Choco-what?!?

Valentine's Day has come and gone, but I am sure there are still remnants of flowers, cute cards, and pieces of chocolate left over from the indulgent holiday.  Hopefully no one suffered from Broken Heart Syndrome and was able to enjoy some of that wonderful chocolate.  Now that the chocolate is nearly gone let's discuss the health benefits you may have gotten from that tasty dark stuff.



1.  Heart Benefits
One of the most ironic twists to the chocolate story is that recent research suggests that dark, flavanol-rich chocolate may have heart healthy benefits.  That makes chocolate as a Valentine's Day gift very ironic.

Pro: Women who consumed up to about one ounce of high quality chocolate (chocolate with high cocoa content) one to three times per month had a 26% lower risk of developing heart failure.  While one to two servings per week was associated with a 32% risk reduction. 

Con: No benefits were seen in women consuming 1 or more servings daily.

Other studies show chocolate consumption has also been associated with a lower incidence of heart attack.

2. Blood Pressure

Pro: Individuals who consumed about 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate every day saw an average blood pressure drop of 2.77/2.20 mm Hg compared to control subjects. Numerous studies have shown a connection between blood pressure reduction and chocolate consumption.

Con: Chocolate is not calorie free and eating 3.5 ounces per day is a lot of extra calories Luckily, some studies have seen benefits from eating as little as 0.2 ounces of chocolate per day.

3. Stroke Reduction

Pro: Increasing consumption of cocoa-rich chocolate by 50 g or about 1.7 oz. per week reduced cerebral infarction risk by 12%, hemorrhagic stroke by 27%, and total stroke risk by 14%.  A more recent study showed that those that consume at least 1.8 oz of chocolate per week have a 17% lower risk than those who eat less than 0.4 oz per week.

Con:  Stroke reduction sounds pretty good to me!

4. Fat

Although chocolate is thought to make us all fat, it appears to have a good influence on cholesterol levels.  Don't be fooled by heavily processed chocolate or milk chocolate.  Milk chocolate and processed chocolates have added saturated fatty acids.  Added saturated fat and sugar are likely to negate the positive benefits of chocolate and may actually increase cholesterol. 

Pro: Dark unprocessed chocolate that is 60-70% cocoa is associated with a decrease in LDL or "bad" cholesterol. 

Cons: All chocolate does contain some saturated fat, but the fat in chocolate is thought to be cholesterol neutral.

There are many more benefits of chocolate and these are just the tip of the iceberg.

The bottom line...
Excluding milk chocolate, eating dark, cocoa- and flavanol-rich chocolate seems to provide a variety of significant health benefits.  Don't become toooo crazy about the dark stuff because everything has a down side.  Remember that 2 oz. of dark chocolate can contain over 440 calories.  Just remember three simple rules with any food:
BMI
Balanced diet
Moderation
Information

For more info check this out.

If you enjoy hearing about chocolate and would like to know more comment below and I will indulge your sweet tooth with more benefits of chocolate in a later post.