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Cheap, Processed Chocolate Has Virtually No Health Benefits Due to Lack of Flavanols 7-1-08
by: David Gutierrez
People should not be misled into believing that the typical chocolate bar is
good for heart health, according to an editorial published in the influential
medical journal Lancet, because most processed chocolate bars contain very low
amounts of the nutrient that makes chocolate good for you.
A series of recent studies have suggested that the flavanols contained in dark
chocolate are good for the heart. A paper published in the journal Circulation
reported that heart transplant patients who were given a dose of dark chocolate
showed significant improvement in measures of blood flow, clotting and vascular
function within only two hours. Participants who were given a placebo dose of
fake chocolate showed no improvement in any of these measurements.
But the flavanols that make chocolate healthy also make it bitter, and as such
are removed by many commercial chocolate manufacturers. And as the Lancet
editorial noted, there is no requirement for manufacturers to state on the label
whether flavanols have been removed or not.
Flavanols are naturally occurring plant chemicals in the flavonoid family. They
are powerful antioxidants that have been shown to have a number of health
benefits, including for the heart. Flavonoids are also found in tea, red wine
and a number of fruits and vegetables.
For those seeking to exploit chocolate's heart health effects, an article
published in the Mayo Clinic Health Letter recommends dark chocolate, which
contains an average of 53.5 milligrams of flavonoids per bar. In contrast, the
average bar of milk chocolate contains less than 14 milligrams, and white
chocolate contains none.
But the sugar and fat in chocolate bars come with their own health risks.