with some fresh fruit- boost those antioxidants!
But eating chocolate makes me feel good! Isn’t that beneficial?
Eating, especially junk food, can make us feel less stressed, and I detailed the science of stress-eating in my recent blog.
How do I resist?
Much like my advice from CNN Business on how to resist overspending at the winter holiday season, it will take a bit of effort to resist the marketing influences convincing you to purchase tempting candy! Purchase and eat mindfully to get the maximum benefits. Enjoy in moderation!
Stay tuned for more blogs on the science connecting our food with our mental and physical health!
Food affects our minds and bodies, altering our perception of the world and our mental and physical health. Scientists are only beginning to understand the many ways that specific kinds of foods can affect our lives.
