Overview
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Evidence Against the Health Claim
Evidence Against the Health Claim
While these studies suggest a link between dark chocolate consumption and a lower risk of heart disease and cancer, they do not prove cause and effect. The only way to reliably conclude that that cocoa truly has health benefits is to perform a clinical trial in which one group consumes high amounts of dark chocolate, another group does not, and a comparison performed many years later showing that the cocoa group has lower rates of heart disease and cancer.
Even if the result of such a study came out in cocoa’s favor, all chocolate is not created equal. To make many popular chocolate products, including milk chocolate candies, cocoa powder, and chocolate syrup, manufacturers often process cocoa by roasting it, fermenting it, and treating it with alkali. These processes can remove most of the beneficial flavonoids from chocolate.
Additionally, milk products such as those found in milk chocolate can hinder the body’s ability to efficiently absorb flavonoids and antioxidants from chocolate.
And even if you get the pure, good stuff—high in cocoa and low in additives, preservative, and milk fat—you should still probably monitor how much chocolate you eat. Chocolate is relatively high in saturated fats and calories, and thus has the potential to contribute to weight gain if snacked upon religiously. Numerous studies have shown that being even modestly overweight can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer and heart disease.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Dark chocolate contains high concentrations of beneficial flavonoids that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancer. Of course, flavonoids are found in high concentrations in many other foods, such as onions, tea, and grapes, all of which are presumably beneficial to cardiovascular health.
The more processed chocolate is, however, the fewer flavonoids will remain. Indeed, many chocolate candies contain too many sugars and other additives, and too few flavonoids, to be able to claim any health benefits. Dark chocolate, which is higher in cocoa content, and in its purist form, does not contain added milk fat (only pure cocoa butter), and is probably more healthful than its milk-blended counterpart.
The sounds-too-good-to-be-true claim may actually turn out to be true. Yet the same claim can be made for many other antioxidants and flavonoid-rich foods. So go ahead and have a little (dark) chocolate—after you eat your vegetables.
References:
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Plasma antioxidants from chocolate. Nature . 2003 August 28;424:1013. Available at http://www.cienciateca.com/chocolate%20antioxidante.pdf . Accessed November 5, 2008.
Ross C. Cocoa cuts heart disease risk. BBC News, Health website. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4755108.stm . Accessed November 5, 2008.
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USDA Database for the flavonoid content of selected foods–2003. Available at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Flav/flav.pdf . Accessed November 5, 2008.
10/21/2008 DynaMed’s Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php : di Giuseppe R, Di Castelnuovo A, Centritto F, et al. Regular consumption of dark chocolate is associated with low serum concentrations of C-reactive protein in a healthy italian population. J Nutr. 2008;138:1939-1945.