Try dark chocolate for heart health

Here’s sweet news for chocolate lovers. Recent studies show that dark chocolate may help protect the heart and prevent heart attacks.

A study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ, 2012; 344) concludes that daily intake of dark chocolate can reduce heart attacks and strokes. Dark chocolate is especially beneficial for persons with risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The researchers from Melbourne, Australia used a mathematical model to predict the effects of dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 people with high blood pressure, and other risk factors. The researchers concluded that daily dark chocolate consumption could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal heart attacks per 10,000 people treated in a span of 10 years.

The authors clarify that the heart-protection effects are only for dark chocolate, and not milk chocolate or white chocolate. Dark chocolate has at least 60-70% cocoa, and these contain higher levels of flavonoids.

What makes it healthy

Chocolate is a plant-based food derived from the fruit of the cacao tree, also known as theobroma cacao. Cacao trees are delicate plants that live in tropical forests. They need taller trees to cover them from the sun.

Dark chocolate should be made up of at least 60-70 percent cocoa. It is full of beneficial plant chemicals such as flavonoids, antioxidants, and flavanols. Eating a moderate amount, which is an ounce (around 30 grams) a day can confer health benefits.

The flavonoids in dark chocolate can also be found in many fruits and vegetables. It has antioxidant effects that may help the body’s cells repair damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals arise because of normal body functions or they may be due to environmental contaminants, such as cigarette smoke. For example, these free radicals may cause “bad” cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) to form plaques on the walls of the arteries.

Flavanols are the main type of flavonoid found in cocoa and chocolate. Studies show that flavanols may help reduce blood pressure, and improve blood flow to the heart and brain. It can make the platelets less sticky and less likely to form a blood clot. Flavanols can also be found in apples, peanuts, cranberries, onions, tea, and red wine.

Possible benefits

Here’s what dark chocolate can do for your health:

• Helps prevent heart disease. A study from Scotland of close to 5,000 subjects showed that those who ate chocolate regularly had a lower risk for heart disease by 42 percent.

• Helps reduce inflammation and high blood pressure. Another study from Italy showed that people who ate dark chocolate regularly had lower C-reactive protein levels in their blood compared to people who never ate dark chocolate. C-reactive protein is a marker for inflammation of the arteries, and this can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

• Helps fight stress. Researchers discovered that eating an ounce or more of dark chocolate a day could reduce cortisol levels. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone which may increase inflammation and blood pressure. So if a person feels stressed, it may be a good advice to give her a piece of dark chocolate.

• May be good for the brain. One small study showed that people who had two servings of hot cocoa every day were able to complete a test faster than the non-cocoa drinkers. There was also an eight-percent improvement in blood flow to the brain. This boosts the belief that dark chocolate may be good for the brain.

Choosing your dark chocolate

The cocoa in dark chocolate has a very strong, pungent taste. This comes from the healthy flavanols in it. Normally, when cocoa is processed into different products, it goes through several steps to reduce the pungent taste. However, the more chocolate is processed, the more beneficial flavonols are lost.

Recently, several chocolate manufacturers have been looking for ways to keep the flavanols inside the chocolate. These are usually labeled as dark or black chocolate.

What about the fat content in chocolate? The fat comes from cocoa butter and is made up of oleic acid, stearic and palmitic acids. Oleic acid is a heart-friendly monounsaturated fat similar to the one found in olive oil. Stearic acid appears to have neutral effects on cholesterol, while palmitic acid may increase cholesterol levels. All in all, this is probably why we should just eat dark chocolate in moderation.

When buying chocolate, we should obviously avoid those products with added sugars like caramel and sugar frostings. There are still pros and cons to eating chocolate, but for now, we believe that the evidence is in favor of dark chocolate.

In summary, you are allowed to enjoy an ounce (around 30 grams) of dark chocolate most days of the week. In addition, you may get your healthy flavanols from fruits and vegetables, too. Happy eating!