Chocolate = Health food?

Today in class we were talking about antioxidants in grapes and other fruit, and the topic of antioxidants in chocolate was brought up. It seems like someone is always trying to justify eating chocolate (which I have no problem with, of course) by saying that it is good for you for this reason or that. So I decided to investigate once and for all: Is eating chocolate good for your health?

Before going into the science of chocolate, here is an overview of a few common types of chocolate and their components (based on FDA standards):

•       Unsweetened chocolate: made of pure chocolate liquor (aka cocoa solids, not to be confused with chocolate liqueur)
•       Dark/Semisweet Chocolate: chocolate liquor with added cocoa butter and sugar (15-35% chocolate liquor)
•       Milk Chocolate: chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sweeteners, milk/cream, and other flavors (usually vanilla). Contains at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk solids by US standards.
•       White Chocolate: a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids (does not contain any cocoa solids). (For the record, I do not consider white chocolate to be “real” chocolate)

Cocoa beans are composed of 3% antioxidant polyphenols, of which the most common are flavonoids. To make chocolate and other products, cocoa beans are fermented, roasted, ground, and finally pressed to form cocoa solids and cocoa butter. These cocoa solids (cocoa powder) are a concentrated source of polyphenols. The polyphenols that have been given the most attention are flavan-3-ols, which are made up of the subunits catechin and epicatechin.

Many tests have been developed to determine antioxidant levels in foods. One of the most common for flavanols is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), which measures the total antioxidant capacity of a particular food or beverage. It is commonly used to compare the antioxidant activity of two different foods. Based on ORAC, cocoa powder and dark chocolate are in the top 3% of foods tested in the U.S. Furthermore, a recent (2011) study performed by the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition found that cocoa powder contains more flavanols and has greater total antioxidant activity than various fruit powders. A comparison of dark chocolate and cocoa to fruit juices produced similar results.

However, the antioxidants in cocoa decrease in relation to the amount of processing that the cocoa beans are subjected to. In the aforementioned study, hot chocolate was found to have very little antioxidants due to alkalization. Similarly, cocoa powder has much more antioxidant activity than milk chocolate, because it contains a greater amount of real cocoa ingredients.

So non-alkalized cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate contain the most antioxidants-- so what? Antioxidants in chocolate are currently being investigated for anticancer and brain-stimulating properties, but according to some research, limited amounts of chocolate appear to help prevent heart disease. The antioxidant polyphenols in cocoa have been shown to inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which prevents arterial sclerosis. So far, this is the only proven health benefit for eating chocolate. Moreover, unsweetened and raw cocoa products, which are the healthiest, are also the least tasty. Milk chocolate contains the least amount of antioxidants and has unhealthy fats and sugars, which of course are what make it taste so good!

All in all, I’d say that the statement “chocolate is good for you” may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure makes a good excuse to indulge in some chocolatey-goodness!

References:

http://www.hersheys.com/NUTRITION-PROFESSIONALS/chocolate.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110207073748.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050421234416.htm